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Coronavirus Update 

Life as we know it seems to have changed beyond recognition over the last few days as Coronavirus takes hold in the UK, with recent reports acknowledging that London is a  hotspot for the spread of the virus.  As a responsible landlord we are closely following  the Government’s briefings, and we are committed to following the guidelines for minimising the spread of infection.  We will continue to adjust our practices as necessary and issue further updates as the situation develops.

Disinfection practices 

We are regularly disinfecting areas such as door handles, light switches and handrails  using an antiviral cleaning solution.  Despite supply difficulties, we have also managed  to source some alcohol hand sanitiser which we expect to be delivered early next week.  Once this is received, a bottle will be placed inside each of the communal entrances, and we would politely request that all tenants use this on entering the building.  In the meantime, can we remind all tenants of the importance of regular handwashing in minimising the spread of the virus.

Self-isolation and home working 

With more of you now working from home there is the increased chance of meeting   others in hallways and on the stairs.  Government guidelines are to maintain a minimum distance of 2 metres from other people at all times and we would ask tenants to respect this.  Should you experience the Coronavirus symptoms of a cough  and / or fever you should self-isolate for 7 days if you live alone, or the whole household should self-isolate for 14 days if you live with others.  Please let us know by  emailing admin@pimlico-flats.co.uk if you are self-isolating as a result of developing symptoms and we will do our best to ensure that you have adequate supplies of food  and other essentials.

 

Property maintenance 

We are in the process of setting up a dedicated email address for reporting any
property maintenance issues and will notify you of the procedure as soon as this has been arranged.  In the meantime, please email maintenance@pimlico-flats.co.uk if you have any faults or repairs requiring attention.

In the event that we or our contractors need to access your apartment to carry out required inspections or maintenance we will contact you in advance in the usual way,  but we will now also ask you a number of questions to ascertain the risk of spreading  infection.  All necessary precautions will be taken to avoid any personal contact during  access.  If you are self-isolating due to the onset of symptoms access may be deferred  until your period of self-isolation has been completed.

Financial difficulties 

We are mindful that the months ahead may prove difficult financially for many people  with potential job losses, reduced working hours or reduced income.  Please email admin@pimlico-flats.co.uk at the earliest opportunity if you anticipate having any difficulty meeting your rent payments in order that options can be discussed.

Free Broadband At Pimlico Flats

Tenants will know that for 10 years we have provided Internet Access which we don’t make a charge for. Believe it or not in the early days experts advised us not to do this as we would become liable for all sorts of activities by our tenants using what was our internet account, nevertheless we have provided this free service for some 10 years now. Initially the service was only to the flats which had been modernised, and had cabling for the internet installed, but 3 years ago we added a number of wireless routers extending the facility to all flats.

Tenants intending to run a business from home, or needing reliable internet access have always been advised to provide their own service. The service I provide is shared amongst everyone, and so is not secure, fast, or reliable. We do not employ any technical support and internet access does not form part of the tenancy contract.

At the beginning of this year things suddenly went bad – the internet stopped working, and it still isn’t back to full health. I thought that I should crawl out from under my stone and make an apology, and an explanation – which whilst not excusing the extraordinary delay in returning the service, may explain what I now know. I am really sorry for what is happening, and we are working hard to fix things and get them running again.

Our Internet disappeared at the beginning of January, and it took some time to establish why. It was provided by Sky has part of a TV package that I was paying for – for some reason the TV channels haven’t been provided for some time, and I only continued with the TV package because I got free Internet Access with it. When the Internet disappeared Sky claimed that I had cancelled it in 2010 – the questions as to why I would cancel a free service, and why they continued to supply a cancelled service for another 2 years aren’t clear.

I decided to make a break from Sky and also to improve the speed of the internet service that we provide, and so have cancelled the Sky service and signed up to Utilities Warehouse to give us a Super Fast Fibre Optic Broadband Service to improve everyone’s connection. Currently this isn’t going well – Utilities Warehouse have visited, installed, and left without anything working. We have had a look at what they have left, and got an ordinary ADSL service running ourselves, but a few flats that used to have wired services seem to have lost their connection, and we are yet to get the wireless routers working again.

I am really sorry about this, and will be visiting next week to review the situation. Meanwhile we believe that most wired connections should work, and a wireless connection should be available on:

 

SSID: TNCAP3EEECF

PASSWORD: CA998ADAE8

Worlds Largest Photograph Features Pimlico Flats

Worlds Largest Photograph Features Pimlico Flats – a bit! We are hidden behind the skyscrapers of Victoria in the panoramic view of London.

BT Tower Panorama

London Panorama

Taken after the end of the London 2012 Games, the 320 gigapixel image – taken by expert photography firm 360Cities – comprises 48,640 individual frames which have been collated into a single panorama by a supercomputer. If printed at normal photographic resolution, it would be almost as tall and as wide as Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace is visible bottom right in front of Pimlico Flats on this zoomed in shot, Battersea Power Station behind us. Watch the video to discover the sory of the making of this massive photograph.

Pimlico In The Snow

 

The eagle eyed will notice that this gentleman featured in the media was travelling past Pimlico Flats along Sussex St. and then down Cambridge St.

 

Media Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/image_galleries/snow_pictures_gallery_feb2009.shtml?46

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1154646/Return-winter-flurry-snow-heads-Britain.html

Pimlico Flats Reception

A recent visitor sketched their view of what life was like in our reception on Monday Mornings. Sorry to the rest of the world for the “in” joke, but you are welcome to visit us & come and see for yourself.

Staff Meeting in Reception

Staff Meeting in Reception

How Pimlico Residents use the Internet

Pimlico IT
Westminster Council did a survey of our technological habits as part of a plan to justify an expansion of its digital services. There are some interesting insights into the average Pimlico Resident’s life in the survey, but my own concern is that WCC seem to have little concern for customer service, success for WCC involves passing it’s problems on to it’s residents. A future blog will analyse WCC’s own use of IT, meanwhile here are the results of their analysis of OUR use ………….

  • Pimlico residents exceed national averages in all areas of digital and wireless communication:
  • Nationally  30 per cent own smartphones but 64 per cent of Pimlico residents own one.
  • 6% of the UK own a tablet against 19 per cent of residents in Pimlico.
  •  86 per cent of residents are connected to the internet at home, rising to 94 per cent in the 16-44 year age bracket.
  • Online interactions between residents and the local authority cost the Council only 17p per interaction, whereas a face-to-face interaction between the Council and a resident can cost £14.
  • Online interactions cost the taxpayer only 1% of the cost of a face-to-face transaction.
  • WCC have  a deal with O2 to provide free WiFi in time for the Olympics, and of course Pimlico Flats provides wired and wireless internet access to tenants free of charge.

Clearly Pimlico Residents make a much greater use of the Internet, Mobile Computing, and Social Media, than the Nation as a whole.

A statement by the Council says “The Council can harness this by expanding the online options for contacting the Council, improving its website, and stepping up its digital publications to save real money for the taxpayer. WCC  has already shown its commitment to becoming the UK’s most digitalized city, and we will continue to expand our online options to provide excellent value for money to our residents.”

Fine words, but what is good for the council isn’t necessarily good for the residents …….

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VACANCIES

To View please phone Phil on 07788 370528

October 2016

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1 Bed Studio Flat £1300 pcm

2 Bed Flat £2500 pcm

Short stays £150/Night
The Landlords own
1 Bed (Double) Flat

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