We’re proud to show our support to Resolve’s ASB Awareness Week for another year alongside our partners and communities.

This year’s campaign focuses on four vital calls to action:

1. Guaranteed support for victims of ASB
2. Resolve delays in the Justice System
3. One single, national Information Sharing Agreement

4. Make it easier to report ASB

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How we’re getting involved

Throughout the week, we’ll be sharing helpful videos that highlight:

• How we can support you with ASB-related issues, including how you can report these to us.

• Guidance on when to contact us and when the matter should be directed to the police.

We’ll also be out and about in your communities, joined by our partner agencies. This is a great opportunity to stop by, say hello, and chat with us about any concerns you may have regarding ASB in your neighbourhood.

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Let’s work together

ASB can have a serious impact on people’s lives, but by working together, we can make a real difference. Whether you’re experiencing ASB, want to understand your rights, or are simply looking for advice, we’re here to help.

If you’re affected by anti-social behaviour, don’t wait – reach out to us. Let’s keep working together to make our communities safer, stronger, and more connected. Click here to find out how.

The post Antisocial Behaviour (ASB) Awareness Week 2025 appeared first on Havebury Housing.

From 8am, any calls for the team will go to our out-of-hours call provider.

Any emergencies will be dealt with in line with our usual process. For non-emergencies, they will log the call, and one of our repairs customer advisors will call you back the next day.

You also have the option to report any non-emergency repairs via myHavebury.

The usual service will resume Friday 4 July.

All other services will be running as usual, and you can find a full list of extension numbers here.

Thank you for your co-operation.

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Recently, representatives from Havebury, South Norfolk Council, Homes England, Taylor Wimpey East Anglia and Permission Homes came together to mark the joint efforts to deliver much-needed affordable housing in Hethersett.

This Hethersett site was designated in South Norfolk’s local plan and secured outline planning permission in 2014. Since then, these parcels of land have been gifted from South Norfolk Council to the Bury St Edmunds-based housing association Havebury to deliver affordable housing to the local community.

Scott Bailey, Havebury’s director of development, says, “Strong partnership working across all our organisations has resulted in much-needed new homes for the community of Hethersett. We look forward to welcoming residents to their new homes early next year.”

The 39 affordable homes are being developed by housebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon Homes. Taylor Wimpey is building 23 homes for social rent and 7 for shared ownership, and Persimmon Homes is delivering the remaining 16 homes, 11 for social rent and 5 for shared ownership.

Caroline Carter, sales and operations director from Taylor Wimpey East Anglia, said: “We’re proud to partner with Havebury to deliver essential affordable housing for the local community. It’s exciting to watch both the development and neighbourhood take shape as new residents join us at Heather Gardens.”

Michelle Baker, managing director for Persimmon Homes Anglia, said: “We are delighted to be underway with this exciting new project which will deliver an additional 16 new homes at Kett’s Meadow for those whose needs are not met by the open market.

“At Persimmon we are committed to creating a lasting legacy in the community and working in partnership with Homes England, Havebury and South Norfolk Council we are doing just that by providing high-quality new homes for those in housing need locally.”

This initiative has been supported by significant investment. Homes England, the government’s housing accelerator, provided £1,165,300 in funding, while South Norfolk Council contributed £388,200 in affordable housing commuted sums and gifted the land.

South Norfolk Council Cabinet member, Lisa Overton-Neal said: “This development represents the councils unwavering commitment to providing affordable homes in South Norfolk. By working together with our partners and communities, we can make a real difference and ensure that everyone has access to safe and secure housing and a key to their own front door.”

When available, the shared ownership homes will be advertised through Bychoice Estate Agents and the affordable homes through Broadland & South Norfolk Home Options.

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Permission requests are essential to ensure your home remains compliant and safe, while maintaining its long-term value, and we try not to deny any request without a reasonable explanation.

On average, we receive around 60 permission requests a month, and we aim to get back to everyone within 4 – 6 weeks of the application being submitted.

However, there are instances where we need to collaborate with other teams to consider the request. This includes considerations such as asbestos and fire safety.

