TENANTS GUIDE. Repairs and improvements

Transcription

1 TENANTS GUIDE Repairs and improvements

2 Contents Decoration 3 Repairs that you do 4 Repairs that we do 4 Right to Repair scheme 6 Priorities for repairs 8 Reporting repairs and getting the work done 11 Out-of-hours emergencies 12 Who carries out your repairs? 12 Programmed repairs and decoration 13 Complaints, compliments and complaints 14 Insurance 15 Tenants improvements 16 Adaptations for tenants with disabilities 17 Security doors or grilles 18 Satellite dishes 18 Contractors code 18 Useful tips about repairs 19 Condensation 19 Some repairs to your property are our responsibility and some are yours. Generally, repairs needed due to the passage of time or fair wear and tear are our responsibility and we will carry them out. Many minor repairs or those needed because of damage caused by you, your family or guests, are your responsibility and you must carry them out yourself. In some cases, we will carry out work which is your responsibility, and then charge you for it. However, we are sometimes able to carry out work without charge for elderly or disabled tenants who have no one to do the work for them. Decoration You are responsible for decorating the inside of your home, but we will usually give you a grant (a redecoration allowance) when: you first move into a home and the decorations in all or some of the rooms are very poor your decorations are damaged by major work we have done or by flooding from, for example, a burst pipe or a leak through the roof. Your estate officer can tell you whether you can claim a redecoration allowance and will give you a form which shows how much the allowance will be. You can use the allowance to buy decorating materials from our local supplier(s). If you qualify for an allowance for the usual reasons but you are a pensioner, have a disability or are physically unable to do the decorating yourself (and there is no one else living with you who can do it), we may be able to arrange for the decorating to be done for you. This depends on whether we have enough funding for this kind of work at the time. 2 3

3 Repairs that you do By law, you are responsible for the minor repairs that your home will need from time to time, and for keeping your home painted and decorated. You are also responsible for repairs to fittings that you have installed and for any damage caused by you, your family or guests. If you cause a lot of damage to the property we may take legal action to repossess your home as well. If you employ a contractor to work on your fittings, and s/he damages the property, we can hold you responsible for the repair. Minor repairs and maintenance might include: changing tap washers unblocking inside waste pipes, basins, baths and sinks replacing bath, basin or sink plugs and chains replacing locks, latches and handles inside your home replacing outside locks if you get locked out and they have to be forced changing light bulbs, fluorescent tubes and starters in fluorescent fittings replastering small areas replacing broken glass in doors, screens and windows unless the glass was broken by somebody else. Repairs that we do We have a legal duty to carry out certain repairs. A summary of our duties is in your Conditions of Tenancy. We will keep in repair and maintain: the structure and outside of the premises the services that supply water, gas, electricity, sanitation, and space and water heating appliances we have installed for delivering these services. We will not be able to carry out work or repairs for which you could be liable due to your duty to use the premises in a tenant-like manner. This means work or repairs caused by your not taking care of your home, and small jobs which you should do yourself (for example, changing a fuse). So, as your landlord, we have certain responsibilities. Generally, these will include most major work to your home except where you caused the damage. The following list of examples shows the kind of work that we must do. 1 Repairs to the structure and outside of the building: drains, gutters, outside pipes the roof, foundations, outside walls, outside doors window sills and frames chimneys and chimney stacks but not sweeping them pathways, steps and other entrances to the building fences major plastering work. 2 Repairs to heating and hot water installations: boilers, water heaters and radiators fireplaces and our fitted gas fires. 3 Repairs to drains and sanitary fittings: waste pipes and overflows basins, sinks, baths, toilets and cisterns installed by the council, or in place before you took up the tenancy. 4 Repairs to the supply of water, gas and electricity: water and gas pipes broken taps (but not fitting new washers) electrical wiring, sockets and light fittings electrical fittings we supply. 5 Repairs to the shared areas of buildings: corridors, stairways and entrances shared facilities like TV aerials, entryphones, rubbish chutes, lifts and shared lighting. If you are not sure whether a repair is your responsibility or ours, contact the repairs team at your local district housing office. 4 5

