Latest News

March 2010

Peverel Retirement Business Review

During March and April 2010 we will be sharing the review openly with residents. The next stage to this will see the introduction of the Peverel Retirement Service Level Promise to all residents.

February 2010

Peverel Retirement’s Homegate House scoops national accommodation award

 4th February 2010: Peverel Retirement House Manager, Yasser Kayyali, and Residents at Peverel-managed Homegate House, The Avenue, Eastbourne, are celebrating today after beating 540 other retirement developments at a national awards ceremony.

Homegate House won gold for Most Valued Scheme in Retirement Housing Design at the 2010 Housing for Older People Awards, run by the Elderly Accommodation Counsel (EAC), which has been helping elderly people make informed choices about their housing and care needs since 1984.
 
The awards ceremony was held on 4 February at Lords Cricket Ground, London.
 
Built in 1983, Homegate House is located half a mile from Eastbourne town centre and comprises 70 self contained one-bed flats.
 
Keith Edgar, Managing Director of Peverel Retirement, added:
 
“The wellbeing of Residents at our developments is our priority so we are delighted that Homegate House has been recognised by the EAC. Our congratulations go to Yasser who has successfully created a very happy community at Homegate House and our thanks to Tim Richardson, Area Manager, who has been instrumental in helping residents redesign the interior of the building through efficient budgeting.”
 
Yasser Kayyali, Peverel Retirement House Manager, comments: “It is absolutely fantastic to win, but really so long as the Residents are happy, then I’m happy.”
 
A Homegate House Resident who attended the awards ceremony, commented:
 
"There is a fantastic atmosphere here at Homegate House, and we are all grateful for the help and care given by Yasser and the team at Peverel Retirement. We will definitely be celebrating our win."
 
Homegate House also got a mention in the Eastbourne Hearald on February 19.

February 2010

Peverel Retirement customer satisfaction survey

Last year Peverel Retirement worked together with an independent research company, The Research Factor, who carried out a study with some groups of randomly selected customers to get feedback on a variety of topics. The feedback from the groups was very useful to us and identified areas where Residents are happy but also areas where they would like to see changes. These areas were communication, Area Manager accessibility, transparency of costs and how Peverel are working to get best value from contractors. Identifying the issues was the first step, the next stage was to carry out a more statistically robust survey amongst a larger cross section of Residents.  The results of this survey will enable us to quantify and therefore gauge the importance of the issues raised in the previous research and from this improve our service to our Residents.

The survey was posted out to a selection of Residents at the end of January. Residents were chosen at random whilst ensuring adequate representation from all areas of the country. To ensure Residents feel comfortable giving their honest opinions we are again using an independent research company who are full members of the Market Research Society and bound by its strict code of conduct. All returned questionnaires will be analysed by The Research Factor.  In order to assure anonymity a reference number appears on each questionnaire and the research company will use this number to identify information on the respondent such as region they live in to help with the analysis. Results of the survey will be presented to Peverel Retirement at an aggregated level ie we will not be able to identify responses from individuals.
 
The prize draw will be carried out by The Research Factor and the name and address of the winner provided in order for us to despatch the prize. We will not be provided with any responses provided by the winner.
 
The survey was not funded by service charge/management fees.
 
If you received a copy of the survey I hope you are able to spare the time to complete it.  We really do value your feedback and the results will be used as part of a programme of planned improvements to the service delivery Peverel Retirement provides and we will be repeating the research at regular intervals.  We will update you on the results of the survey along with the resulting changes in the next issue of Life&Style.
 
If you have any questions, please send them to: enquiries@peverelretirement.co.uk

February 2010

Lymington resident scoops national art award

Lymington resident, Barbara Hughes, aged 80, is celebrating after beating 100 other finalists to come first in the Elderly Accommodation Counsel (EAC) Art Awards Watercolour category, sponsored by Peverel.

The awards ceremony was held at the Bankside Gallery, London, on 1st December and was supported by journalist and broadcaster, Dame Joan Bakewell.

Barbara, who has lived at Parish court, a Peverel-managed development, since August 2007, comments:

“Painting has always been a passion of mine and I am over the moon to have come first. My painting is a watercolour of Dubrovnik, and records a visit I made to the city some years ago.
 
“My earliest interest in watercolour art arose from my father’s pictures, painted in Kashmir during his service as an officer in the 1920s.”
 
Peverel Retirement sponsored the watercolour category at the EAC Art Awards for the first time this year and is delighted that it has sparked the imagination of so many.
 
Keith Edgar, Managing Director of Peverel Retirement, comments:
 
“We aim to create a sense of community for those who live in the developments we manage. The Art Awards is a unique opportunity for older people to celebrate their creativity which is why we are so pleased to be supporting the awards this year.

