Our customers have lots of questions about what we do, how we do things and who will sort things out for them.
We've got a few of these questions below with the answers further down. Just click on the question and you'll be taken to the answer.
If you'd like to ask a question that hasn't already be listed below, you can either:
If you send us an email, we should get back to you within five working days to let you know we've got it. If we don't, please let us know. We'll try and answer your question within two weeks, but it may take longer if it isn't straightforward. We'll then put it on this page for everyone else to see.
At the bottom of the page are links to other documents you may find useful. Click on the following link to go to the bottom of the page: take me to the bottom of the page
Questions about tenancies
Questions about where you live
Questions about your home
Questions about repairs to your home and our repairs team, Aster Property Management
General questions
Answered by: Marion Bell - Neighbourhood Manager at Romsey
Your partner will have to prove to us that they’ve lived with you for at least 12 months. This can be by showing us a gas, electric or water bill in their name going to your address, a bank or credit card statement or anything else to show that they’ve lived with you for over a year.
Also, you mustn’t owe us any money. And we mustn’t have started court action against you because you’ve broken your tenancy agreement.
If your partner comes from a foreign country, we’ll ask them to show us their passport and a letter from the immigration service to prove they’re allowed to stay in this country.
If there’s no reason why your partner can’t go on the tenancy, you’ll both need to come to our office to sign new tenancy forms. This also gives us the chance to explain what you must do as a joint tenant and what you’re jointly responsible for. You should also read the answer to the question below about having a joint tenancy.
Back to top
Answered by: Marion Bell - Neighbourhood Manager at Romsey
This depends on the situation. If you and your ex partner agree to this and you don’t owe us any money, you’ll need to make an appointment to come into our office to sign some forms saying you’re both happy to do this. If your ex partner doesn’t agree, it’s more complicated and the courts may have to decide.
If you’d like to know more, get in touch with your neighbourhood officer. They’ll be happy to talk to you about it.
Back to the top
Answered by: Marion Bell - Neighbourhood Manager at Romsey
Let us have a copy of your marriage certificate and we’ll change your name on all our records.
Back to the top
I've changed my name. How do I change it on my tenancy?
Answered by: Marion Bell - Neighbourhood Manager at Romsey
Let us have a copy of the deed poll and we’ll change your name on our records
Back to the top
Answered by: Keith Jefferies - (former) Head of Asset Management
You can now have a water meter put in your home without having to check with us first.
Water meters might not save everyone money, but you could benefit from having one. When you call, your water supplier can let you know if you can have a meter and if it'll save you money. You'll need to know where your main stopcock is.
If you live in a block of flats or in our homes for older people, you may already have water bills included in your rent. If this is happening, it may not be possible to fit a meter to separate flats in those blocks. But the water company can let you know.
Contact:
Southern Water - 0845 2780845
Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water - 01202 590059
Wessex Water - 0845 6004600
Cholderton & District Water - 01980 629203
Back to top
Answered by: Tracy Breen – Call Centre and Planning Manager
Very well. Most days we take about 300 calls. We want to answer every call but sometimes it can be very busy and we know we don't always do this. When the call centre is busy, we've got more people to help take the calls. We've also just taken on more staff to carry out the repairs. This will make the service much better for our customers.
Back to top
Answered by: Mark Curtis – Senior Programme Surveyor for APM
Most of APM staff are happy with the changes made to the repairs system. They're also working hard to make sure the changes improve the service we give.
Back to top
How do I get involved in Resident Involvement?
Answered by Nicki Attrill – Resident Involvement Officer
If you get in touch with a member of the Resident Involvement Team, they’ll make arrangements to come and see you to talk about what projects are running that you can get involved with. You can get in touch by either ringing 01264 405555 or email info@testway.co.uk.
Back to top
Answered by: Kelly McArthur - (former) Neighbourhood Manager for Andover
We have maps you can look at in our offices in Andover and Romsey that show who owns which area of land. If you'd like to see these maps, please get in touch with your neighbourhood officer or ask one of the customer service staff in reception.
Back to top
Answered by: Kelly McArthur - (former) Neighbourhood Manager for Andover
Your neighbourhood officer will be able to tell you this. We'll need to find out who owns the land and whose job it is to do the work.
Back to top
Answered by: Kelly McArthur - (former) Neighbourhood Manager for Andover
It depends on where it is. Some areas are carried out by Test Valley Borough Council and some by APM Estate Services. Your neighbourhood officer will be able to tell you who looks after your area.
Back to top
Answered by Gareth Evans – (former) Neighbourhood Officer
The short answer is ‘no’, but the good news is we know who is. Hampshire County Council deal with the public transport areas and you should get in touch with them about bus shelters. Andy Berncastle works in the passenger transport department at Hampshire CC. You can call Andy on 01962 841841 and he'll be happy to help you.
