We hope that you are all continuing to stay safe and well, managed to enjoy some of the lovely weather we had over the Summer.   We would like to take the opportunity of thanking you all for your patience over the Summer whilst we undertook some fairly major roof repairs, balcony renovations and an upgrade to our main central heating system.   All major works have now been completed and everyone should now be warm and dry as we head into Autumn!

Covid 19

With the virus back on the rise, we are continuing to ensure the properties have hand sanitiser available in the communal entrances and that all regularly touched surfaces are sanitised frequently.  Please do continue to use the hand sanitiser when you enter the premises to help keep yourself and others safe.

New repairs reporting process

We are trying to improve our responses to day to day maintenance problems, and to speed up our response we are giving you the opportunity to report your faults directly into our maintenance list by eMail.   In order to report a fault please follow the following process:

1. Email repair@pimlico-flats.co.uk
2. Provide your flat number and property address (eg Flat 2, 75 Winchester Street) in the subject line.
3. Provide an overview of the repair / fault / maintenance issue in the body of the email, attaching photographs of the issue if appropriate.

You will receive an acknowledgement of the email within 2 hours which confirms that we have received your report.  If you do not receive an acknowledgement, please re-send the email to admin@pimlico-flats.co.uk and we will check our spam filters.

You will then be contacted within 1 working day (ie Monday – Friday 9.00am – 5.00pm) to arrange a mutually convenient time for one of our maintenance team to inspect and / or resolve the issue.

If you have an emergency repair, eg flood, please still email repair@pimlico-flats.co.uk to formally report the issue, but please also call 07788 370528 to raise the alert to the emergency.

Repairs & maintenance during Covid 19

Due to the continuing need to minimise contact to prevent the spread of Covid 19, until further notice the following will apply:

• Any maintenance and repair issues reported will be assessed based on the severity of the fault and ease of access.
• Where any of our team need to access your flat, please ensure that they have clear and easy access to the area as required.
• For studio flats, we may ask you to leave the flat whilst we carry out the repairs, and for 1 and 2 bedroom flats we may ask you to remain in one of the other rooms, in order that appropriate distancing can be maintained.

Coronavirus update

We are aware that, in line with Government guidelines, most of you are now working from home or have returned to stay with family until the situation resolves.  Meanwhile we have been doing our best to keep up to date with the various interventions being introduced to help alleviate financial difficulties in order that we can deal with your requests for assistance appropriately.

Property maintenance

We will now only deal with urgent and critical repairs inside occupied flats to maintain social distancing and minimise the risk of spread of infection.  Please email maintenance@pimlico-flats.co.uk to report any repairs  or maintenance issues requiring attention.  If we need to access your flat to carry out essential works we may ask you to leave the property whilst we do so in order that we can maintain the social distancing guidelines.  In the meantime, please help to minimise the risk of emergency call outs by avoiding putting anything down the sinks or toilets that may cause blockages.  Please also remember to take your keys with you when you leave the property as we may not be in a position to respond to tenants having locked themselves out of their flats.

Disinfection practices

We are continuing to regularly disinfect areas such as door handles, light switches and handrails using an antiviral cleaning solution to minimise the chance of cross-infection.  You will have also noticed that alcohol hand sanitiser has now been provided in the communal entrance areas – please do use this (sparingly as it is still difficult to source) when you enter the building.  

Financial difficulties

Please continue to email admin@pimlico-flats.co.uk at the earliest opportunity if you anticipate having any difficulty meeting your rent payments.  Whilst we will be flexible and understanding, it is also important to recognise that our costs remain, and in some circumstances have increased, and we are therefore not in a position to waive rent payments due.  Instead, any concession agreed will be similar to a mortgage holiday, whereby some of your rent due may be deferred for payment later via an agreed repayment schedule.  Meanwhile the Government has put in place a number of interventions to provide assistance to a significant proportion of workers:

• If you are paid via your employer’s payroll & PAYE system and at risk of losing your job due to Coronavirus, you can ask your employer to furlough you in order to retain 80% of your income – this includes zero hours and commission only contracts.
• If you are self-employed you will receive a grant equivalent to 80% of your average 3 months’ earnings calculated based on submitted tax returns.

Further information and help with finances at this time are available from:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/

https://www.westminster.gov.uk/coronavirus

https://www.westminster.gov.uk/benefits

Pimlico Flat ended 2014 with a new management team who are yet to be formally introduced to the world, but have made themselves known to tenants as we introduce new ways of doing business. 2014 was a year of change in which we introduced a number of  new people, and new ways of doing business. However we have had a stressful start to 2015, which we are now fully on top of.

In 2014 we had a disappointing lack of support from the police in dealing with the drugs dealer living in 79 Winchester St. who was making the lives of local residents and neighbours a misery, however after a long legal battle with the dealer’s legal aid team she was finally evicted, albeit she trashed the premises on her departure. A repair and refurbishment of the premises is currently underway, hopefully providing new affordable homes for 4 people later this year.

We had a massive big flood last year when the tenants in 71 Winchester St. awoke to the sound of the fire alarm and saw a river of water pouring down the stairs (except for a single tenant who slept through it all until he was woken by Philomena). Fire engines were called, alarms going and water gushing, fire men marching up to the boiler room all before the birds on a cold dark early morning of a Sunday… fortunately on of our regular contractors attended at 04:00 in order to stop the flood – which was caused by a burst pressure vessel (possibly a unique event).  This left the common parts of 71 Winchester St. badly in need of repair & replacement which has now been completed with a new carpet throughout.

The outside of the houses is left shabby and damp due to this flood and several other troublesome maintenance issues which have now been resolved. We are committed to supporting the local Pimlico community and consequently we have employed a local contractor to repair and repaint the fronts of the properties. The Scaffolding will be erected on the front of 79 & 77 Winchester St. from 20th July, being moved to 73, 75, 71 Winchester St. a month later, and the fronts of the houses will be repaired and repainted.

We have also had a major overhaul of our repair reporting system. We are trialling an online reporting system available at https://pimlico-flats.fixflo.com/Auth/HomeIssueCreate  which we hope will be the future of resolving tenant issues quickly and efficiently. Most tenants are using this system successfully.