Whilst we want you to love your home and make changes to suit your style or needs, failing to get our approval can be costly, and we may recharge you to put anything back to how it was when you moved in.

Here are some other things we need to consider when reviewing your requests:

• Legal and contractual compliance. We have rules in place to maintain the quality and safety of our homes.
• Structural and safety considerations. Some alterations, such as knocking down walls or installing new plumbing, can impact the safety and integrity of the building. We need to assess whether the proposed changes comply with building regulations and do not endanger other residents.
• Considering future residents. We must also consider whether the proposed changes will affect any future residents. This could be in terms of security or safety.
• Avoiding costly recharges. If you make unauthorised changes, you may be required to restore the home to its original state at your own expense. This can be costly and time-consuming. Seeking permission beforehand prevents unnecessary financial pressures.

We have recently given permission for, satellite dishes, a kitchen water filter system and an outside tap.

Please remember you need permission to paint/wrap kitchen cabinets and work tops, lay laminate flooring, and install a satellite dish. It’s always best to ask for permission if you are in doubt.

Here are things we have refused and the reasons why:

• A cat flap – the warranty for the door could no longer be valid, and it’s been found that these cause draught issues.
• Painting bathroom tiles – could mask any underlying issues with grout or sealant and cause future maintenance issues.
• Fitting additional floorboards in the loft area – the lofts were not built for this purpose and may cause structural damage.
• Decking in the garden – after a recent incident, we have decided not to approve any permissions for decking (regardless of materials).

The only way you can get permission from us is to apply online here

The post Why permission matters appeared first on Havebury Housing.

Winners will receive £50 of supermarket vouchers, and everyone who takes part will get a certificate of participation.

If you love your garden and want to get involved, find out more below.

Havebury in Bloom will launch today and run until 29 June 2025, so there is plenty of time for you to get your gardening gloves on.

If you would like to get involved, please email engagement@havebury.com. Alternatively, you can complete the online form below to register your interest, and a member of our Engagement team will contact you to confirm your place.

Judging will take place w/c 30 June 2025. Please don’t worry if you are not available during that week. To ensure everyone can get involved, you can send us photos of your garden (please ensure these photos highlight what makes your garden special).

We will also be running ‘The tallest sunflower’ competition, and more details can be found below.

We will be judging gardens in the following categories:

• Best front garden – Does your garden have the ‘wow’ factor? Judges will be looking for a variety of plants in different colours and formations and ornaments used to good effect. One winner will be selected from Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill and all villages.
• Best balcony – If you don’t have a garden, but still make the most of your outside space, then we want to see! Judges will be looking for creative use of space, and a variety of plants which can include hanging baskets. One winner will be selected from Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill and all villages.
• Best communal garden – Do you have a shared garden that’s used by residents at your scheme? We would love to see how the garden benefits you and your neighbours. One winner will be selected from all ourhomes in this category.
• Best grow your garden – Do you love growing fruits and vegetables? Are you passionate about eating what you produce? We can’t wait to hear all about it. One winner will be selected from all Havebury homes in this category.
• Tallest sunflower from seed – If you know someone under 16 who wants to get involved, let us know. We will be measuring the sunflowers in August, and you can claim your free seeds from Monday 28 April. You can email engagement@havebury.com with your name, age and address, and we will post out your seeds, or you can come to our office to collect them. The only rule is that sunflowers must be grown in your garden within a Havebury home.

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We know that for some of you, this service has not gone as well as we would like, and we apologise for this.

As well as monitoring the service since August 2024, we’ve also listened to your feedback, including complaints, to identify the gaps in the service which needed to be improved.

Alongside this, you’ve also taken the time to tell us when you have received great service from Liberty or our team, which has helped us identify what we need to be doing more of.

Together, we have taken a number of steps to ensure this service improves significantly over the coming weeks and months.

