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New Council initiative gets tenants waving

South Holland District Council’s housing team have started a new way to communicate with sheltered housing tenants during the current Coronavirus outbreak, starting ‘Wave from Your Window’ sessions for a socially distanced opportunity to catch-up.

With the usual regular meet and greet sessions across the Council’s sheltered housing sites in the District not possible due to COVID-19, housing officers came up with the new idea to make sure every tenant has an opportunity to speak to the team, regardless of whether they are housebound or not.

In the sessions a council housing officer will walk slowly along the length of the estate on a pre-arranged day and time. Tenants are encouraged to wave at them from their front window or door if they have anything they’d like to discuss, so the officer knows to stop and talk to them from a safe distance.

This new scheme has been trialled at sites in Spalding and Holbeach, and has been fantastically received, with over 50% of tenants taking part and showing their appreciation for an opportunity to see their officer and raise any questions or issues they may have.

Following the success of these initial sessions, the team are now looking to extend the trial and implement it across all sites in the District if it continues to be successful.

Councillor Christine Lawton, portfolio holder for housing and health, is delighted with the success so far: “It is so important to maintain contact with our tenants, especially those who are more vulnerable, during these difficult times.

“I am thrilled that this has taken off and seems to be so popular with our residents, and am confident that this simple but effective means of communications will provide a vital lifeline to many of them. I look forward to hearing how well it is received elsewhere in the District and want to thank the team for their hard work making it a reality.”