Rent freeze for 2021/22 for all of Knowes’ tenants
Knowes’ Management Committee is delighted to announce that there will be no rent increase on 1/4/2021 and all tenant’s rents will be held at their current level until 31st March 2022. This is in recognition of the hardship that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought to many of our tenants and also, due to the strict lockdown conditions imposed by the Scottish Government in response to the pandemic, which has meant some of the services we normally provide have not been possible. We hope to be able to catch up on these services, and in particular our repairs and maintenance programme in 2021/22, but this will be subject to the constraints imposed by the prevailing Covid legislative requirements.
Closure of cash counter
The Committee, following consultation with its customers, took the decision to permanently close the cash counter in Knowes’ office. This decision was taken partially in response to the restrictions of the current pandemic but mainly because the counter was being less and less used in the last few years. Since the start of the pandemic the majority of our customers who used to pay by cash have switched to paying by standing order or card payments via telephone to the office. There will be no impact on staff as a result of this closure, with any savings redeployed to other services. One of these new services will be an on-line customer portal where you will be able to access your account, report repairs and anti-social behaviour and pay your account 24/7.
Budgets 2021/22
The budgets for 2021/22 have been approved by the Committee and a summary of these are as follows: -