Council house repairs

We are pleased to inform you that our responsive repairs service is now fully insourced. This means that we have taken over the responsibility for handling your repair requests directly, without relying on external contractors. However, we still engage specialist contractors for larger-scale works, such as roofing, windows, safety checks, and heating and hot water systems.

Since taking over full responsibility for our responsive repairs, we have already observed significant improvements in several key areas:

  • Enhanced resident satisfaction: Our residents are reporting higher levels of satisfaction with the repair services they receive.
  • Faster repair resolution: We can address and resolve repair issues more quickly than before.
  • Reduction in complaints: There has been a noticeable decrease in the number of complaints related to repair services.

When you contact us to report a repair, you can expect to experience a noticeable difference in the quality and efficiency of the service. We are committed to continually improving our services to better meet your needs.

Thank you for your continued support and feedback as we work to enhance our responsive repairs service.

Find out which repairs are your responsibility to fix and how to request a repair. We also provide this information in our housing repairs handbook.

Who’s responsible for the repair

You are responsible for some repairs to your property. These include:

  • blockages that you have caused to any basin, bath or toilet
  • testing battery powered smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
  • broken toilet seats
  • replacing light bulbs
  • replacing keys (lost, stolen or broken) and lock changes
  • appliances such as washing machines, tumble dryers, dishwashers and cookers
  • some simple boiler faults
  • some types of mould and damp

Further information can be found in the repairs handbook and your tenancy agreement.

Our repairs contractors are Osborne Property Services Ltd who undertake day to day repairs.

How to request a repair

Before reporting a repair make sure you have checked that the repair is not your responsibility and gather as much information about the repair as you can.

Non urgent repairs

You can request a non-urgent repair online through our i-housing system.

Or you can phone 01903 737827

When you request a repair, we’ll ask you:

  • your name, address, email (if you have one) and phone number
  • the times you’ll be at the property to let our contractor in
  • personal information to confirm your identity, for example your date of birth
  • about the problem that needs repairing
  • if you have reported the repair before - if so, when did you report it

Emergency repairs

An emergency repair needs to be responded to quickly because it is a danger to health, safety or security.  Our Out of Hours (OOH’s) service, is a make-safe service only, therefore, we will only respond to calls that are: 

  • a risk to life or security
  • a risk to the structure of the building

 Our daytime service will assist you with repairs if anything falls outside of the above criteria . Our engineers can not undertake full repairs OOH’s, they will make the situation safe, and refer your job to the day team for further response.

 

If you call out the service and it’s found that the repair was non-urgent or has resulted directly from damage or negligence by you, the full cost incurred will be recharged to you.

 

Examples of emergency calls are:

  • leaks that will cause further damage if not responded to 
  • the main entrance/exit to your home not being secure, this does not include communal doors
  • complete loss of electricity supply
  • roof damage caused by adverse weather conditions

To report an emergency repair:

  • phone: 01903 737827 during office hours: Monday to Thursday 8.45am to 5.15pm and Friday 8.45am to 4.45pm
  • outside of office hours phone: 01903 737500 which will put you through to our emergency out of hours standby service

Gas and heating breakdowns

For gas and heating breakdowns phone:

Warning! Faulty appliances can cause a fire or explosion in your home or you could be at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can be fatal. 

If you smell gas call National Grid immediately on 0800 111 999

Annual gas checks

As a council tenant and as part of your tenancy agreement, you’ll have a free annual gas safety check on any gas heating systems in your home.

Appointments for your annual gas check

When your gas check is coming up for renewal we’ll text you to let you know. Our contractor, BSW Heating Ltd will then contact you with an appointment.

If you need to rearrange the appointment, please contact BSW Heating on 0800 068 0566. This is a free 24 hour help line. You can also email enquiries@bsw-heating.com. 

If you have installed your own gas appliance which is currently not being checked, please let us know by phoning 01903 737827.