Repairs

We must keep the structure and outside of your home in good repair, and maintain the installations in your home, which supply water, electricity, gas and drainage. There are some types of repair that are your responsibility:

• internal decoration
• glass replacement
• lost keys
• repairs to catches to internal doors and door furniture
• replacing loose or broken WC seats
• sink and bath plugs
• pipe insulation
• gas cookers, connections and other tenant appliances
• gas leaks on tenants’ appliances
• electrical trips or rewiring fuses
• electric cookers, connections and other tenant appliances
• fuses to appliances, or replacing lamps or bulbs
• smoke detector batteries
• telephones and telephone connections
• mould growth, unless caused by defect
• damaged or missing tiles to hearth or surrounds

You must report immediately any repairs that need carrying out to your property, which we are responsible for, to the housing repairs service.

You must use your home properly and responsibly and take all reasonable care to keep all grates, grids, drains and gullies (not including gutters that catch water from the roof) clean and clear, and not to block toilets and sinks.

You are also responsible for repairing, renewing or replacing any items, which are damaged by you, your friends and relatives, or any other person living in or visiting the property (including children). The costs of making good any damage will be charged to you.

You are responsible for decorating the inside of your property and keeping the inside of the property reasonably decorated at all times.

You must not make any structural change, alteration, or attachment to the property (including the use of polystyrene and artex or similar products, or laying laminate or similar flooring) without our written permission. If we give our permission, we may set certain conditions. If you do not meet the conditions, we will withdraw our permission, and you will be required to reinstate the property at your own expense, or we will carry out the work and charge the costs to you. If we refuse permission, we will give you our reasons in writing.

If the proposed work is electrical, the work will need to be undertaken by a NICEIC contractor, and you will need to supply us with a valid  test certificate on completion.

If the proposed work involves gas, the work will need to be undertaken by a CORGI registered contractor, and you will need to supply us with a valid commissioning sheet on completion.

You must allow our staff, contractors and agents, to enter the property at reasonable times and, having given you a minimum of 24 hours notice, to inspect it or carry out repairs. They will carry identity cards.

We will make sure we remove our rubbish, building materials and equipment from your home within a reasonable time after carrying out repair work and will try to keep disruptions to a minimum.

You are responsible for repairing and maintaining all improvements, fixtures and fittings you install at the property. These improvements will become our property when you move out. If you take them with you when you move, you must put the property back to the way it was before you improved it. If you don’t, we may charge you for the work.

If you exchange your home with another council or housing association tenant, you will be responsible for the decoration the previous tenant left in your new home. You will also be responsible for maintaining and repairing any improvements or alterations the previous tenant made, unless we agree, in writing, to be responsible for them. Properties will be inspected prior to an exchange being agreed.

Under Section 96 of the Housing Act 1985 (the right to repair), if we do not carry out certain repairs within a set time, depending on certain conditions, we will pay you compensation.

When you end your tenancy, you may get compensation for any improvements you have made in accordance with the right to compensation.

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