Here’s what we’ve been doing:

• Focused teams for better service. To provide a more consistent and responsive experience, we’ve reorganised our approach so that dedicated teams now focus separately on servicing and repairs. This will ensure you receive a consistent level of good customer service from the team you are engaging with.
• Strengthening Liberty’s capacity. Liberty has taken significant steps to boost service delivery. They’ve expanded their Engineering team and invested in further training to ensure more issues are resolved during the first visit, reducing disruption and the need for follow-ups.
• Improved your customer experience. We’ve improved our communication with you to ensure you are kept updated about your appointments. We’ve also reduced the time it takes to get through to a member of the Liberty team over the phone. We’ll shortly be writing to everyone with an outstanding repair to provide them with an update on when this will be completed.
• Supporting those who need it most. Although everyone’s repairs are important, we’re prioritising heating appointments for residents with additional needs or vulnerabilities, ensuring timely help where it’s most needed.

As a result of these changes, we’re pleased to share that we’ve started to see improvements over the last few weeks, and we hope you have, too.

We’ll continue to share our performance with you and thank you for your patience while we work hard to improve this service for you. If you have any questions, please contact the team via heatingservices@havebury.com

The post Improvements to our heating and servicing contract appeared first on Havebury Housing.

Here, Louise Whatley, neighbourhood and estates manager, explains more about our processes regarding noise complaints.

“In October 2022, the Housing Ombudsman (HOS) published its spotlight report on noise complaints, “Time to be Heard.” This report brought together findings from assessing the cases of noise nuisance investigated by the HOS.

At the heart of the findings by the HOS was that most noise reports concerning household noise (rather than anti-social behaviour (ASB)) were handled under an ASB policy. This meant that things like movement, intermittent music or the washing machine running at night were considered ASB issues. Having these “non-ASB” reports categorised as ASB and dealt with using the traditional ASB case management process resulted in raised expectations, a lack of understanding about the root cause of the issues and a focus on the wrong solutions. The report called for landlords to focus on practical solutions to noise reports.

Whether ASB or non-ASB, we recognise the impact of noise can be significant to you and your family. We aim to manage reports as effectively as possible, bring resolution as soon as we can, and improve resident satisfaction and well-being. We do this through a three stage approach.

1. Triaging Reports: When a noise report is received, it’s important to assess whether it meets the threshold to be considered ASB. We can do this by weighing several factors, including cause, intention, and frequency.
2. Investigation: There can be a fine balance between whether a report of noise nuisance is ASB or not. It is important that we conduct necessary investigations and evidence-gathering techniques to assure ourselves that the decision is correct. This may mean home visits, asking residents to use The NoiseApp to record incidents of noise disturbance, or speaking with other residents in the community by undertaking resident perception surveys.
3. Action: If a report has been assessed as “non-ASB,” then the focus is likely to be on finding solutions such as ways to reduce noise transference (e.g., recommending slow-release hinges, anti-vibration mats, reviewing flooring, etc.), increasing communication, understanding, and agreement between parties (e.g., via mediation), or seeking support for those whose personal circumstances may affect their tolerance and resilience.

Overarching all of the above is communication and our commitment to ensure any decisions are communicated to the person who is reporting the noise, using plain language and a clear explanation for why and how the matter will be managed.”

You can find out more about ASB and hate crimes including how to report these to us here

If you are concerned about noise in the community where you live you can also report it to your local council. Find out more here.

The post International Noise Awareness Day appeared first on Havebury Housing.

What is home contents insurance?

Home contents insurance covers against loss, theft or damage to personal and home possessions.

You don’t have to take out home contents insurance, but it’s a good idea to consider doing so because if any of your contents get lost, stolen or damaged, you will have to pay to replace them.

Most policies carry an excess. This means you won’t be covered for the first few pounds of a claim. A typical excess may be between £50 and £100.

Events a contents insurance policy can cover

A contents policy should cover damage caused by fire, flooding, storms, and theft as basic coverage of the policy price. You may be asked to pay an additional amount to cover things like accidental loss or damage to possessions caused by children or pets, cover for items taken outside of the home, freezer contents and single items such as mobile phones and laptops.

Some policies can also cover death or injury.

