Your Tenancy

Tenancy Conditions

SECTION 5 - REPAIRS TO YOUR HOME

What repairs is the Council responsible for?

The council is responsible for most repairs to the structure of your home and to essential services. Your tenancy conditions detail these. We keep the property in good order by:

• carrying our essential repairs to empty homes before new tenants move in
• providing a day to day repairs service
• doing maintenance work at regular intervals i.e. lift and heating maintenance
• continuing with a programme of major improvements and repairs

What repairs are you responsible for?

• internal doors and glazing
• internal fittings including skirting boards, architrave’s to doors/windows, bath panels, toilet seats, plugs and chains to sinks and baths, curtain rails and pelmets
• internal decorations and finishes
• repairs to doors and drawers of kitchen units
• letter boxes
• items damaged by you, your family or visitors
• repairs to any improvements you have carried out
• replacing light bulbs and fluorescent tubes
• replacing tap washers and plumbing installed for washing machines, dishwashers
• lock changes resulting from, or the replacement of lost keys, such as to doors or window locks

How do you order Repairs?

You are responsible for reporting repairs to the Council. All repairs are ordered by telephoning HFI Direct on 0800 694 3344

The repair will be given a priority category depending on how urgent it is. Sometimes we will need to visit you, to look at the problem and see what work is needed.

Replacements such as new baths, kitchen units, doors may need to be planned and included in our Capital Programme.

When you report a repair, please give us:

• your name, address and telephone number
• as much information about the repair as possible, including location of repair i.e. room

What happens after you report a Repair?

Our staff and contractors will:

• send you a receipt confirming the repair had been reported, giving you a job number and priority time
• agree an appointment slot with you to do the work. Where we can this will be done at the time you report your repair. Appointments slots are 8am to 1pm and 12 noon to 4pm Monday to Friday
• leave a card asking you to contact them if you are out when they call. If you do not respond to the card or allow access, depending on the nature of the work, the job may be cancelled
• spot check the work and service provided

Our Repairs Pledge

We have introduced a pledge to tenants, that our contractors will complete certain types of repairs to your home within 25 working days of the Housing Service ordering the job. If the Council’s contractor does not complete the work within this time, you have the right to “invoke” the pledge and request an alternative contractor undertakes or completes the repair job.

The pledge covers the majority of our day to day repairs. A special leaflet Islington Council’s Repairs Pledge tells you what the pledge covers and how you can “invoke” it. Please contact reception at your Area Housing Office for a copy.

Repairs target response times

With 100,000 repairs each year, we have a system to prioritise how quickly a repair is done. Your repair will be given one of the following priorities.

Priority	Level of Repair	Response time
0	Emergency repair outside normal working hours	Respond within 2 hours (make safe)
1	Urgent repair outside normal working hours	Respond within 24 hours – complete within 72 working hours
2	Emergency repair within normal working hours	Respond within 2 hours (make safe)
3	Urgent repair within normal working hours	Respond within 24 hours – complete within 72 hours
4	Order of prescheduled works given to contractor	Response by client appointment
5	Repair to communal area (raised within normal working hours)	5 day response – complete within 10 days
6	Routine repair within normal working hours	Response by client appointment within 3 – 9 days. Completed within 25 days. (Repairs Pledge)
7	Other – Complex works requiring special arrangements	To be agreed between council and contractor

Out of Hours Emergency Repairs

Sometimes emergency repairs are needed outside office hours. If a repair is very urgent i.e. a danger to health and safety or security and can not wait until the next working day, you can call our Emergency Service on 020 7527 5400. We may only carry out a holding repair until a full repair can be done during normal working hours.

Redecorating your home

You are responsible for decorating the inside of your home. However if you are:

• over 70 years of age or are
• disabled and in receipt of a recognised Disability Allowance and
• there are no able bodied persons under the age of 60 years living in your home

The Council may be able to help you under it’s Assisted Decoration Programme. The Scheme allows for partial redecorating every 7 years. Please ask at your Area Housing Office for details.

How to avoid condensation in your home

If your home is damp, it may be due to condensation. This happens when warm, damp air – like steam from cooking – meets a cold surface, such as a window, wall or water pipes etc. It causes mould on walls, ceilings and damages clothes, bedding and carpets.

You can help to prevent or reduce it if you:

• keep kitchen and bathroom doors shut and a window open when cooking or washing, and for a short time afterwards
• if you have an extractor fan use it and make sure it is not blocked
• only dry clothes indoors if you have to and make sure a window is open. If you have a tumble drier vent it outside
• make sure your rooms are as warm and dry as possible. If some background heating is left on during the day, this only costs a little more than heating rooms up quickly during the evening. However, you should not leave gas or electric fires unattended and your tenancy conditions do not allow you to use calor gas heating.
• mop up any condensation on window sills and regularly wipe off any mould growth that appears

Improvements to your Home

Council improvements

We aim to keep council properties in good condition. So we may need to carry out works to modernise or upgrade your home and estate. Before starting any work, we consult you on what we plan to do. We will:

• send you a letter
• write to your tenants and residents association (if there is one) or call a public meeting for all those likely to be affected by the work
• tell you the result of consultation and keep you informed about progress

Your own home improvements

You have the right to improve your property, but there are conditions and you must get written permission before you start work. Please apply to the Area Housing Office for permission, which will not be unreasonably withheld.

This includes:

• making any alteration or additions to the property, it’s fixtures or fittings or services to the property
• placing or fixing an aerial or satellite dish to the exterior
• decoration to the outside of your home

If you start without permission, we can charge you for any repairs or ask you to reinstate your home to its original condition.

You must also obtain any necessary approvals such as planning permission, building regulation approval before you start work.

Any agreed alterations must be completed in a reasonable time and to a standard or work and in accordance with other conditions contained in the Council’s written permission, or any other approval.