Customer Merger Update | October 2014
We are merging!
We’re delighted that the proposed merger of Jephson and Raglan has now
been approved by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
We know you’ll have questions about what this means for you, so we’ve
tried to anticipate some of your main concerns:
What will the merger mean for residents?
What changes will I see?
We believe that this will bring many benefits for our
residents. In the longer term, we will be able to build
a greater number of affordable homes than we would
otherwise be able to deliver separately and, overall,
we’re looking at potentially developing more than
7,000 new homes over 10 years. This will mean more
choice for residents and for our local communities.
We will look to improve services and introduce new
ones by bringing together the best way of doing things
from each of our organisations. The changes will not
happen immediately but are part of a longer term plan.
One of the first things that will change is our name.
The new housing association group will be re-branded
as ‘Stonewater’. This is the name you will start to see
on letters, in offices, on staff ID and on our website
and social media. The change of name does not affect
your existing tenancy agreement, terms or rights.
If the HCA have agreed to the merger,
why is it not happening until January?
There are lots of things we need to put in place before
we can begin to work as a single organisation. We’ve
already started on some of the changes and have
made good progress. By January, we will be in a
position to operate as one organisation.
Will I deal with the same people as before?
Yes. Over the longer term there may be changes to
the ways we interact with you but we will keep you
fully informed.
Will this mean an increase to my rent
and/or other charges?
No. The merger going ahead does not mean an
increase in rent and/or charges. Rents are reviewed
each year in line with our normal processes and
residents will retain their existing rights and terms.
What happens if I need to report a problem
or repair?
Will residents still have the opportunity
to be involved and have a say in things?
You should report a problem or repair in the usual way.
Over the longer term, we will be introducing changes
designed to bring further improvements as we understand
that this is a priority area for residents. Again, we’ll keep
you fully informed as and when things change.
Yes, we believe listening to residents is a critical part
of our future success. Our new organisation will have
a number of ways for residents to be involved, including
a Scrutiny Panel which will hold us to account for the
service we provide as a landlord. The panel will represent
all the regions where we have homes. They will identify
the services which they believe should be reviewed
and will carry out in depth scrutiny of these services.
They will evaluate how we are doing and will make
recommendations for improvement directly to our Board.
I use the website. Will this still exist?
Yes, but from January you will see changes. The current
website will be replaced with a new ‘Stonewater’ website.
You will still be able to find all the information you need
on it and continue to conduct online transactions in the
usual way. This is a key area of investment for us as we
look to improve our digital presence and make it easy for
residents to deal with us, 24/7. Our Facebook and Twitter
platforms will also be changed to reflect our new name.
We are also involving our residents in decision making
around our integration progress. We have selected a
group of residents from both existing organisations to
create a Sounding Board. The purpose of the Sounding
Board is to ensure that we meet our tenants’ needs
throughout the merger, and the group will help us to
decide how to effectively communicate the changes
that will be taking place.
Key Benefits
Increased
choice and
availability
More
affordable
homes
Investment
in local
communities
Improved
service
standards
Increased
efficiency and
value for money
Our Vision:
‘Everyone has the opportunity to have
a place they can call home.’