New Arrivals
We have a lot of new residents arriving in the next few weeks from 4 continents. Visits to our website and our waiting list show huge interest in Zebra and studying in London from all over the world. Never have we been more international. And London remains the best city in the world to be a university student, according to an international ranking of higher education centres that placed it ahead of rivals such as Tokyo, Boston and Berlin (The Guardian July 2021) https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jul/28/london-remains-best-city-in-the-world-to-study-in-new-rankings?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
So please welcome all our new neighbours.
Staff and Zebra Office
Staff are now back and working normally and we plan to strengthen our maintenance team later this year with the addition of a carpenter.
As we have said already, we don’t have any plans currently to re-open our office. We have found, like so many other organisations, that we can provide as a good a service without basing staff in an office and that all our residents are more than happy to contact us by email. We will review the issue of the office in September/October after consulting with all stakeholders.
Wardens
Please remember that wardens (and in their absence deputy wardens) are there out of normal working hours – evenings and weekends, to be the local Zebra presence. Because we’ve had quite a churn of residents there’s been some changes and we will make sure that everyone is aware of these.
If you are not already a My Home user why not try it. It’s our new web portal (https://myhome.zebrahousing.com/) to assist your interaction with Zebra allowing you to report & track repairs, amend your contact details, submit student letters and check your rent account. All existing and new residents have received information on how to register an account, but if you need further assistance please contact David Morrow (davidm@zebrahousing.com).
Reporting maintenance
Please remember the new email address for all maintenance is repairs@zebrahousing.com
Board Strategy Day
Our Board is meeting at the end of September to look at our plans for the next 5 years. The major challenge for Zebra and that’s on the assumption that Covid will continue to diminish (!?!) as a challenge, is climate change. Our buildings are beautiful but old and difficult to insulate. Windows tend to be large, old and draughty and we are constrained by local planning regulations on replacing them. The walls are cold and ceilings are high. The cost of electric heating, which is sustainable if provided by a green supplier, is up to 4 times more expensive than gas. Our roofs are in good condition generally but were built for a different climate with less rain and some gutters just cannot cope with the heavy rain we’ve had over the last months. And we may need to look at the installation of shutters to deal with heat.
Please let us know if you, as a resident, have any priorities for the next few years.
Covid-19
It does seem that things are continuing to ease in the UK, but we still need to maintain social distancing, wear masks where it is appropriate and follow the government guidelines on behaviour.
Zebra is an international organisation and residents come from across the world. Please therefore look at the government website https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control before considering any international travel.
Social Programme
Steve is hoping to start organising some events for late summer and early autumn – so keep an eye out on the website for some events
Scheme Meetings
Steve has held meetings in gardens at Impala and Anson for residents in those schemes. So far the major feedback has been that residents are pleased to meet their neighbours. Obviously this is not possible in all our buildings because they don’t all have gardens but it’s something we will bear in mind as restrictions are eased.
