Maintaining and improving your home
We carry out a regular programme of maintenance and servicing to help ensure your home is kept in good condition and meets our legal requirements as your landlord.
Maintaining and Improving Your Home
We carry out a regular programme of maintenance and servicing to help ensure your home is kept in good condition and meets our regulatory requirements as your landlord.
As part of your tenancy agreement, it's very important that you allow us into your home to undertake gas and electrical safety checks and servicing, together with allowing stock condition surveys to take place.
Improvement works to your home
Depending upon the age of your home and the parts in it, to keep it in good condition we will at times need to improve or replace some of these such as:
- Kitchens
- Bathrooms
- Windows & doors
- Boilers and central heating systems
To understand the condition our properties are in, we aim to carry out stock condition surveys every five years. We need access to your property to carry them out.
Stock Condition Surveys
The purpose of the stock condition survey is to look at the structure of your home, such as the roof and the loft (if you have one), windows and doors, as well as the main fittings such as the kitchen and bathroom.
The survey will enable us to decide how long these major elements are likely to last before they need replacing and help us plan future improvement works to make sure your home is kept up to date.
When your property is due for a Stock condition survey we will contact you, we aim to give you two weeks’ written notice of the date. We will of course do our best to accommodate a change in the appointment date if the original date allocated to you is not convenient.
On the day of the survey, a surveyor will visit your home, all surveyors carry ID and show you this before entering. The survey doesn’t take long - it typically takes around 20 – 25 minutes, we aim to be as quick as possible to minimise any inconvenience.
We use all this survey information to develop planned programmes for the next five years and this also ensures that we plan our budgets appropriately.
Decisions on when these key items need replacing will be based on their age and condition. If older but still in good condition doesn’t necessarily mean that the fixture or fitting will automatically be replaced at the end of its expected life. This decision will be taken when it becomes uneconomic to continue to repair.
Planned Improvements to Your Home
When your home is due for improvements, it will be included in the planned works programme for the appropriate year and we will then inform you what work we are planning, the timescales, and who will do it.
We may have to discuss some of the work in more detail with you depending upon what is being replaced as there may be choices for you to pick from.
If you live in a property with communal or shared areas, we may contact you to let you know about works that are planned in these areas or the building which may be included in your service charges.
If you own your home and your property has shared or communal areas, we may also consult with you before undertaking substantial works to these areas or the main building structure.
When any main item is due for replacement, we will advise you beforehand as in most cases we will need to visit and undertake a survey before we do any work.
If your home is identified, we will contact you and arrange a design visit and an asbestos survey of your home. During this visit, we will discuss with you:
- What we are planning
- What to expect and how to prepare (such as emptying your old kitchen cupboards, etc.)
- Offer you a range of style and colours (kitchens)
- Offer you a range of floor coverings (kitchens and bathrooms)
- When it will take place and how long it will take
- Discuss any needs you may have which might affect the works themselves or how the contractor might carry them out.
An asbestos survey will be carried out to ensure that when the work starts you or our contractors aren’t put at risk. Asbestos can be found in textured coatings such as aertex and whilst is it undisturbed it poses no risk.
What to expect if you are due to have work done:
Depending on the work, there can be some disruption and disturbance. Work such as replacing a kitchen or re-wiring can be dusty and noisy. We will always try to keep any disturbance to a minimum.
Kitchens will consist of:
- Kitchen units
- Worktops
- Tiled upstand
- Floor covering
- Sink
- Taps
- Extractor fan
- Upgrade of the electrical installation to the kitchen and consumer unit (if required)
You will have a choice of:
- Kitchen units
- Worktops
- Tiles
- Handles
- Choice of colour for the floor covering
- Paint colour for the walls
Bathrooms: will consist of:
Bathrooms: The bathroom suite will be white and will consist of:
- Low level toilet
- Wash hand basin
- Bath
- Shower
You will have a choice of:
- Wall tiles
- Paint colour for the walls
- Choice of colour for the floor covering
Windows and Doors
All new windows and doors will be double-glazed.
As well as increasing home security the new windows and doors will also reduce heat loss and help keep your home energy efficient.
Boilers and Central Heating Systems
New central heating systems will feature:
- A new boiler
- Thermostatic valves on radiators to give individual control.
- Digital timer
- Radiators in all rooms
Regular Servicing & Inspection
Work that has to be carried out on an annual basis includes:
- asbestos surveys and condition inspections
- Electrical testing
- Fire safety
- legionella risk assessment and monitoring
- lift servicing (where applicable)
- radon risk assessment and monitoring
- renewable gas, oil and solid fuel system servicing
- smoke and carbon monoxide detector inspection and testing
- statutory or health and safety inspections
To find out more about keeping you and your home safe click here
Work to maintain the general condition of your home usually happens every seven years and includes:
- external redecoration of your house or block of flats
- internal decoration of communal areas e.g. stairwells and entrance halls
We do not paint the inside of your home.
Improving or altering your home
You may want to carry out an improvement or alteration to your home.
Before you start work, it will be necessary for you to obtain permission from us under your tenancy agreement conditions.
Take a look at our Guide to Undertaking Your Own Home Improvements Brochure
Please complete the form below giving as much information about the alterations as you can. Alternatively, you can call us on 0333 200 7304.
Once we have received your application, we will reply to you informing you of our decision, subject to any appropriate conditions.
Occasionally we may refuse permission but we will tell you our reasons. Please do not begin any work until you have received permission from us, as unauthorised work will need to be put back to its original condition at your own expense.