Harrogate housing standards: property services repair and maintenance

The property services repair and maintenance standard

The property services team is committed to providing a high quality repairs and maintenance service, aimed at keeping all the council’s housing in repair. Your tenancy agreement and the Tenant Handbook set out the responsibilities you have in connection with the repair and maintenance of your home as our tenant, and the responsibilities we have as your landlord. This standard sets out both the behaviours and services you may expect from our staff, representatives and contractors when visiting and working on your home.

1. General behaviour when visiting your home

All staff, representatives and contractors will behave responsibly and respectfully and follow the guidance given in the Property Services Customer Care Policies.

2. Communication standards and behaviour

We will communicate with you as clearly as possible, using your preferred method of communication if you have advised us of one and treating you respectfully at all times.
We will respond to all communications (letter, fax, telephone, text, email) within 10 working days. If the matter you have raised is too complex for this to be possible, we will write to inform you within 10 working days and let you know the date we will respond by.
We will contact you in good time to arrange for work that we need or plan to do in your home (for example, Gas Safety Checks, Planned Improvements).

3. Responsive repairs service

Responsive repairs are allocated a priority, dependent upon the council’s judgement of the urgency of your repair, guided by good practice and the Right to Repair “qualifying repair” list.
We will use our best endeavours to complete repair jobs within their priority time allowance and report on how well we have managed to achieve this in the Tenant News publication.
We will report on other aspects of our performance and work in Tenant News, from time to time.
The Right to Repair “qualifying repair” list is in two parts as given below:
- first response within 24 hours:
  - total loss of electric power (no power to the whole house, not caused by a power cut)
  - unsafe power/lighting socket or other electrical fitting
  - total loss of water supply
  - total or partial loss of gas supply
  - blocked flue to an open fire or boiler
  - total or partial loss of space or water heating between 01 November and 30 April
  - blocked or leaking toilet pan (if there’s only one toilet in your home)
  - toilet not flushing (if there’s only one toilet in your home)
  - water leak from a heating pipe, hot and cold water pipes, water tanks or cisterns
  - insecure window, door or door-lock
- first response within four days:
  - partial loss of electric power
  - partial loss of water supply
  - total or partial loss of space or water heating between 01 May and 31 October
  - blocked kitchen sink, bath or basin
  - tap which cannot be turned (on or off)
  - leaking roof
  - loose or detached bannister or hand rail
  - rotten timber flooring or stair tread
  - door entry phone not working
  - extractor fan in kitchen or bathroom not working (if there is no window in the room affected)
Priority ratings:
Our priority ratings take the Right to Repair into account and are listed below:
1. Priority E:
  Emergencies: make safe within four hours, follow on work completed within four working days.
  
  Prevention of harm to life or limb, or of serious damage to property, for example, burst water pipes, gas leak, total loss of electrical power, total loss of heating and / or hot water between 1 November and 30 April, insecure property, blocked WC where no other WC is available.
  
  The property services team operates an out of hours service for emergencies like this that happen outside normal working hours.
2. Priority A:
  Urgent work: complete within four working days.
  
  Work to overcome significant nuisance to the tenant, or to prevent significant damage to property, or where there is a potential Health and Safety risk unless the repair is done, for example, leaking waste pipe to kitchen sink, faulty light or power socket, total loss of heating and / or hot water between 1 May and 31 October, overflow to WC running constantly.
3. Priority B
  High priority work: complete within ten working days.
  
  Work that needs to be done promptly because the tenant is unreasonably inconvenienced and / or there is a strong likelihood that the problem will worsen if left unattended, for example, loose wash hand basin, entrance door difficult to open/shut, kitchen cupboard loose, loose, broken or missing roof tiles.
4. Priority C
  General repair work: complete within 30 working days.
  
  Standard repair work, where the problem does not cause a high level of disturbance or inconvenience for the tenant and / or is unlikely to get much worse, for example, repairing wall tiles, repairing small sections of fencing, plaster repairs, loose kitchen worktop or floorboard, external render / pointing repairs.
5. Priority P
  Major repair work: complete within 60 working days.
  
