Date: 4 April 2025
Dear resident,
I write to formally consult with you regarding proposed changes to services we deliver to you as a tenant living in one of our multi-storey blocks.
Last year the council held several in-person consultation meetings, and all residents were invited to submit feedback online about how they felt about their experiences living in a multi-storey home, and the services they receive.
Currently you pay a service charge to receive the following services:
- a residential caretaker
- out of hours responsive cleaning
If you are a resident of Regent Court, you pay a slightly different service charge and also receive a concierge service as follows:
- 8am to 10pm, Monday to Thursday
- 8am to 12 midnight, Friday and Saturday
- 11am to 8pm, Sunday.
The council have committed to spending £3.7 million on improving our 21 multi-storey blocks. This includes a brand-new comprehensive CCTV system at each location, that will provide full coverage to help identify any perpetrators of crime and anti-social behaviour. It will also see the installation of brand-new door entry systems at each block, with every household having access to a tablet to be able to see who is at the front door seeking to visit them. As part of this new service model caretakers will no longer be required to live in the block, and over time caretakers may decide to move to a new home.
This investment programme and the technological improvements it provides gives us a real opportunity to look at how we deliver services. On completion of the work in your block, we propose to change the service we deliver to the following:
- 24-hour CCTV monitoring and member of staff available at the end of your intercom 24/7
- out of hours attendance to your block for responsive cleaning and security related matters
- as with the current service, you will continue to have a named caretaker assigned to your block
- on completion of the CCTV installation, the caretaking service across all blocks will be non-residential
- a new post in the service to support the development of community facilities in multi-storey blocks.
As these are services paid for via a service charge, it is vital as recipients, you are consulted on the proposed changes.
We are also interested in hearing your views on the introduction of a community room or facility if developed, either in your block or a neighbouring block.
It is our plan to repurpose some of what are currently caretaker flats to create this space for residents and local groups to use for activities and social events, and we are keen to hear your ideas on what you would like to see included in the facility.
These proposals will require your service charges to be reviewed, but as the new service will not be fully operational until 2027/28, your service charges 2026/27 will be calculated on the current service model, taking account of annual inflation. You have already been advised of the service charge for 2025/26, and this was based on the existing service model.
There will be further consultation on the service charges to be implemented from 2027/28.
To submit consultation responses to what is proposed, please go to www.gateshead.gov.uk/MultiStorey or use this QR code.
Alternatively, please write to us at Gateshead Council, Multi-Storey Housing Team, Gateshead Civic Centre, Regent Street, Gateshead, NE8 1HH.
The consultation will be available until Thursday 8 May 2025. All responses will be analysed and any final decision made by the council will be confirmed in writing to all residents.
To access this letter using our listen and translate service, please go to www.gateshead.gov.uk/services-letter-3Ps or use this QR code.
Yours sincerely
Thomas Sutton
Service Manager (Housing and Neighbourhood Services)
Housing Environment and Healthy Communities
