Latest news
Employment opportunities with Dumbreck Decorators
Dumbreck Decorators is looking to employ 2 apprentices and 4 full-time painters to work in the Kilmarnock area. If you, or someone you know would be interested, further information on how to apply can be obtained from Jackie Wilson on 0141 419 1940 or by sending an email to info@dumbreckdecorators.co.uk and marking it for Jackie’s attention.
Mad March offer - Win Back your Monthly Rent!
Atrium is offering its tenants the opportunity to win back a month’s rent – all you have to do is register for the Tenant Portal (https://www.atrium-homes.co.uk/account/?action=register )
Every tenant who’s registered for the Tenant Portal by midnight on 31st March 2021 will be entered into a prize draw with one lucky tenant winning back the value of their full monthly rent charge.
Once registered, Atrium tenants can use the portal to access their own rent account, report a repair and manage aspects of their tenancy – via phone, tablet or computer, 24/7.
The portal also has its own app which is compatible with both Android and IOS devices, so you can access your My Atrium account on the go. It’s already available via the App Store and Play Store – just type in MyAtrium from Atrium Homes to download it.
100th Portal Registration
Congratulations to Mr X from Shortlees who has won £30 supermarket vouchers for being the 100th user to be registered for Atrium's Tenant Portal.
Once registered, Atrium tenants can use the portal to access their own rent account, report a repair and manage aspects of their tenancy – via phone, tablet or computer, 24/7. The portal also has its own app which is compatible with both Android and IOS devices, so you can access your My Atrium account on the go. It is available via the App Store and Play Store – just type in MyAtrium from Atrium Homes to download it.
You can set up your account via our website (select the MyAtrium button, and then “Create an Account”) or via the app (select “Create an Account”) once you’ve downloaded it.
You’ll be asked for your name and homes address, along with your email address and phone number, and we’ll use these to set up your account. Our staff will run some checks and create the account and send you your username and password. After that, you’re good to go!
ONGOING COVID RESTRICTIONS
You will be aware from Scottish Government announcements that from Tuesday 5 January, mainland Scotland moved from Level 4 to a temporary lockdown, with the requirement to stay at home except for essential purposes. Our office is therefore closed and staff are working from home.
During this period , Atrium is only permitted to carry out ESSENTIAL repairs inside tenants’ homes, i.e. where failure to do it would threaten the household’s health and safety.
In addition, we expect we will receive additional repair requests to those already recorded. These will be triaged as normal, allocated a priority and addressed in turn. It may be several months before we are able to achieve anything like the average response time of 4.5 working days for routine repairs that tenants previously enjoyed, so we ask for your patience.
The HFF21CLS work programme is also suspended until further notice. Again we hope to implement the programme as soon as we can after restrictions are eased and to get back on programme as quickly as we can.
Consultation on Rent Review in April 2021
The Board of Atrium Homes is seeking the views of all its tenants on options for the rent review which would to take effect from 1 April 2021 and apply to all Atrium properties.
We appreciate this has been a very difficult year for many people and the Board has been mindful of this in considering the rent review.
Our rent review considers a number of factors but in particular the income needed to run the overall business and meet current and future investment plans. In 2020 for example, we completed 27 new units and completed Phase 1 of our major investment programme (HFF21CLS) which we consulted you on in August 2018 and which, over the next few years will see some £15 million spent on our older stock. (https://www.atrium-homes.co.uk/your-home-investment/ )
Whilst the HFF21CLS programme has had to be suspended temporarily due to Government imposed Covid-19 restrictions, we aim to catch up and get it back on schedule as soon as we are permitted. But in order to have the necessary funds to keep these investment plans on track, we consider that we should apply a rent increase to all Atrium properties from 1 April 2021 of 1.8% (October 2020 RPI + 0.5%). This level of increase is the minimum needed to allow us to continue to deliver the HFF21CLS the programme and maintain overall service levels.
As an Atrium customer we’d also like to seek your views on another proposed change that will affect how we use the rent you pay to provide greater consistency for all tenants. At present, for most tenants the cost of landscape maintenance is, like all maintenance, included in the overall rent charge. However, a small minority of tenants pay for some landscape maintenance through a separate additional service charge. We propose to stop applying a separate service charge for landscape maintenance so that all tenants are treated equally. In future, Atrium will meet the costs (estimated at approximately £0.21 per week per property) from its overall rental income. Other services charges for elements such as close cleaning, door entry maintenance and landlord supply would not be affected.
If you wish to express your views on either or both matters, please do so by completing this survey online at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/AHRENT2021 or by emailing your response to info@atrium-homers.co.uk by Friday 22 January 2021 at 12 noon. The final decision on the level of increase will be taken at Atrium’s Board meeting on 26th January 2021.
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