All of us at Peverel Retirement would like to extend our congratulations to Barbara. She is a very worthy winner.”
The competition was open to residents over the age of 60.

To watch a video of the Awards, click here.

January 2010

Peverel’s position on recent CARLEX activity

Please see the statement below regarding recent inaccuracies which have been made in the media:


Over recent weeks, Peverel has noted that CARLEX has approached the media and recorded certain information on its own website which is incorrect.
In doing so, it is unfortunately unhelpful to its membership and the industry at large. This has resulted in the BBC removing a report which contained incorrect information about service charges on Peverel managed developments which CARLEX had supplied. The BBC has since apologised to Peverel.
We also note that whilst CARLEX, purporting to represent the welfare of our Residents, has been unwilling for Peverel to attend their regional meetings.
We believe it is firmly in the interests of the industry, if those involved work together to improve regulation (see article ‘Peverel Group calls for better regulatory control of the property management industry’ below).
On 7 January, Nigel Bannister, CEO of Peverel, wrote to CARLEX, seeking to engage with them to improve practices within the industry.
In recent times Peverel has:
1.      Written to individuals involved in case studies recently quoted by CARLEX to ensure these Residents understand their service charges. It is evident that increases and the total charges paid by these Residents are often far lower than CARLEX has stated to the media. 
 
2.      Uploaded a step by step guide to Residents’ understanding of their service charges on the Peverel website.
 
3.      Sent a statement to several media companies which explains how Peverel engages with Residents in relation to their service charges.
Finally, the well respected NHBC homes survey frequently shows that over 90% of Peverel Residents are very satisfied or satisfied with their House Managers. Recent press coverage featured on this website also demonstrates how many of Peverel staff go the extra mile in the course of their work. Peverel continues to support the great work its staff undertake in the field and would like to thank them for their continued support in looking after its Residents.

January 2010

Peverel Retirement is working to minimise costs for Residents in challenging times

We have always worked hard to keep costs to a minimum without compromising on quality.  In the current economic climate we are looking at even more ways in which we can help ease the financial pressure on Residents.  This extends from simple things like reducing the number of times the windows are cleaned to reducing contingency fund contributions.  If you feel there are areas where costs could be cut further at your development, your Area Manager will be pleased to discuss these.

In recent months, it came to our attention that a company offering Right to Manage advice were distributing leaflets to Peverel Retirement residents with claims of significant cost savings vs Peverel Retirement services on a like for like basis using the same suppliers.  Peverel Retirement referred the leaflet to the Advertising Standards Authority as the claims were inaccurate and as a result, the Right to Manage company concerned have agreed to withdraw their advertising.

If you are offered cost savings that look too good to be true, they may well be exactly that! If you have any questions on your service charge your Area Manager will always be pleased to help.

January 2010

Peverel Group calls for better regulatory control of the property management industry

Nigel Bannister, CEO of the Peverel Group wrote to John Healey MP - Minister for Housing and Planning - in November 2009, urging the Government to consider statutory regulation of property management companies “to give consumers clarity about how their money is being spent on their properties and confidence in the protection of that asset”.

Nigel sets out his view in the letter that “there is an ever growing need – and customer appetite – to regulate or possibly license operators”. He goes on to clarify that whilst the sector benefits from a whole raft of legislative protection and stringent codes of practice such as the Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) and the Association of Retirement Housing Managers (ARHM), “the Government’s focus from a regulatory perspective has been to legislate outcomes by providing the means for lessees to challenge wrongdoing after the fact . It would be far more effective for the consumer to regulate managing agents in the first place, thereby bringing real sanction against those agents that fail to act properly”.



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January 2010

ARHM fee survey

In 2008 the Association of Retirement Housing Managers (ARHM) carried out a survey about fees charged by managing agents.  Twenty six companies participated in the survey, 9 private companies and 17 Registered Social Landlords (RSLs).  Looking at average fees per year, Peverel Retirement’s average annual fee was ninth least expensive of the 26 companies who participated in the survey.  Looking at the private companies alone, Peverel Retirement was listed as fourth least expensive. In addition, some services are included as standard in the Peverel offering that the less expensive companies make an additional charge for.

If you would like information on services included in your management fee, please contact your Area Manager who will be pleased to help.

January 2010

New Scottish Codes for Retirement Sector

Peverel Scotland has played a vital part in gaining Government approval for the new private retirement sector codes. The new codes have been endorsed by the Minister for Housing and Communities, Alex Neil MSP and were formulated with the help of the ARHM (Association of Retirement Housing Managers), Age Concern, Help the Aged, RICS and many of our own Residents.