Day‑to‑Day Practicalities

Day-to-day costs and allowances

What daily living allowance (food, travel, laundry, essentials) are displaced residents entitled to, and how should claims be submitted?

Where households were provided with hotel accommodation, we included breakfast and dinner as well as WiFi costs where possible.  If we were unable to secure you meals at the hotel itself, or you requested we don’t, then we will instead provided £20 a day per child under 10 and £30 a day per person over 10.

Once you moved from a hotel to a self-serviced apartment we will stop paying a daily food allowance as you can then prepare meals as if you were at home.  

If you incurred any additional expenses due to your placement in a hotel or serviced apartment, we will reimburse you for reasonable expenses. This could include having to use local laundry facilities, increased travel costs, parking costs at the hotel or others. Please discuss this with us in advance and send any receipts by email.

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Chaperone service and access to homes

How can we access our homes to collect belongings?

We have put in place a chaperone service, which runs seven days a week from 10am. Please use the booking link provided by email to reserve a time. If you have any trouble booking you can all the hotline on 020 3815 0333 for support.

How can we carry out meter readings now that access to the block has been halted?

We would suggest that you write to your energy supplier and explain that you have been relocated, therefore no meter readings can be taken at this time and if they require any further information we will be happy to assist.

Will contractors be entering our homes and how will our goods be safeguarded if so?

At this time, none of the planned remediation work requires access to your home, but if that changes, we will keep you fully informed. Contractors will not enter your home without your knowledge.

Would it be a good idea to empty our flats?

We recommend that you keep valuable items, essential documents, and things which are irreplaceable due to their sentimental or emotional value, with you. The chaperone service is running seven days a week for those who need to collect any belongings. There is no need to remove large items of furniture. If there is any specific reason why an item of large furniture needs to be moved, then you should speak to your local officer or the team at the resident hub.

If any intrusive investigations or works need to take place in your home in the future, we would work with you to ensure that your belongings are removed and stored safely. We are exploring options to enable the removal of all belongings from your homes to see if this is a viable option.

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Post and deliveries

What arrangements are in place for collecting post and parcels during the relocation period?

Once you are in longer-term accommodation you should arrange with Royal Mail to redirect your post to that address. We will cover the cost of that service upon provision of confirmation. Until then, post and parcels will be with the concierge at Halo Tower and can be collected 24 hours a day.

Can concierge staff continue to notify residents of parcel arrivals by email, as before?

The concierge will still be able to inform you via email that a parcel has arrived, but for general mail you should set some time aside each week to visit the concierge and collect it, if you have not yet arranged to have your mail redirected.

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Counselling support

Can you provide any counselling support?

We are providing access to video call sessions with a qualified independent counsellor, giving you the opportunity to discuss the impact the last few weeks has had on you and your household.

These sessions are entirely free of charge and we do not receive any details of who accesses any sessions. In order to arrange an appointment, you will need to contact Help@Hand, a health and wellbeing provider that works independently of Notting Hill Genesis.

You will be able to arrange your appointment through the Help@Hand app, but first we need to register you with the provider. If you would like us to register you, which you can do whether you eventually decide to make use of the service or not, please send your name and email address to hotline@nhg.org.uk. We can then register you and give you details of how to access their confidential counselling service.

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