4 Right to Repair scheme The Right to Repair scheme is a government scheme. It gives 20 common repairs and sets a prescribed period in which they must be completed. These repairs are called qualifying repairs. If a qualifying repair is not completed within its prescribed period, you have the right to ask us to get a second contractor to complete the repair. If the repair is then not completed within a second prescribed period, you may be entitled to compensation of 10, plus 2 a day for every day that the repair remains unfinished. The most compensation you can get is 50. The prescribed period The prescribed period starts from the first working day after you report the repair, if you report it on a weekday. Otherwise it is the second working day after it is reported. We will lengthen the prescribed period if there are exceptional circumstances beyond our control. For example, we may not be able to restore the water supply if the water company has cut it off. Or if the problem is difficult to identify we would need to do an inspection so that we could accurately order the repair work. If you are not sure whether a repair is your responsibility or ours, contact the repairs team at your local district housing office. Qualifying repairs The repair must be one of the 20 problems listed on the next page. It must be our responsibility; that is, it must not be due to the tenants failing to fulfil their duties or not acting in a tenant-like manner. Problem Prescribed period (working days) Total loss of electric power 1 Partial loss of electric power 3 Unsafe power or lighting socket, or electrical fitting 1 Total loss of water supply 1 Partial loss of water supply 3 Total or partial loss of gas supply 1 Blocked flue to open fire or boiler 1 Total or partial loss of space heating or hot water 1 between 1 November and 30 April Total or partial loss of space heating or hot water 3 between 1 May and 31 October Blocked or leaking foul drain, soil stack, or (where there 1 is no other working toilet in the home) toilet pan Toilet not flushing (where there is no other working 1 toilet in the home) Blocked sink, bath or basin 3 Tap which cannot be turned 3 Leaking water or heating pipe, tank or cistern 1 Leaking roof 7 Insecure outside window, door or lock 1 Loose or detached banister or handrail 3 Rotten timber flooring or stair tread 3 Door entryphone not working 7 Mechanical extractor fan in kitchen or bathroom not working 7 For more information contact the repairs team at your local district housing office. 6 7

5 Priorities for repairs When you ask for a repair by the council, we give it a priority: Priority 0 - emergency repairs ordered outside normal working hours. The contractor will arrive within 1 hour Priority C1 - emergency repairs ordered during the working day, where the contractor will arrive within 1 hour and finish the work on the same day Priority C2 - emergency repairs ordered during the working day, where the contractor will call and finish the work on the same day Priority C3 - repairs the contractor will finish within 3 working days of being ordered Priority C4 - repairs the contractor will finish within 7 working days of being ordered Priority C5 - repairs the contractor will finish within 7 working days of being ordered Priority C6 - repairs the contractor will finish within 28 working days of being ordered. Priorities 0, C1 and C2 - emergencies These orders are raised when there is a real danger to life and limb, such as a dangerous structure, or of further serious damage to the property such as a flood. Resecuring properties, for example after a break-in, also comes into this class. Examples of emergencies are: dangerous structures such as unsafe walls, parapets, ceilings, staircases, and so on dangerous paths, paving, steps or manholes blocked main drains blocked toilet (we may charge you for this, depending on the cause of the blockage) blocked rubbish chutes serious water leaks or overflows serious roof leaks (at first we may only be able to make it safe) putting the mains cold water back on restoring a minimum electricity supply to the kitchen and stairways putting shared lighting back on securing empty homes or occupied homes after a break-in boarding up a broken window removing racist or other offensive graffiti (if there is no caretaker) stopping leaking gas, oil or other dangerous substances forcing entry and changing the lock (this is for vulnerable tenants only, and only for the first time we do it) removing dangerous playground equipment unblocking waste disposal unit (we may charge you for this) providing a temporary toilet (until we can replace it). Priorities C3, C4 and C5 - urgent repairs These are repairs that, if not done, would cause you a significant nuisance. We should do them within 7 working days. Examples of urgent repairs might be: putting the electricity back on following a flood putting heating and hot water back on repairing or replacing the entrance door or frame renewing a toilet bowl repairing a non-emergency plumbing leak replacing glass in windows that people could use to get in (we may charge for this) stopping severe water-hammer (banging pipes) repairing a toilet cistern clearing a blocked gully fitting a new tap to a kitchen sink or bath repairing roofs, gutters, rain water pipes. 8 9

