Salix Homes Newsletter
October 2026
Welcome to the October 2026 edition of our customer newsletter, aiming to keep you updated with the latest news from Salix Homes.
In this edition:
• Read our 2025/26 Annual Review
• More flexibility with evening repair appointments
• Do you know your State Pension age?
• Pension Credit Week of Action: 12-16 October 2026
• Black History Month 2026
• Welcoming our new apprentices
• Watch our Willohaus film
• Reminder: For customers living in our high-rise and low-rise buildings: Think before you smoke or vape
• Reminder: Help us tackle fly-tipping
• Reminder: Got furniture to recycle?
• Reminder: Plug-in solar panels: important safety advice
Read our 2025/26 Annual Review
Our latest Annual Review is out now, looking back at our performance, progress and achievements during 2025/26.
It’s been another busy year at Salix Homes, with more than £14.2million invested in improving our homes and 37,859 repairs carried out, alongside major milestones in building safety, more energy-efficient homes and continued support for our customers, our teams, and communities across Salford.
The review also shares some of the stories behind the numbers – from helping customers into work and supporting people through financial hardship, to improving the energy efficiency of our homes and delivering much-needed new affordable housing.
It also marks the final year of our three-year corporate plan, ‘Our Sustainable Future’, and reflects the progress we’re now building on through our new corporate plan, ‘The Salix Way’.
We want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and interest in our work, you play an important role in helping us deliver, shape and improve our services.
More flexibility with evening repair appointments
We know it isn’t always easy to make an appointment during the day, especially if you’re working or have other commitments.
That’s why we’ve made evening appointments available on Thursdays and Saturdays, giving you more choice and flexibility when accessing our services.
If you need a repair appointment, you can book through MySalix or ask us about evening availability when you get in touch.
Book through MySalix or call us on 0800 218 2000.
Do you know your State Pension age?
Between 6 April 2026 and 6 March 2028, the State Pension age will gradually increase from 66 to 67. People born on or after 6 April 1960 will be affected.
We are encouraging everyone to use the free State Pension age calculator on GOV.UK to find out their exact State Pension age – all you need is your date of birth. You can also use the ‘Check your State Pension forecast’ tool to see how much you can get and if you can increase it, for example, by filling any gaps in your record.
It’s also important to know that your State Pension doesn’t start automatically. The Pension Service will send a letter inviting you to apply around 4 months before you reach State Pension age.
Please share this information with family and friends.
Pension Credit Week of Action: 12-16 October 2026
This year’s Pension Credit Week of Action aims to challenge some of the common misconceptions that stop people claiming Pension Credit.
Many people mistakenly believe that owning a home, being employed, having savings or receiving a private pension automatically makes them ineligible. It doesn’t. As a result, many people of State Pension age who could be entitled to Pension Credit never make a claim. Here are some of the common myths:
- Own your home? You may still be eligible for Pension Credit. Home ownership is not taken into account when entitlement is calculated.
- Have savings? You could still qualify if you have savings. The first £10,000 of savings is ignored. For every £500 of savings above £10,000, DWP assumes you have an extra £1 a week in income when calculating your Pension Credit entitlement.
- Receive State Pension? Pension Credit is paid in addition to your State Pension and could provide extra financial support.
- Think it happens automatically? Pension Credit is not paid automatically. People need to check their eligibility on GOV.UK and make a claim.
Please help us spread these important messages by sharing them with your family and friends.
By sharing this information, you could encourage someone to check their eligibility and access support they may otherwise miss out on.
To find out more about Pension Credit and how to apply, visit GOV.UK:
Black History Month 2026
This Black History Month 2026, Salford CVS has brought together information from local organisations, community groups and partners to help mark the month across Salford and Greater Manchester.
Explore webpages featuring local events and organisations, inspired by this year’s theme, Honouring Our Communities:
Welcoming our Apprentices
We recently welcomed three new apprentices to Salix Homes – and their arrival is good news for our residents too.
Apprentice Electricians Leon Rush and Ben Thorpe, and Apprentice Plasterer Jayden Blackett, will gain hands-on experience as part of our repairs and maintenance service while working towards their qualifications with Salford City College Group.