  Larger repair jobs, not provided for in the Planned Maintenance programme, where there is no immediate need for replacement due to safety / inconvenience issues as described in the higher priority ratings above, for example, new bath/wash hand basin/WC or kitchen units, new fencing, new external door, new window.

4. Gas appliances and installations: testing

As a social housing landlord, Harrogate Borough Council has a legal duty to carry out a Landlord’s Gas Safety Check, if your home has any gas supply or gas appliance that we provide (including LPG systems).
Each property must have a valid test certificate at all times, which means we will request access to your home earlier than a full year since the last test.
Either Harrogate Borough Council or our gas servicing contractor will write to you in good time with a suggested date for a morning or afternoon appointment. If this appointment is not convenient, you can change the appointment using the contact details given in the letter.
We offer a free visual check (not a full test) of any gas appliances that belong to you, such as a gas cooker.
If you fail to provide us with access to your home in time for the gas safety check to be done, we may cap the gas supply off until you give access, or seek a warrant to enter your home. You may be charged for the costs involved in obtaining a warrant.

5. Heating systems: servicing

If you have a gas boiler, this will be serviced when the Landlord’s Gas Safety Check is carried out, together with the other elements of your heating system.
Most other types of heating system will also be serviced annually and the flue of solid fuel heating systems will be swept at this time (it is good practice to have the flue swept more often, to avoid chimney fires or other problems and this is your responsibility).

Other types of heating system serviced annually include:

air source heat pumps
ground source heat pumps
oil fired boilers
solid fuel room heaters
solid fuel open fires

We will not service any heating appliance that you have provided or installed in the property.

6. Planned improvement programme

The council’s Housing Quality Standard is based upon the central Government Decent Home Standard. Our aim is to provide you with a reasonably warm and well maintained home.

To meet the Standard, your home should:

Have no Category 1 hazard under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).
Be in a reasonable state of repair.
Have reasonably modern facilities and services.
Be reasonably warm.
The type of work carried out as part of the Planned Improvement Programme includes:
- replacement kitchens (every 20 years)
- replacement heating boilers (every 15 years for gas, longer for some other types)
- replacement heating systems (every 30 years)
- replacement Bathrooms (every 40 years)
- replacement Windows or doors (every 40 years)
- replacement Roof-coverings (every 50 years)
- repointing or re-rendering external walls (every 50 years)

The time scales above are a guide and if something is still in good condition when assessed, replacement may be delayed an appropriate amount of time.

We will provide a choice of finishes for kitchen replacement work, for worktops, unit fronts, splashbacks and flooring.

If significant damage has been caused to your decorations as a result of our work, you may be offered a decoration pack containing paint and rollers / brushes as appropriate.

If you are a leaseholder in a block receiving planned improvement works (typically roofing or pointing / rendering), we will consult with you in accordance with the requirements of the Section 20 process set out in the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, Section 151.

7. Cyclical work

The council will carry out cycles of maintenance work on its housing, necessary to maintain them in good condition. This is mainly decoration work and joinery or other repairs necessary before painting is carried out.
In recent years, programmes of work such as re-roofing and fitting new windows have used low-maintenance materials, to reduce the amount of external painting work required in the future.
Where external items still need to be decorated, the council currently does this every six years.
We will notify you in advance of any work and give you the opportunity to discuss any health or accessibility issues the work may cause.
Timber fences are not included in the painting programme but metal railings usually are.
If your front door is due to be painted, you will be offered a choice of colour from a selected range.
Internal and semi-enclosed communal areas (such as entrance areas, halls, landings and stairways) are also redecorated from time to time as required.

