In this section...
Use the links below to find a range of information about your home and environment, including major works and insurance.
Our housing officers are here to help all residents with a wide variety of tenancy issues and are the first point of contact for a wide range of services
We operate on a patch based system, which means that each housing officer has responsibility for a Community Link area. There are 4 Community Links areas: Bellingham, North Downham, South Downham and Grove Park
They can offer you advice on issues such as:
Your housing officer regularly visits your area and they are available should you have any queries or questions about your estate or area. You can contact your Housing Officer to arrange an office appointment or home visit.
If you would like to arrange a walkabout with your housing officer and other residents to identify queries or questions about your estate or local area, please get in touch.
Our caretakers are responsible for looking after shared indoor and outdoor communal (shared) areas.
The main responsibilities are:
Our caretakers also complete minor maintenance to blocks, for example, tightening door handles.
Our caretaking team can provide your energy supplier access into communal electrical intake cupboards between 8am – 12pm and 1pm – 2.30pm. If you have an engineer coming to install your smart meter, please call 0800 0285 700 when they arrive and someone will be with you within approximately 5-15 minutes.
Our caretakers also regularly inspect our estates and green areas on our estates for fly tipping. Once located, we will remove it, usually within 48 hours. Where there is evidence relating to fly tipping, we will refer to the local authority to issue a fixed penalty notice and will also recharge the perpetrator(s) for the clearance and disposal cost.
We want to ensure residents can enjoy their gardens and outside spaces, and we recognise that fencing plays an important part in this.
However, fencing is expensive and budgetary considerations have led us to review our approach to fencing replacement and renewals.
We will prioritise those cases where there is a risk to the security of someone’s home or the household includes a vulnerable or ‘at risk’ resident.
Where we replace fencing, we will include two boundary privacy panels. Other fencing will be chestnut fencing.
Find out how to report repairs for fencing and back garden gates.
All household rubbish should be sealed in plastic bags and placed in chutes or bins provided.
Please use recycling facilities to dispose of glass, cardboard, newspapers and magazines and tins.
You can find information about recycling services - as well as how to dispose of bulky items - on the Lewisham Council website.
We are lucky to have lots of green areas on our estates. We want to work with you to keep them well maintained. If you report a problem with a green area to us we will visit the site within two working days.
We promise to:
We want to keep all of our homes up to the Decent Homes standard, and we have a programme of major works to make sure our properties are kept in good condition.
Major works are different from everyday repairs to your home. They are usually larger in scale and can include replacing roofs, structural work such as repairing brickwork, or repairing draining and guttering.
The works are different for each property, and depend on the condition and age of the home.
If scaffolding is being erected at your property you will need to let your contents insurance provider know, or your policy may be invalid.
To make sure the area is safe and secure, our access ladders will be lifted up to a higher level at the end of each day or a security plate will be installed over the rungs.
Our contractors will do their best to ensure the work area is safe at all times, however please make sure that children take care near scaffolding.
Please be aware that, to ensure your safety, you may have limited access to your garden while the scaffold is being erected. The scaffold may restrict the opening of some windows for the duration of works.
You may experience some interference with reception from your television aerial or satellite dish (where possible we will endeavour to temporally re-locate your satellite dish).
We would also advise that you remove and clear any plant pots, garden ornaments or solar lights that are fixed to the walls, in the ground or walkway. We are unable to accept responsibility for any damage to items that are not removed from these areas.
We aim to carry out stock condition surveys on each of our properties every five years. These surveys allow us to keep the information we have about our homes up to date, so we can plan our major works programme efficiently.
Our surveyor will take into consideration the interior of our homes, including the kitchen, bathroom, electrics and boiler. They will also assess the external areas of the building including the general structure, roof, windows and doors.
The stock condition survey will also include a hazard assessment to look for potential health and safety issues in and around the home. Where these pose a risk our surveyor will report the issue, where it will be investigated further and a repair may be raised.
If you are contacted by our Home Surveyor, please book your survey. If you can’t make the appointment, please contact us to rearrange. If you don’t get in touch, or you miss your appointment, your home may not be included in our future major works programmes.
We strongly recommend that you insure the contents of your home against theft, damage or loss. These are not covered by Phoenix on your behalf.
An insurance policy is not expensive when compared to the cost of replacing your furniture, carpets, electrical equipment and other personal belongings.
We offer a special insurance scheme in partnership with Aviva Insurance and open to all Phoenix tenants. Cover starts at £0.93 a week for tenants aged over 60 and £1.40 for other tenants, and premiums are paid in conjunction with your rent.
Please contact us if you would like to know more about this scheme.
If you are looking at other schemes, please be aware there is a wide difference in the premiums that companies charge and the levels of cover they provide. We advise you to shop around to get the best quote.
Most assured tenants can apply to buy their home at a discounted price after five years of being a public sector tenant.
The amount of discount will depend on whether you live in a flat or house and the number of years that you have spent as a public sector tenant.
Any time spent as a tenant with certain other landlords may count towards the total time and your discount entitlement.
If you are interested in right to buy, you should consider whether you will be able to keep up with mortgage repayments. You will also have to keep up with service charge payments
Contact us if you would like more information.