Investing in the next generation of skilled tradespeople helps us build a strong, local workforce for the future, supporting our commitment to providing a reliable, high-quality repairs service for our residents.
Leon, 18, Ben, 17, and Jayden, 18, are the first apprentices to join Salix Homes through our relaunched apprenticeship programme, following a five-year pause.
As part of their welcome to the team, they were each presented with a toolkit supplied by Travis Perkins Managed Services.
We’re looking forward to supporting Leon, Ben and Jayden as they learn new skills and build their careers with Salix Homes.
We’ll be sharing more about our apprentices and the apprenticeship programme soon.
Watch our Willohaus Film
Following the official launch of Willohaus earlier this summer, we’re proud to share this new film telling the story behind the development.
The film brings together some of the partners behind Willohaus, along with Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett, to talk about the ambition for the development, the innovation involved and the collaboration that helped make it happen – building on the success of Greenhaus to continue raising the bar for social and affordable housing in Salford.
You can also hear from our very own Eric Tamanis about what Willohaus means for the people who live there, and why creating high-quality, affordable and sustainable homes that support people’s health, wellbeing and quality of life is so important.
Watch it now on our website:
For customers living in our high-rise and low-rise buildings:
Think before you smoke or vape
Smoking and vaping are not allowed in communal areas of your building. This includes corridors, stairwells, entrances, lifts and other shared spaces, which must remain smoke-free by law.
Smoking or vaping in these areas can set off the fire alarm, forcing residents to leave their homes and taking emergency services away from real emergencies. It also increases the risk of fire for everyone living in the building. A false alarm attendance by the fire service can cost more than £500.
If you smoke or vape in communal areas, you could receive a tenancy warning or face legal action.
Please help keep your building safe by only smoking or vaping in permitted outdoor areas.
To report someone smoking or vaping in a communal area, contact our Building Safety Team:
Reminder: Help us tackle fly-tipping
Fly-tipping ruins our neighbourhoods and costs money that could be better spent improving our homes and services.
In 2025, we spent more than £120,000 removing 553 tonnes of illegally dumped rubbish from across our communities.
If you see someone fly-tipping, please report it to us. Working together, we can help keep our neighbourhoods clean, safe and welcoming for everyone.
Remember, fly-tipping is a criminal offence and offenders could face fines of up to £50,000.
Report fly-tipping through MySalix or call 0800 218 2000.
Reminder: Got furniture to recycle?
If you have furniture you no longer need, why not donate it through our Furniture Recycling Scheme?
Since we launched the scheme in July 2019, we have delivered more than 3,000 items to people who need them most.
We accept all kinds of furniture and appliances, including sofas, bed frames, wardrobes, tables and chairs, as well as electrical items, home accessories and toys. Some items can’t be donated, including clothes, shoes, car seats, gas cookers and petrol-powered items.
Find out where you can recycle those items.
Find out what you can donate and how to get started:
Call 0800 218 2000 or visit our Furniture Recycling page for more information.
Reminder: Plug-in solar panels: important safety advice
Plug-in solar panels are small systems designed to connect directly to a standard household socket. While they may seem like a simple way to save energy, they can pose serious safety risks in flats and high-rise buildings.
Salix Homes does not allow plug-in solar panels in our high-rise homes and we are not endorsing or promoting their use.
These products can increase the risk of fire and electrical faults.
Fire hazards: Faults or incorrect use can cause overheating and fires.
Electrical faults: Most homes’ electrical systems are not compatible with plug-in solar, increasing the risk of circuit overload or malfunction.
They also offer only limited savings on energy bills compared with other energy efficiency measures.
Salix Homes is committed to sustainability and supporting our customers with the cost of living. We are working hard to improve the energy efficiency of all our homes across Salford to help reduce energy costs for our customers and address fuel poverty wherever possible.
If you are struggling with energy costs, our Income Management Team can offer advice, support and signposting to relevant services. Call 0800 218 2000 or email enquiries@salixhomes.co.uk.
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