6 Priority C6 - normal repairs These repairs take up to 28 days to finish. But some may take longer, for example where we need to do a lot of work or have to order specialist joinery or materials. Examples of these repairs might be: putting in new baths, basins or sinks (fair wear and tear only) other glass repairs (we may charge you for doing this) replastering, rendering, concrete floor repairs repainting and other brickwork floor and wall tiling replacing of essential kitchen units (fair wear and tear only) repairing garage or shed doors (not if the damage is due to repeated vandalism) fitting insulation jacket to hot water cylinder repairing window frames, sash cords, and so on. Please do not abuse the emergency service by giving misleading reports otherwise someone with a real emergency has to wait. If a call turns out not to be a genuine emergency, we may make a charge for the call-out. It also costs more to get a repair done quickly, for example within 1 day rather than 3 days, so we must make sure we give repair orders the correct priority. In most cases when we order a repair we will send you a confirmation letter telling you which category the repair comes under and when it should be completed. The letter will also include a section for you to fill in and return to us. This give us feedback on the service we are providing, helping us to find out the areas we are getting right along with the areas we may need to improve on. You should also make a note of the order number as this helps us if you need to ask about the repair. Reporting repairs and getting the work done If you think a repair is the council s responsibility you have a legal duty to report it to us. You can do this by contacting your repairs team at the local district housing office by phone, by , by letter or in person. Details of your local district housing offices are listed in the Useful addresses leaflet. We now have specialist repair teams in each of the district housing office. Your request will normally be dealt with by a repairs officer based in the repair team or a customer services officer if you are reporting the repair in person. All repairs should be reported direct to your local district repairs team, as estate officers no longer deal directly with ordering or progressing repairs. When you contact us we aim to make sure you receive an efficient service and that wherever possible our contractors complete the repair in a single visit. You can help us by: making sure we have your correct name, address, daytime phone number and, where possible, an address giving a detailed description of the problem, for example when it started and where you have previously reported the repair telling us the times that someone is normally at home keeping any appointments we make with you Wherever possible, our repair or customer services team aim to order any repairs directly with the contractor when you first report the repair. We will confirm with you the repair we have ordered and make an appointment for the repair to be carried out by our contractors. Where an inspection is needed to accurately diagnose the work needed, we will make a convenient appointment for a surveyor or maintenance officer to look at the problem first. These inspections will normally be carried out within 10 working days. Appointment times for surveyors and maintenance officers Weekday mornings 9am to 1pm Weekday afternoons 1pm to 5pm 10 11

7 For building repairs and repairs to an individual gas boiler in your home we can offer the following appointment slots Weekday mornings 9am to 1pm Weekday afternoons 1pm to 5pm Saturday mornings 8am to noon. We are working with the contractor who repairs communal heating/hot water boilers and systems to bring in a more direct appointment system. Until then the contractor will contact you directly to arrange a convenient appointment. If you want to ask about the progress of a repair order you can contact either the contractor directly or your local district repairs team. We want our contractors to keep all appointments. They should contact you or us if they can t keep an appointment or if they are delayed. If our contractor doesn't keep an appointment please contact the repairs team at your local district housing office straight away so they can phone the contractor to find out why. We will pay you 25 compensation if the building repairs contractor does not keep an appointment. (If you owe money to the council, such as rent arrears, the money will be used to help pay back the debt.) Out-of-hours emergencies Outside office hours the council runs a telephone helpline to deal with emergencies. The number is When the district offices are closed the helpline deals with emergencies only and will arrange for the problem to be made safe. Please wait until your district office is open again to report all other repairs or make other enquiries. Who carries out your repairs? As you may know, contractors, including the council s own workforce, now have to compete for the right to carry out the repairs in each district. The same system applies to service work such as lift repairs, estate lighting, some ventilation systems and communal central heating. Also, contractors usually carry out repairs to individual central heating systems, gas water heaters or fires, waste disposal units, communal television aerials and some electrical ventilation systems. Anyone doing repairs for the council should be carrying identification. Always ask to see an identity card before letting someone into your home. Your local district housing office repairs or customer services team will be able to give you more details of all the contractors working in your area. Programmed repairs and decoration - Pride of Place programme Some types of work are best done as part of a programme. This allows a group of properties to be worked on at the same time, so it is cheaper and more efficient. Camden has a number of programmes: Outside repair and redecoration programmes We aim to redecorate the outside and communal areas of each property every six years, depending on how much money is available. While this decoration is carried out, necessary repairs are done to windows, doors, gutters and so on. We will send you a letter about this before we decorate your property. We consult tenants about the details of each scheme through their tenants association or by a general survey. Major capital repairs programmes These involve large-scale improvement work, for example, renewing roofs, windows or services. If a major repairs programme is going to be carried out, we make sure that the tenants are consulted about the work which will take place. This applies to all maintenance work. Each contractor is taken on for a set time, and after this they have to compete again with other organisations to keep the contract

