Stratford Halo Updates

This week we are updating you on our recent meeting with Sapphire Court residents, relocation of our Amber Court residents, how we are supporting residents to challenge bills from Thames Water and to provide some reassurance about temperature-related building movements and an update about our residents’ hub.

Sapphire Court residents meeting

We held an in-person meeting with Sapphire Court residents on 12 March to discuss the support we are providing and to hear how best we can continue to support them in the future.

The meeting discussed the chaperone service, storage and insurance for residents' possessions, the services at residents’ homes, permanent relocations, and how residents would like us to engage with them in the future.

This was a very productive session, and we are grateful to those that attended, sharing their feedback and ideas. We hope to organise similar consultations to capture the views of other residents at Stratford Halo. We’ll be in touch with you with details soon.

Permanent moves

We would also like to reiterate that any general needs tenants considering permanent relocation must complete and return a Transfer Application Form with the supporting documentation required. If you, or any member of your household has a medical condition or disability, you can also complete a medical self-assessment form to support your application.

Amber Court relocation

This week, we started the temporary relocation of residents of Amber Court to a new building, at Oxlow Lane, in Dagenham. The new building will allow Amber Court residents to continue to live as a community and receive care from the same provider.

We have now relocated 12 Amber Court residents to Oxlow Lane and continue to work with Newham Council and residents’ families, to make this transition as seamless as possible. We’re relocating residents in stages to ensure we keep everyone well informed and reassured that their needs will continue to be met at their new, temporary home. We hope to have moved all Amber Court residents by early April.

Although the new homes at Oxlow Lane are ready for Amber court residents to move in to, there are some final works being completed in and around the building.

Adjustments to water bills

We understand that some residents have continued to receive bills from Thames Water, in addition to standing charges, despite having moved away from your home. Residents have let us know that when they have explained to Thames Water that they have not been living at their home during the billing period, they have been asked to provide evidence.  

To help residents provide that evidence, we’ve prepared a template letter that you can add your details to and submit to Thames Water, requesting that additional bills are stopped while you are not living in your home. That template letter can be found here. 

Recent ‘trigger warnings’

As we’ve explained previously, there are devices fitted to the affected buildings to monitor movement in the structures. These devices send a notification if there is any significant movement in the buildings. As the weather becomes warmer, all buildings to expand very, very slightly, and shrink in size slightly when the weather becomes significantly colder. In recent weeks the devices have detected this movement on a number of occasions. When that has happened, we have had to suspend the chaperone service, for safety, while the original structural design engineers for the building attend to check and confirm the reasons for that detected movement. On Tuesday afternoon, these devices sent another trigger warning, meaning we had to temporarily suspend the chaperone service. On-site checks confirmed that the movement was caused by the warmer weather, and the chaperone service was back up and running early on Wednesday morning.

Residents’ hub

In the coming weeks you might notice some changes at around the residents’ hub. One of the two portakabins, which were put in place to house chaperone service is being removed, as just one portakabin is actually required. There will be no change to the chaperone service, and the resident’s hub is completely unaffected. We plan to remove the portakabin during the second week in April.