Back to top
Answered by: Allison Whitehead – Home Ownership and PSL Manager and Eleanor Watters – Financial Controller
The actual service charge costs are gathered together by block through the year. They’re then split between the number of units in the block. There are occasional cases where one unit doesn’t have a service, in which case the cost is then split between those which do. The actual charges are used as the basis of the estimates for the following year. There’s an 18 month delay for tenants in this process, so the service charges payable in 08/09 are made up of the estimate for 08/09 plus the difference between the estimate and actual for 06/07.
Back to top
Answered by: Jenny Wells – Telecare Manager
Lifelines, or Telecare, are small units which fix to your telephone and let you call for help at the touch of a button. They can be linked to other things like smoke detectors and fall detectors to give you both peace of mind and promote independence. With a unit you're never on your own as the alarm is being monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We can give you a full list of alarms and sensors that you can use, together with advice on how you can pay. Some units can be covered through grant funding and prices start at just 30pence per week, but you may be able to get it for free. If you’d like to know more, get in touch with the Telecare team on 01264 405612 or e-mail support@testway.co.uk
Back to top
Answered by: Kelly McArthur - (former) Neighbourhood Manager for Andover
A good way of getting involved is to join your neighbourhood officer on a neighbourhood visit. You can find out which areas are being done and the dates in the Together magazine we send out. Or click here to be taken to the page with these details on this website.
Also, if you're a member of the Testway Housing Incentive Scheme, (THIS) you can apply for money from the community fund to make improvements to where you live. If you'd like to come along to a neighbourhood visit, call 01264 405560. Or, if you’d like to find out more about THIS, click here or ring Tina Trotter on 01264 405652.
Back to top
Answered by: Jenny Collins – RTB and PSL officer
You may have either the Right to Buy or Right to Acquire your home. Please contact either Jenny Collins or Cath Boyt on 01264 405556 if you want to know more. They can send you a form to fill in to find out if you can buy your home from Testway.
Back to top
Answered by: Kelly McArthur – (former) Neighbourhood Manager for Andover
Yes they can. Although you hold a joint tenancy, only one of you has to give Notice to Quit to end the tenancy. A Notice to Quit is when you tell us you want to end the tenancy. It has to be in writing and you have to tell us four weeks before you end the tenancy. We call this four weeks’ notice. We'll send out a letter which will be addressed to the joint customers to say we've got the letter giving us four weeks' notice. The letter will say when the keys are due back at our office and other information about leaving the home.
Back to top
Answered by: Rachel Credidio – (former) Sales and Development Director
It's unlikely that we'll fit solar panels to all our homes. We're working to make sure all our homes are more energy efficient, both to reduce the impact of new homes on the environment, and to make our homes cheaper to run. We look at a range of things - solar panels are good if the property is south facing. We also look at providing better insulation, making sure that the home uses the water more efficiently, and that the structure of the building provides better insulation, and uses more environmentally friendly products like timber from renewable sources.
Back to top
Answered by: Steven Slater – (former) APM Performance Manager for Andover
We're sorry if you've had a reason to complain about one of our staff members. Any complaint about APM staff should go to Steve Slater on 01264 405689 who’ll look into it for you and follow our complaints procedure.
Back to top
Answered by: Elaine Curtis – Policy and Performance Manager
Just tell any of us. You can ring us, visit our offices, send a letter or an email. We want to hear what you want to tell us - whether it’s good or bad - so let us know about anything we’re doing well or where we could do better.
Back to top
Answered by: Rebecca Outram – (former) Lettings Manager
If people need to move for medical reasons, they have to complete a Medical Recommendation form, which you can get from your local authority (council). The council will then look at what you need and how quickly you need to move. You'll then need to start bidding on suitable properties, but if you can't bid yourself, the council will do this for you. We also have a smooth move scheme and will help you to make the move go as easy as possible. Smooth Move is free if you’re 60 and over if you get benefits. But, if you’re under 60 you can still get help with Smooth Move, but you’d have to pay for it by the hour. Get in touch with us if you’d like to know more.
Back to top
Answered by: Sharon Towerton - Neighbourhood Officer
You can contact your neighbourhood officer for information and advice on how to deal with barking dogs. But the dog warden at Test Valley Borough Council would be the person to speak to first as they would check to see if the animal’s being looked after properly. If the owners are Testway tenants and they don’t take any notice of the dog warden’s advice, then your neighbourhood officer will talk to both our tenants and the dog warden to find ways of sorting the problem out. This may be reminding them of their tenancy condition, which says ‘You must not allow any pet or animal that you keep at the property to cause a nuisance to anyone.’ You can get in touch with the dog warden by ringing 01264 368000.