Personal possession a contents insurance policy can cover

Contents insurance covers your possessions and those of family members living with you. It may not cover the possessions of anyone staying with you.

Before taking out a policy, it’s important to consider how much cover is needed based on the cost of replacing all personal possessions, including carpets or flooring and the contents of a garage or shed.

Most policies offer new for old cover. This means the policy will pay out for the full replacement cost of lost, stolen or damaged items. However, some policies will only offer the amount that items are worth when a claim is made.

It is important to check with the policy provider exactly what’s included and whether the policy carries an upper limit on what is paid.

Find out more.

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During 2024-25, we completed 278 new homes. This included: 

• 30 land-led homes. Land-led homes are homes that are built on land that we have purchased.
• 248 Section 106 (S106) homes. These are homes that we buy with developers like Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon Homes. When big developments go through the planning stages, there is usually an S106 clause that states that a certain percentage of the homes should be social housing. The team negotiate a contract with the developer to secure the homes and project manage the construction process through to completion. These can be available either for social or affordable rent, or shared ownership.

We also started building a further 168 new homes. 103 of these are S106 homes, and 66 are land-led. Alongside these, we bought back two homes that had been previously sold to leaseholders at Woolaston Close and Anselm Avenue. These can now be refurbished and let out to new residents.

Home Ownership

This year has also been a great year for our Home Ownership team. Our target was to sell 61 shared ownership homes and we exceeded this and were able to sell 78 between April 2024 and March 2025.

Here are some of the compliments the team have received from new homeowners.

• “Stacey Ormrod and Sarah Swan in the Home Ownership team have been fantastic. They have been so helpful.”
• “I am so grateful for the superb service I’ve received from the Home Ownership team (and how friendly and helpful everyone has been). I so pleased and thrilled to be able to proceed. You have made us very happy.”
• “A huge thank you to you all for all the help and support provided over the last few months. It’s wonderful to finally be in my new home.”
• “I just wanted to say a huge thank you for everyone’s support during the process of purchasing my new home. Your help, advice and prompt response to the many queries I had, was invaluable throughout, making it a smooth process for which I am very grateful. I am thoroughly enjoying my new home and getting to know Bacton, everyone I have met so far have been very friendly and welcoming. Thank you once again.”
• “So as you know we completed yesterday – and I wanted to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to you for all of your help and professional guidance. I really appreciate how patient and kind and lovely you have been throughout this process and can’t imagine getting through it without you! Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would be possible – so I thank you and everyone at Havebury from the bottom of my heart and look forward to many more happy years as an shared owner.”

A message from our director of development, Scott Bailey‍: 

“We have had a tremendous year both in terms of completions and sales; never have we built and sold so many affordable homes in a single year!  It is a real testament to the hard work of the teams and the support that the wider business has given to development.  We should all be proud that as a consequence of our collective efforts many new households have been provided an affordable and secure new home.”

The post A record year for delivering new homes! appeared first on Havebury Housing.

Free local walks

Entertaining your little bunnies doesn’t always mean you have to spend money. We have chosen our top four favourite walks in the local area. Why not create your own nature treasure hunt and collect things as you go.

• Bradfield woods – Felsham Road, Bradfield St George, Bury St Edmunds, IP30 0AQ
  What3Words: water.grass.ambitions
  The site is free to enter with a free car park as well as a visitor centre and many routes to choose from.
• Thetford Warren Lodge – Brandon Road, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 3NE
  What3Words: reflected.table.hazy
  Free to park, with a few different routes to try and you can walk all the way to high lodge.
• Abbey gardens and meadows reserve circular – Start and end at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Angel Hill, Bury Saint Edmunds IP33 1LS
  What3Words: technical.passively.spends
  Follow this route all the way around the Abbey Gardens, following the River Lark around No Man’s Meadow and back up Southgate street.
• West Town Park circular – Haverhill, CB9 7TS
  What3Words: towns.spearing.amicably
  A nice, easy stroll through West Town Park, heading along the Stour Brook before returning to the trailhead. This is a short trail that offers pleasant views and is relatively flat throughout

