Whether you're walking your dogs in the morning, taking your children to the playground or coming home after work, we want to ensure you feel comfortable in your community. We have a whole team of people who feel this way, and whose job it is to keep your community safe. This includes the Housing team and the Neighbourhood team, who will be happy to chat with you if you see them out and about.
We're committed to making our communal spaces healthier for nature and people. We want to help wildlife near your home and bring the wellbeing benefits of nature closer to you. If you share your community with local wildlife like birds, butterflies and hedgehogs, you'll be pleased to know we take grounds maintenance very seriously.
Hedges
Hedges are a really important habitat for birds, mammals and insects and help wildlife move between gardens and other green spaces. Hedges are trimmed where needed between November and February. We don't cut them between March and October in line with The Countryside Act 1981 - this is for the protection of wild birds, their nests and eggs.
Shrubs
We'll cut back shrubs in autumn and winter. If a shrub is flowering, we'll leave it alone so that bees, butterflies and insects aren't disturbed. Sometimes, birds will nest in shrubs too, so we have to be mindful of The Countryside Act 1981 again as this also applies to them.
See our full 2023/24 schedule below.
Spraying/weed control
We'll do this where needed, between March and April, and between July and August.
Grass cutting
Our grassy areas are there for you to enjoy, so please feel free to get outdoors and use them as places to relax or play. The main cutting season is between March and November and we’ll cut the grass when we need to. Some areas will be left to grow longer to promote the growth of wildflowers which are really important for bees, butterflies and other insects.
During periods of extreme weather, such as heatwaves or heavy snow, grass cutting is closely monitored and may be suspended until the weather is more suitable. During this time, our teams will carry out other, more beneficial works within your community.
We’re trialling different ways of managing our green spaces, to find out which encourage the most wildlife and are enjoyed most by you. One of the ways we’re doing this is by Urban Wilding.
We’ve been letting some areas of grass grow longer so wildflowers can produce food for bees and butterflies, and we’ve sewn seeds to create meadows in other spaces. In the autumn we’ll plant shrubs so that birds and insects have a place to call home. Keep an eye out for different plants and creatures in your neighbourhood and see what you can spot!
We want our tenants to be able to enjoy their lives and communities without being anxious about crime or disorder. We aim to provide and uphold secure and safe communities that people want to be a part of. However, from time to time the actions of others can have a negative impact on us and can start to affect our day to day lives.
When we talk about communal areas, this includes interior spaces like hallways, landings and laundry rooms. It's important we follow one important rule in these spaces, and that's to make sure we don't leave any personal belongings laying around. We enforce this rule strictly, because it's for the health & safety of all tenants using the space.
If someone rents their home without permission, leaves their home without letting us know or has given false information to access a home, then this would be classed as ‘tenancy fraud’. Tenancy fraud is a serious crime and we do not tolerate it, so if you know someone who is acting fraudulently, please let us know as soon as possible. And don't worry, we won't give out your details. To find out more about fraud and how to report it, then visit our ‘Your Tenancy’ page. See it, report it, stop it
Our Neighbourhood team are here to make sure you feel safe and happy in your community.
They are here to carry out regular neighbourhood inspections, playground checks and weekly health & safety tests at our sheltered and ex-sheltered schemes. They can help with abandoned vehicles, graffiti removal, fly-tipping and management of your bin stores. They will work with you to improve your community.
