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Minutes of the General Meeting held on Tuesday, 19^th November 2024

Members

Mrs K Creese took the chair. All other committee members were present, with a further 13 society members in attendance.

Minutes

Minutes of the previous General Meeting were confirmed and signed, proposed by Mr M Cort and seconded by Mrs J Bradshaw.

Matters Arising

None.

Chairman's Report

Aside from the standard boiler and general maintenance repairs, two properties have been renovated and re-let to new tenants since we last met earlier this year. We hope they will be very happy on the estate.

A further renovation will commence soon. Work has been partly delayed due to the need to clear the furniture left in the property and the sheer volume of rubbish left in the back garden.

Rubbish removal from any property or the gardens is very costly to the estate.

Can all tenants please ensure their rubbish is disposed of properly and not left in gardens.

It has also come to the committee's attention that several gardens on the estate are overgrown and encroaching on neighbours' boundaries. The committee would like to remind tenants that the gardens form part of the property, and leaving them to grow wild is a breach of tenancy. We do not expect every garden to resemble Kew Gardens, but at the very least, lawns should be cut, hedges kept trimmed and brambles should not be allowed to take over.

Council allotment boundary fencing work phases 3 & 4 were completed, and we will look at further work in the next financial year.

We have reached that time of year again when dampness and mould are prevalent in the properties. It is essential that properties with suspended timber flooring, as many of our houses do have, have adequate airflow underneath the floor. Blocking external air vents creates damp problems on floors and walls; please, can tenants ensure that all exterior air vents are not covered or blocked.

Please take time to read through the tackling damp and mould booklet that has been previously circulated. It contains helpful advice on how to manage moisture in the home. If tenants are facing excessive damp problems, please get in touch with the office.

We would like to remind tenants of the main things imperative to the smooth running of the estate:

• Pay rent on time.
• Keep the house and garden in good order.
• Request timely repairs; if a job needs doing, please get in touch with the office immediately by letter or email.
• Please do not approach committee members individually. Committee members cannot act or speak alone on any issue and all contact must be received through the office.

Finally, thank you to Emma and Steve Allen, who have organised some super social events throughout this year. Can residents please be aware that the events are not managed or funded by the estate but by the Anchor Tenants Community Forum. Further details of this group can be found on Facebook. We look forward to seeing what’s in store from the Forum next year!

This concluded the Chairman's report.

Nominations for Committee

Nominations are Mr W Gee and Mr C Doucet. As there are two vacancies and two nominations, no vote will be required.

Mrs Creese announced that as a result of the nominations one of Anchor Tenant's longest-serving committee members, Mrs Jenny Benning, will be retiring at the next Annual General meeting.

Mrs Benning was thanked her hard work for the committee and her dedication to Humberstone Garden City for almost half a century.

Proposed rent increase

Unfortunately, due to rising costs in every area of the society, the committee feel a rent increase will be necessary from 1st February 2025 with a proposed increase of £2.50 per week. After a brief discussion a vote was taken. All in favour, motion carried.

General Business

Mrs Creese informed the meeting that committee members hold the emergency phone in turn for one month at a time and respond to emergencies in the properties between 3pm-9am outside of office hours. This includes all Bank Holidays, weekends and any other time the office may be closed.

In light of this additional work, the committee suggested to shareholders a fee of £5 per month for the phone holder and a further cost of £2.50 per member in the event of having them attend an emergency call out at a tenant's property.

These costs equate to 16 pence per day for the phone holder, and one emergency call per month works out to 16 pence per day each for the two visiting members. The second cost would obviously increase if more call-outs are received in the same month.

A brief discussion followed and Mrs V Walker proposed that the fee be paid. This was seconded by Mr J Woolley. A vote was taken. All in favour, motion carried.

A shareholder asked if the rent increase would be a flat fee of £2.50 per week per property and the secretary informed her that it would be. A shareholder stated that as the minutes are sent out to all shareholders he felt this discourages people from attending meetings. Mrs Benning replied that it is a requirement of the society to send out the minutes in case shareholders are unable to attend the meeting.

This concluded the business of the meeting, and Mrs Creese thanked members for their attendance before declaring the meeting closed at 6.43 pm.

These minutes are the official record of what happened, and not a verbatim account.

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