Planned Maintenance
What is Planned Maintenance?
The Planned Maintenance team is in many ways the pro-active repairs team. Although it’s difficult to calculate the cost in savings for our tenants, the benefits of a well maintained home have been known for some time and include a reduction in illness, improvements in wellbeing, as well as being linked to greater life prospects. Additional benefits include a reduction in the disruption caused by reactive repairs, leading to a potential loss of income due to taking time off work, as well as and an increase in safety by having well maintained gas and electrical systems that are serviced regularly.
Around 70% of the annual budget for repairs, maintenance and improvements to our properties is allocated to the Planned Maintenance team. They identify the largest needs for improvement across our housing stock and put “Planned” and “Batched” works out to tender on the open market to get the best value for money. The kind of works that the Planned Maintenance team organise are:
- Kitchen Modernisations
- Bathroom Modernisations
- Heating upgrades
- Gas Servicing
- New external doors
- Upgraded UPVC windows
- Renewing double glazing units
- Fire safety in blocks of flats
- Re-roofing works
- Major external concreting works
- External decoration
- Asbestos management and removal
- Cavity wall insulation works
It’s estimated that taking a planned approach to maintenance works can save us up to 20% compared with taking a responsive approach.
Find out when planned works will be carried out to your home
Our planned maintenance surveyor will write to you before starting any planned works, which is usually following a visit to carry out a survey. To find out more, please Contact us
Do tenants have to agree to planned improvements?
Some of the repairs have to be done, though we’ll try to be as flexible as we can when arranging times to carry out the work. There are times when personal circumstances, such as ill health, pregnancy or bereavement may mean that improvement work is not convenient. Some of our tenants take great care of their properties and even very old kitchens and bathrooms can suit their needs well.
Essential jobs include:
- Health and safety maintenance, such as rewiring your home or carrying out fire safety works
- Refurbishing the outside of a block of flats or cladding a pair of houses where we’re unable to exclude single homes
- Work that’s needed to prevent further damage to your home, such as roof repairs
Central heating and kitchen improvements are not always essential. You can in many circumstances choose not to have them although you'll be asked to sign a disclaimer form. If you change your mind in the future, it may take time to rearrange the work.
Disruption to you and your home
Depending on the type of work, we’ll need access to your home from Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. If we need access outside these times, we’ll agree this with you.
Sometimes your gas, water or electricity might need to be turned off for long periods of time. We’ll always turn it back on at the end of the day or we’ll provide temporary services. If this is likely to cause difficulties, for example if you have a medical condition, you must let us know.
What to do if you have a problem before, during or after work has been carried out
If you have a problem with the work then you should let us or the contractor who is doing the work know. We’ll try to resolve any problems as quickly as possible.
If you’re not satisfied then you can make a complaint or give feedback, see our Feedback and complaints page for more information.
Gas and electricity testing
We’re required by law to check the safety of your gas supply once a year and your electricity supply every ten years.
It’s written in your tenancy agreement that you have to give us access to your home. If you don’t, we might need to force entry and you’ll be charged.