8 Service programmes These include providing buildings with, for example, central heating or door entry systems. We may do this type of work on properties which are otherwise in good condition. Of course, we only have the money to work on a limited number of properties at a time. We still have to spend money on the most essential work first. This means that we cannot modernise or repair all the properties that need it as quickly as we would like. Grouping work into programmes means that we get more work done than we would otherwise be able to afford. However, it can mean that some people may have to wait longer for work to start on their property. If there is a health risk, then of course we treat the problem with more urgency. For example, if you have asbestos in your home which becomes loose and damaged, we will seal it immediately and arrange to have it removed. Comments, compliments and complaints Despite our efforts to provide you with a high-quality repairs service, we or our contractors sometimes get things wrong. When this happens you should contact your local district housing office repairs or customer services team so that they can try to sort out the problem. However, if you are still not satisfied with the way your repair was dealt with, or any other aspects of this service you received, you can use Camden s formal complaints procedure. You can get official complaint forms from your local district housing office. You may also contact your local ward councillor or get legal advice - see the Useful addresses booklet in this pack. If you want more information on your legal rights on repairs you should contact a law centre, neighbourhood advice centre or citizens advice bureau. We also want to know about things you think we ve done particularly well, or your ideas and suggestions on improving the service. You should pass your comments on to your local district repairs team. Also, you may be able to claim compensation from the council. You can do this if we don t do necessary repairs of the kind listed in this booklet within a reasonable time and, as a result, you suffer: inconvenience loss of an amenity, such as the use of a room damage to your health or to your belongings. Put your claim in writing. Explain what needs repairing, when you reported it, and what kind of inconvenience or damage has been caused by our not doing the repair. You can claim compensation too if your property is damaged by someone who works for the council, or as a result of work they are doing. This also applies to private contractors working for the council. Again, you should contact your local district repairs team. Insurance You need to take out your own home contents insurance as the council does not insure your furniture, belongings or decorations against theft, fire, vandalism and burst pipes. The council runs a special insurance scheme with a major insurance company where you can pay weekly for contents insurance. You are strongly urged to take out contents insurance either through the council or another insurance company. A booklet called Peace of mind at affordable cost gives more details of the insurance scheme offered by the council. You can get this from your local customer services team. You can also get more information on securing your home from the Security and safety guide within this pack. Where repairs are the council s responsibility and a result of a crime being committed we will need a crime number before ordering the repair. You can help speed things up by making sure you have a crime number before reporting the repair. You can get the crime number from the police station that you reported the crime to

9 Tenants improvements All secure tenants have a right to carry out improvements to their homes, but we must give our written permission first. Examples of improvements are: changing or adding to council fixtures and fittings, such as kitchen units or bathroom suites installing equipment which affects the supply of gas, electricity or water, for example fitting a shower or putting in central heating. How to get permission for an improvement Write to your district housing office and give as much information as possible about what you want to do. We may send someone to have a look and offer advice. Sometimes we will give permission only under certain conditions. For example, we may need the work to be done to a particular standard or by a suitably qualified person. The reason for this would be to protect your safety and that of your neighbours as well as protecting the council s interest. We cannot legally refuse permission unreasonably or impose unfair conditions. If we refuse to let you do an improvement, we will give you the reasons in writing. Do I need planning permission? You do not need planning permission for small improvements inside your home. Simply contact your local district repair team. If you are thinking about adding to the property, for example by putting up a porch, garden shed or a new fence, you may need planning permission as well as agreement from the housing department. You can get advice from your local district repair team or from the Environment Department on (the duty planner). For major building work, you may need approval from Building Control. This is to make sure that certain building standards are kept to, and to avoid future problems arising from poor materials or design. You can get advice from Building Control on You are responsible for making sure you have written permission from the district housing office before undertaking any alterations. Money back for tenants improvements When you move out you can claim compensation for improvements you have made. We may pay back the cost, or part of the cost, of improvements. We will only consider a claim if: 1 you give us at least one month s notice before you leave 2 we gave written permission before the improvement was done 3 the improvement is still noticeable and working properly 4 the work improved the property, and is of the scale and type which the council would expect to do itself. If you want to claim some compensation, contact your estate officer, giving details of the claim. We pay based on the state of the improvement. For example, if the improvement has a 10-year life, its value goes down by 10% a year. Therefore, if you move out six years after making the improvement, we can pay you 40% of the original value. We may make you pay for or put back any improved fittings that you remove when you leave. This applies whether you, or an earlier tenant, made the improvement. Adaptations for tenants with disabilities If you have a disability and have problems around the home you can ask us to carry out improvements and adaptations to make the property more suitable for your needs. We will do this free of charge. The types of adaptation vary from small aids like hand rails to more elaborate ones such as a stair lift. If you or any member of your family have a disability and would benefit from adaptations to the home, contact the occupational therapist at your local social services office. See the Useful addresses booklet