8. Void properties (empty between tenancies)

The council has developed, in consultation with a tenant panel, a void standard. It sets out the standard of repair a void property should meet before being offered to a new tenant.
On some occasions, a larger piece of repair or improvement work may be delayed until after a new tenancy starts; this would only be arranged by agreement with the prospective tenant.
If a new kitchen needs fitting, the new tenant will be consulted when possible, on the design, and colour choices offered from a selected range;
Briefly, the void standard should ensure the following:
1. Meter readings are taken immediately prior to the property being offered to a new tenant (but the new tenant must inform the utility companies that they are the new occupier).
2. The cooker space is provided with a safe electrical connection point and an accessible, capped-off gas supply.
3. The kitchen and bathroom fittings are sound and in good working order.
4. The floor-coverings in the kitchen and bathroom are easy to clean and moisture resistant.
5. The gas and electrical systems are safe; the new tenant should be provided with a copy of the Landlord’s Gas Safety Certificate.
6. The heating system is serviced and working; the new tenant should be given instruction on the operation of the system.
7. Loft insulation is in place and of the recommended depth.
8. All floorboards are in suitable condition and properly fixed in place.
9. The building is in a sound, weather-tight condition.
10. All external doors have a minimum provision of a 5-lever mortice deadlock for security (two sets of keys should be provided).
11. Any door entry system fitted at the property is working correctly.
12. All windows and doors open and close smoothly and the ironmongery is all functioning properly.
13. Stairways, bannisters, handrails and any external balconies are safe and in good order.
14. Supply and waste connections are available for a washing machine.
15. The condition of fencing and gates are checked (any repair work required will be carried out after the start of the new tenancy).
16. Rubbish and debris has been removed from the garden or yard (except where this is a communal or shared garden/yard).
17. All access paths and steps are in sound and safe condition.
18. The internal decorations are in a suitable state for the new tenant to carry out their own decorations (decisions made jointly with the Neighbourhood Services Team).
19. The smoke alarms are in good working order.
20. An Energy Performance Certificate for the property is made available to the new tenant.

9. When things go wrong

Although we will always try to provide you with a good service, matching this Service Standard, we recognise that there may be occasions when this does not happen. If you are unfortunate and something happens to you, we aim to deal with your complaint as swiftly as possible but there will be a process of investigation and fact finding that needs to take place, which can take a little time. When dealing with any complaint about our service, we will follow the council’s general Customer Care policies.
If you have a complaint about the standard of work carried out or if you feel the work has not been completed properly, please report this so that we can investigate the problem and put it right.
If a member of our team or a contractor working for us has not acted appropriately and you wish to make a complaint, the council has a formal complaints process. You can raise your complaint by contacting us.
If something belonging to you has been damaged by a non-council contractor working in your home, the contractor will be asked to make a reasonable settlement with you.
Please note that the council is only responsible for insuring the building you live in, not its contents. We would always advise you to take out your own contents insurance.
You should inform the council about the damage and keep any evidence you have of the damage caused, until a settlement is agreed.
1. If you have a council surveyor looking after the work in your home, please contact them in the first instance (typically this would be for kitchen, bathroom or heating replacements, new roofs, windows).
2. If you have no surveyor to contact, please contact us.
  We will investigate your claim and raise it with the contractor where appropriate, asking them to contact you directly about it and agree a settlement.
If something belonging to you has been damaged by one of our staff, either a surveyor or an operative from the In-House Maintenance Team, you should inform the council about the damage and keep any evidence you have of the damage caused, until a settlement is agreed. Please note that the council is only responsible for insuring the building you live in, not its contents. We would always advise you to take out your own contents insurance.
Please contact us, we will then investigate your claim and if appropriate ask you to raise an insurance claim against the council.
If you suffer some form or personal injury as a result of something the council has done or has failed to do (where it would be the council’s responsibility) and wish to make a claim, you should raise the claim through a solicitor.
Please note the advice given by our insurance team:
"For your compensation claim for personal injury or damage to your property to be successful, you'll need to prove that the council has been at fault in law. Although something may have happened, there's no automatic entitlement to compensation. We must protect the public funds we handle, so we may use the claim information you provide to detect and prevent fraud. We may also share this information with other organisations that handle and protect public funds."

December, 2018