Hello and welcome to our Spring edition of Here to Help – your Stonewater customer newsletter.

Over the last few months, we’ve all been contending with the wintry weather which, with the cost-of-living crisis and higher heating bills, has meant a lot of anxiety for millions of people across the country. We’re very conscious that the forthcoming rent and service charge increases will not be welcome news in this difficult climate. Stonewater has to cover its costs in providing services and maintaining homes. These costs have risen significantly (like so much else) but we remain committed to doing everything we can for those who may need a bit of extra help. This ranges from one-to-one support and debt management advice to flexible payment plans and help with accessing grants. You can find more details here.

We’ve been listening to your views too and recently asked for your thoughts on what we currently offer, alongside what else we could be doing to make things a little easier. I’m really grateful for everyone who responded to our survey – it will certainly help us continue to shape our support for customers during these tough times.

Making homes more energy efficient

As well as looking at today’s immediate challenges, we’re also looking ahead at how we can make homes more energy efficient (and cheaper to run) in the future. Working with one of our partners, IPPR, we’ve funded some new research which shows how effective retrofitting could potentially save households up to £500 a year on energy bills. This is important, not just for customers but for the planet too and underlines our ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability.

There's more on this here.

New partnership

This was also an important consideration when we looked at our new venture with Greenoak - a housing association based in Surrey and East/West Sussex - who we’ve recently welcomed into the Stonewater group. Not only are we delighted to support more homes and families in these beautiful areas, we’re excited to be working in a new partnership which reflects our values and Net Zero ambitions.

I hope you enjoy reading through this edition which features lots of updates from across our communities. It’s good to see some positive stories in the current climate and please remember that we’re always Here to Help if you need us.