10 Security doors or grilles If you are worried about the security of your home, please contact your estate officer or the police for advice. Do not fit your own security doors or grilles without first getting advice. If there was a fire they could be extremely dangerous. Satellite dishes You must not put up a satellite dish on any of our buildings without first getting the our written permission. We will give permission only in exceptional circumstances. The reason for this is that satellite dishes are not only unsightly, but they cause problems to the brickwork and roofs of properties. Contractors code We want the repairs we order for your home to be carried out with the least inconvenience to you. Therefore, we ask the contractors we employ to: wear identification badges at all times dress smartly treat you with respect and be courteous at all times not smoke in your home carry out work within working hours give you details of the work to be done keep all appointments let you know if they are running late for an appointment arrange convenient appointments with you for any follow-up work make sure your belongings are protected during the work where practical, match the repair to the existing type of fitting deal quickly with any questions you have where possible, finish repairs in a single visit be considerate to any special needs you have. Useful tips about repairs ask for the name of the person you report the repair to let us have as much information as you can about the repair, especially if you ve reported the same repair before make a note of the order number we give you remember the recharge cost we give you is only an estimate and that the actual cost may be higher it s normally cheaper for you to have any repairs that are your responsibility done by your own contractor ask a friend for the names of reputable contractors or look in Yellow Pages keep extra tiles, wallpaper and paint when decorating. This will help you match your decorations if they are damaged when you fit floor coverings make sure they can be lifted without damage in case this needs to be done to carry out repairs make sure you know where the water stopcocks and main electricity and gas switches are in your home, as this will help you if there is an emergency. Condensation These hints will help reduce condensation in your home: keep your home warm improve ventilation by opening windows and using any ventilators that are fitted in your home, such as extractor fans don t block up air bricks keep your kitchen and bathroom doors closed, especially when cooking or bathing don t use Calor gas heaters whenever possible, don t dry clothes indoors use lids when cooking and don t let pans boil longer than they need to try to avoid overfilling cupboards or wardrobes as this will help air to circulate better. The addresses, telephone numbers, addresses and opening hours of the district housing offices are listed in the Useful addresses leaflet

11 Translations and other formats If you would like information from the Tenants Guide in your own language or in large print or audiotape, please ask the customer services team at your district housing office. Nëse doni më shumë informata nga Udhëzuesi Për Qiraxhinjë në gjuhën tuaj, apo në shtyp të madh ose audiokasetë, ju lusim që të pytni timin e shërbimeve të klientve në zyrën për banim në rrethin tuaj. Albanian IJkKj pkh ßajJ x VJAc ßgPT IJkjJr KjP\r njwj~ fgq, IgmJ ßoJaJ IãPr IgmJ IKcS ßaAPk YJj fjypu h~jtpr IJkjJr KcKˆsÖ yjck\ä IKlPx TJˆoJr xjkntxpt mumjç Bengali 20 Si vous souhaitez obtenir certaines informations du Tenant s Guide (guide du locataire) dans votre langue maternelle ou imprimées en gros caractères, adressez-vous à l équipe Services Clientèle à votre district housing office (service local de logement). French Haddii aad doonaysid macluumaadka ku jira buugga loogu talagalay dadka guryaha ijaartay ee afka ingiriiska lagu yiraahdo Tenants Guide oo luuqaddaada ku qoran ama far waawayn ama asagoo cajilad ah, fadlan laxiriir tiimka adeegga macaamiisha ee ku yaal xafiiska guryaha ee dagmadaada. Somali Si quiere recibir la información contenida en el "Tenants Guide" [Manual del Inquilino] en su propio idioma, en letra más grande o en cinta audio, rogamos se ponga en contacto con el equipo de "customer services" [atención al cliente] de su oficina de la vivienda local. Spanish Produced by Camden Design & Print HOD201/