Activities for the whole family to enjoy

Across the county

If your child is entitled to free school meals and/or meet other eligibility criteria and live in Suffolk Abbeycroft Leisure have some exciting activities for you to check out across the local area. Their adventure days include fire lighting, archery, axe throwing swimming and more. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are included. 8 – 17 April Find out more here Holiday Activity & Food (HAF) | Abbeycroft Leisure

Easter at Ickworth

Make your way along the trail and find nature-inspired activities for the whole family. The trail takes place between 4 – 22 April 2025, from 10am – 3:30pm with last entry at 3pm, so come along and explore the beautiful parkland of Ickworth. Prices are £3.50 per trail which includes an Easter trail sheet, bunny ears and dairy or vegan and Free From* chocolate egg.

You can also take part in Easter inspired crafts and there will be Easter Face painting on 5 and 6 April (£5 per face, cash only).

Hollow trees farm

Why not spring into action this Easter at Hollow Trees Farm? From Monday 7 April until Tuesday 22 the Easter Egg Olympics will be taking place on the Farm Trail alongside all the usual farm fun. The Trail team will be encouraging you to hop, skip and jump your way around the egg themed activities. The fun continues as you craft your own medal and become an Egg Olympian. Online price of £7.50 per adult or child, (two years and under free) The Farm Trail opens at 10am each day and closes at 5pm, last entry is at 3pm.

Lackford Lakes

Head to Lackford Lakes on 7 or 8 April from 10am to take part in Wild Families: Easter Eggstravaganza. This self-led trail around the reserve, alongside guided activity stations, will test your nest building skills, allow you to learn more about eggs in nature and give you a chance to produce some egg-cellent Easter crafts. Tickets need to be booked in advance, £8 child, £3 adult

Brandon country park

Easter holiday trail – Come along to Brandon Country Park and pick up a trail sheet from the cafe. Follow the trail, solving the clues along the way, to help find the special word and then return to the café to collect a small prize. £1.50 per trail sheet.

Teddy Bear Picnic – Come and join in some Easter activities in the walled garden at Brandon Country Park followed by a Teddy Bear Picnic. Make your own Easter bonnet with Brandon Creative Forum and have fun with the Park Ranger’s Easter Egg hunt, followed by a picnic lunch provided by the coffee shop. £10 per child. 11am – 1pm.

Nowton park

The Easter Bunny has hidden his Easter eggs in the Nowton Park Maze!  Try not to get lost in the maze as you look high and low for his special Easter eggs.
Collect a delicious chocolate treat when you find your way out. Keep an eye out for the Easter Bunny, he will be roaming about to greet you. 16 and 17 April, 10am-11.30am, 12.30pm-2pm, 2.30pm-4pm. Booking is essential, £5 per child

East town park Haverhill

Easter fun for all the family – find the hidden tokens in the park, with a chocolate egg for every child and lots of special prizes. £2.00 per child and no need to book. 2pm – 4pm, Saturday 19 April.

West Runton: Rockpool rummaging

Come and explore one of the best rocky shore habitats along the whole of the North Norfolk Coastline! Come along with sturdy shoes and keen eyes to help us carefully investigate the secrets of the seashore. If you don’t know a barnacle from a belemnite the experts will be on hand to identify your finds. 17 April at 2.30pm. Booking is essential.

Banham Zoo

Book by 30 March for visits between 5 and 22 April, and use code KIDSGOFREE at checkout to receive up to three FREE children’s tickets per full-paying adult!

Calling all wild eggs-plorers! This Easter, get ready for an action-packed adventure like no other, as Easter Gone Wild takes over Banham Zoo!

Join in on the fun with our GIANT inflatable egg hunt, go wild at our zoo fun fair, and enjoy tons of egg-citing free activities! Don’t miss the spectacular live stage show – and get up close with over 100 amazing animal species.

There’s something for the whole family to enjoy. Your wildest Easter adventure yet!

Do you know of any events happening in your local area? Please let us know by sending an email to communications@havebury.com

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