Back to top
Answered by: Tony Perrett – (former) Head of Property Maintenance
We've looked at all our garages and we’re putting together a plan of the work that needs doing and when we can do it. If you want to know more, please ring Tony Perrett on 01264 405520.
Back to top
Answered by: Nicki Attrill – Resident Involvement Officer
You can give a member of the resident involvement team a call or write to them. They'll then make sure that your comments are passed onto the right area.
Back to top
Answered by: Suzanne Garland – (former) Neighbourhood Officer
Your neighbourhood officer will take as many details as possible from you about your complaint, and who's causing the problem. If you feel you can to speak to your neighbour, we'll be happy to give let you know the best way to do this. Your neighbourhood officer will discuss everything with you and explain the next steps they will take. This will include you being asked to keep a log of anything that happens on our nuisance record sheets. These sheets will give us a diary of what happens and when and will provide vital evidence if any action needs to be taken on your neighbour's tenancy. Once further information has been collected, and if you feel you can't speak with your neighbour yourself, your neighbourhood officer will contact your neighbour, with your say so, about the complaint and give them a chance to explain the situation and give their side of the story.
Back to top
Answered by: Marion Bell – Neighbourhood Manager for Romsey
You can have visitors to stay for a short time without letting us know. But, they wouldn't be able to stay long if it made the house overcrowded (see you tenancy handbook). Also, if you're on benefits and someone stays with you for a long time, you should tell the local council as it may change your benefits. You should also let us know so that our records are up to date.
Back to top
Answered by: Susan Shepard – Tenancy Support Team Leader
Testway Support will need to find out why you feel you can't cope and will work with you to help you stay in your home. If your house is too big for you (or too small) we can help you move to another home that would suit you better.
Testway Support can give you independent advice to stop you becoming homeless by helping you to manage your money and help with other problems you may have with your home. We can put you in touch with other people who can help and can talk to them for you if you find that difficult. The support you get will depend upon your needs.
We’ll put together a support plan with you to make a plan of how we’re going to help you. Some of the things we'll look at are:
-
making sure you’re getting all the benefits you're able to have
arranging for you to meet other people through a visiting service or by putting you in touch with social groups
-
arranging for people to come in and help you with cleaning your home, with gardening, or with meals
-
if you owe money, we'll talk to the companies you owe money to and try to put in place a plan to repay the money based on what you can afford
We’ll go to court with you for anything that’s to do with your tenancy, for example, if you owe rent or council tax. Testway Tenancy Support is short term (up to 12 months) and is only available to Testway tenants. And it’s free. Our long term support service is available to anyone, no matter what type of property they live in or whether they rent or own their own home. If you’re over 60 and getting certain benefits, you may be able to get this service without having to pay. The cost might be covered by Supporting People Grant Funding.
Back to top
Answered by: Dave Ball – Head of Housing Services
We've looked at all the trees on our land to check where they are and if they need any work doing on them. We've put together a five year plan using a traffic light system. This shows which trees need work carried out on them first. This only involves trees that we own.
Back to top
Answered by: Sarah Smith – Resident Involvement Manager
So far you've told us what you think about our repairs service and how we deal with anti-social behaviour. You've looked at the areas that you live in and how we can make them better. By listening to what you had to say, we've already been able to make changes to the way we do things and we'll be doing more in the future.
Back to top
Answered by: Rebecca Outram – (former) Lettings Manager
Anyone can go on the Housing Register by getting in touch with the local authority (council) where you live. We don't hold any waiting lists. All homes are let on a needs basis and will depend on who you have living with you.
Back to top
Answered by: Marion Bell – Neighbourhood Manager for Romsey
There’s no policy about parking commercial vehicles on estates, but there are conditions for our customers within the tenancy agreement. Under the original tenancy agreement, parking on our land (which means driveways, green areas or garage areas we own) is limited to vehicles under 35 cwt.
A new tenancy agreement was introduced in January 2008 and this limits people to parking private vehicles only on Testway land. We've no control over parking on the public roadways within an estate. This is controlled by Hampshire Highways and the general rules of the road apply.
Back to top
Answered by: Keith Jefferies – (former) Head of Asset Management
We don't have the authority to turn off or disconnect your gas supply. Only British Gas Transco can do this. But, the gas checks are for your own safety and by law, we must do the checks once a year.
If you look in your tenancy agreement, you’ll see that one of the conditions is that you agreed to let us in every year to do these checks for you. The checks should only take about 45 minutes to do. If you don’t let us in to do these checks, we’ll take you to court and you could end up paying a large fine.
Back to top
