• Your tenancy or lease and your rights remain exactly the same 

• The way you pay rent and contact us hasn’t changed 

• The same teams will continue to provide the services you rely on.
  
  You can check out the FAQs on our website and we will keep you updated in these newsletters - but for now, sit back, tuck into a spooky treat, enter our spot the ghost competition and enjoy the rest of this newsletter! 

In this newsletter, we:

• Provide an update on lease extensions
• Share our new reporting system for damp and mould 
• Recap Customer Service Week 

• Share important tips so we can all stay #SaferTogether this Halloween

• Help you to spot scams related to the Winter Fuel Payment

Making it easier for you to secure your home for the long term

Following the upcoming changes in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, you will now have the option to extend your lease by:

• 90 years, or

• 990 years

This applies to both formal and informal lease extensions, meaning all leaseholders and shared owners can benefit.

When you apply for a lease extension, we’ll provide a valuation for both options so you can choose what works best for you.

Halloween competition

Awaab's Law: making homes safer

Awaab’s Law sets clear new deadlines for social landlords to investigate and fix serious issues in homes. It’s named after Awaab Ishak, a two-year-old who tragically died in 2020 due to mould in his family’s flat - leading to important changes to keep all homes safe and healthy.

What it means
Landlords must:

• Investigate serious hazards within 10 working days
• Start urgent repairs within 5 working days (or 24 hours for emergencies)
• Complete larger repairs within 12 weeks
• Keep residents updated throughout

New damp and mould hub
Awaab’s story highlights how serious damp and mould can be. We’ve launched a Damp and Mould Hub on our website with practical advice to help prevent problems, plus an easy online form to report concerns straight away.

How to report a problem
If you're in a communal area and notice damp, mould, leaks, faulty electrics or anything that could affect your health or safety, please tell us straight away:

• Call 0300 303 1010
• Email Repairs@ParadigmHousing.co.uk
• Use LiveChat on our website

Customer Service Week

This month we celebrated Customer Service Week by reflecting on how we can continue improving our services for you.

Our new phone message
We’ve introduced a new message on our phone lines, which highlights our commitment to treating every resident with kindness, care and respect – and asks the same in return when speaking with our colleagues.

How we’re performing
Since April, our Customer Service team has:

• Received 59,266 calls
• Handled 30,072 emails
• Received 878 webchats

And so much more! Click here to read the full story.

Support with your heating bills this winter

Winter Fuel Payments 2025/26
From winter 2025/26, most pensioners in England and Wales will receive a Winter Fuel Payment automatically to help with heating costs.

If your annual taxable income is above £35,000 and you don’t receive Pension Credit or another means-tested benefit, you’ll still get the payment, but it will be recovered automatically through income tax by HMRC. You don’t need to claim - payments are made automatically.

Beware of scams:

• The DWP will never text or email asking for your bank details.
• If you get a suspicious message, forward it to 7726 (free) to check if it’s genuine.
• Block and delete any scam texts without clicking links.

Find out more at GOV.UK – Winter Fuel Payment: Eligibility.

Staying #SaferTogether this Halloween

Thames Valley Police and Buckinghamshire Council have produced a handy 'no trick-or-treat' poster - download it here. 

Zero tolerance for hate crime

Hate crime is never acceptable. Unlike general anti-social behaviour (ASB), it is treated as a criminal offence when motivated by prejudice or hostility towards someone’s race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender, and other protected characteristics.

We take all reports seriously and will work with the police to investigate and take strong action where needed.

Find out more about what could be considered a hate crime and how to report it here.

Come and work for us

Careers with SettleParadigm
We are a growing, values-driven organisation with a clear social purpose. We want to be a place where people love to work, where everyone can belong, and where professionalism and passion shine through in everything we do. If you’d like to make a real difference to people’s lives while developing your career in a supportive and inclusive environment, we’d love to hear from you! Check out our latest vacancies here.