Over 5,000 North Lincolnshire homes visited as part of check scheme

During the last year a team of six officers have been visiting residents to find out what they think about services, if they have any concerns, offer advice on benefits, find out if people require extra support and to make sure we have the details of everyone living at the address.

Ninety four per cent of residents visited so far have been offered extra help with repairs, budgeting and benefits advice and some are now receiving some extra support from our Tenancy Support Team as well as lots more.

Apart from to carry out annual gas safety checks, some tenants will not see NLH staff after the first year of their tenancy so Home Checks are designed to give a better idea of what it’s like to live in an NLH property and to find out if more support for residents is needed.

The scheme was initially run as a pilot where 1,000 homes were selected at random to visit within the first three months of 2014 but due to the success of these visits it was decided in June that every home would be visited periodically.

Darren Bonar, Senior Home Check Officer, said: “To have visited 5,000 homes within the first year of the scheme and offer extra help to 94% of those residents is a success.

“During one visit in Scunthorpe, a resident reported concern for their neighbour who was struggling with bathing. One of the officers went to see him and arranged for occupational health to get in touch to see what help could be offered. Within two weeks the man had been given a new bath seat and extra support to assist him with bathing.

“It is things like this which can make a big difference to people lives which is why we are continuing to visit homes around North Lincolnshire.”