TENANTS were given news updates and cyber-crime advice when they took part in the White Residents’ meeting in Bromham.
The residents were joined by White Horse staff and board members for the lively meeting at Bromham Community Hub. The evening began with a presentation from cyber security specialist Simon Goodwin from CyberBeat, a police-led education programme run by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit.
He spoke about cyber-crime and fraud, revealing that the UK lost about £14.7 billion a year and that roughly half of all reported crime in Wiltshire and nationally was fraud and cyber related.
He gave examples of common scams, such as phishing emails, text messages and calls, which are behind the majority of fraud. He said phishing emails could be made to look identical to genuine emails from the likes of Amazon, banks, police or hospitals.
He spoke about the impact of AI and had some advice on how to improve online security, such as stronger passwords, using password managers and passkeys, enabling two-factor authentication, backing up data and keeping software updated.
He also had a warning about romance fraud, which targets lonely people with have savings. Scammers can groom victims over many months until they are willing to send tens of thousands of pounds without ever meeting in person. He said fraudsters are highly skilled and many people who may think “I’d never fall for that” could still be vulnerable.
Asset Management Officer Sarah Occleshaw gave an update on the past year’s repairs and maintenance, with under 1,400 responsive and emergency repairs, including out-of-hours calls, and hundreds of annual servicing visits for gas boilers, cylinders and air source heat pumps.
She spoke about Awaab’s Law, which puts obligation on landlords to act on damp and mould. She said White Horse treats every report as serious, carried out triage based on health, age, household and severity, and then decides the best course of action. Over the first year of the new regime White Horse has had more than 60 damp and mould enquiries, costing just under £75,000 to address.
She spoke about planned investment in homes, saying that in the last year White Horse has installed 12 kitchens, 17 bathrooms, 12 heating systems, and new windows and doors in 14 homes.
Operations Director Belinda Eastland spoke about the recent tenant satisfaction survey, revealing that in schemes at Bromham, five out of eight households responded; four were very satisfied overall and one was very dissatisfied. The dissatisfied tenant felt repairs took a long time. Belinda said the organisation had looked into the comments and contacted tenants to understand issues. In Heddington, eight out of twelve tenants responded and all reported being either very or fairly satisfied across areas such as safety, repairs, communication and value for money.
She highlighted the new regulatory requirements on transparency, called Social Tenants’ Access to Information Requirements (STAIRs). Phase one, starting from October, involves publishing accessible information on the White Horse website about governance, decision-making, spending, stock management, performance, housing services and property management. Phase two, from April, will allow tenants or shared owners to request detailed information in these areas, excluding personal data or commercially sensitive matters. Belinda said tenants could submit requests by email or downloadable forms and that the organisation would have 30 days to respond.
She said a £10,000 grant from Wiltshire Council for resilience projects would help White Horse provide raised vegetable beds in tenants’ gardens. Belinda said the project aims to support people to grow their own food and take part in cookery courses.
Residents’ feedback at the meeting was positive, with one praising White Horse’s service. Another resident had praise for the grounds maintenance contractors.
There was some useful feedback about the text message repairs survey form, which does not allow comments. Belinda said she will look into this.
As usual there were two draws, with Rodney West Brown and Sandra Brown winning £50 shopping vouchers.
Belinda said: “It was a very good meeting and everyone said they had enjoyed it and felt it was useful. One of the highlights of the evening was the offer from a resident to join the scrutiny panel.”
The next residents’ meeting is at Sutton Benger Village Hall on Thursday, October 1, from 6pm.