Our repairs service
Our service to you
We aim to give you a high-quality repairs service to make sure your home is well looked after.
There are some repairs which are your responsibility:
- repairs when you are moving out of the property
- decorating the inside of your home
- repairing any damage caused by you or your family and visitors
- replacing lost keys
- replacing toilet seats
- replacing broken glass
- replacing fuses and light bulbs
- getting rid of rats, mice and so on
We are responsible for the following items.
- The structure of your home - roof, walls and floors.
- Heating and hot-water systems.
- The plumbing system.
- Electrics including wiring, plug sockets, light fittings and switches.
- Outside doors, windows, and guttering.
- Paintwork outside.
- Doors inside, and skirting boards, kitchen cupboards, and work surfaces.
Reporting a repair
As soon as you notice a problem, phone or visit our office, or e-mail us with details. To make sure we send the right person, we need the following information from you.
- Your name.
- Your address.
- What the problem is.
- Where the fault is.
- When it started to go wrong.
- If it has happened before.
- Your current phone number or where we can contact you during the day.
- When it is convenient for someone to call.
Repairs to a newly built home
If you are the first tenant in a home that has been newly built, the arrangements for repairs are different.
In the first 12 months you should tell us about the repairs. However, we will pass your repair problems to the developer who built your home. They are responsible for all the repairs. They will also do a full inspection at the end of the 12 months to check everything is okay and you are happy with your home. After the first 12 months, we carry out all your repairs as normal.
Confirming your repair
When you report the repair you will receive a letter from us. This will give you details of the work we will be doing at your home. It will also tell you the name of the contractor and the target time for the work to be done.
At the bottom of the letter is a small questionnaire. Please fill it in and return it to us in the envelope provided. This helps us monitor and improve the service. We will look at every one we receive.
If the repair has not been carried out in the target time, please call us and we will investigate.
What you can do if we do not carry out a repair in time
We will pay you £10 compensation if:
- the contractor has not turned up when they said they would; or
- they have not done the work within the timescale.
We will make sure that the contractor makes another appointment quickly.
We will not pay compensation if you were not in when the contractor called, or if you have agreed an appointment outside of the set timescale.
How quickly repairs will be carried out
We aim to complete your repair within set target times.
Our targets are shown below:
| Repair category | Response | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency out-of-hours | 4 hours | Fire, flood or burglary |
| Emergency | 24 hours | Leaks, no hot water or no heating |
| Urgent | Within three working days | Roof leaks, plumbing and most electrical repairs |
| Early | Within 10 working days | Joinery inside, plaster and building work |
| Routine | Within 20 working days | Works outside and paths |
Before reporting a repair, remember to do the following.
- Check whether the repair is an emergency. If you are not sure, the out-of-office hours service can give you advice.
- Check to make sure the repair is not your responsibility. Our office can give you detailed advice.
- Look through the 'Handy hints for householders' booklet to see if you can fix the fault.
- Check your central-heating timers are set correctly and that there is credit in your meter.
- Check to see if your electrical appliances could be faulty and are making your fuses trip.
What to do in an emergency and our office is closed
If there is an emergency outside normal office hours, you should ring our emergency repair number on 01453 766242. Qualified tradesmen are available 24 hours a day to give you advice or send someone to your home within four hours.
This service is expensive to provide. If you call them and the repair is not an emergency, we will charge the full cost for the work, which could be £50 to £100!
What is an emergency?
An emergency is:
- a problem which prevents you using an essential service such as water, gas or electricity;
- something causing a danger to you and your family; or
- something which will cause further serious damage to your home if you leave it.
Planned maintenance
Although our properties are quite new, we must still plan for the future. We have a detailed plan for each property identifying when we should replace large items such as boilers, windows and kitchens. We have started saving now to make sure that the money is there to do the work over the next 30 years.
We will give you plenty of notice when we are planning any major work for your home. We will consult you on the plans, and make sure that the work is carried out with as little disruption to you as possible.
Painting the outside of your home
We paint the outside of your home every five years and we always try to do this during the summer months. This includes your front and back doors, and wooden window frames if you have them.
Will I have to pay for any repairs?
You may have to pay for the following repairs:
- If you call out a tradesman out of office hours for a job that is not an emergency.
- If we trace a fault to your appliance, for example, an electric fuse tripping traced to a faulty washing machine.
- If you call out an engineer when the fault is caused by having no credit in your meter.
- If your toilet is blocked because of nappies being flushed down or fat is blocking a kitchen sink.
- If a job that you have carried out or paid for privately goes wrong.
- If we have sent contractors to your home two or more times, when the fault is because you have set central-heating controls incorrectly.
- If the workman arrives to carry out the repair and you refuse to let them in.
- If you agree two appointments with a contractor but you are not in and you have not let them know beforehand.
We will send you the bill from our contractors and you will have 28 days to pay it.
The Right to Repair
If we do not carry out a repair that you have reported, you may be able to get the repair done yourself and ask us to pay the cost.
To do this you will need to follow the rules under the 'right to repair' scheme which only applies to qualifying repairs which are urgent or an emergency. They must also be up to a value of £250.
Please ask your housing officer for more details about this scheme.
Your yearly gas safety check
We want to make sure that your boiler and heating system are safe for you and your family. Each year we will service your boiler and check your smoke detectors. Even if your heating is working well, please let the engineer in to do this safety check. Your life could depend on it.
Fault finder
Gas leaks
If you think you can smell gas:
- don't turn electric switches on or off;
- don't smoke;
- don't use naked flames;
- do turn off the gas supply at the meter;
- do open doors and windows to get rid of the gas; and
- call xoserve free on 0800 111 999.
No electricity?
Check the following:
- Are the fuses OK?
- Is your neighbour's electricity off?
- Has your meter run out of tokens?
- Has your circuit breaker tripped?
- If you are still unable to get power after checking the above, contact our emergency number.
No water?
Check the following:
- Has your neighbour lost their water supply?
- Has your stopcock been turned off accidentally?
- If you are still not able to get water after checking the above, contact our emergency number.
No central heating?
Check the following:
- Do you have gas at your meter- have you run out of credit?
- Is the electric switch next to the boiler in the 'on' position?
- Are your radiator thermostats turned on, and not covered by clothes?
- Is the wall thermostat set between 15° and 30° and not covered by clothes?
- Is the programmer or the time switch switched on and set correctly?
- If the boiler is working and the radiators are not getting hot, you may need to bleed them.