Our Repairs Policy

You can view a web version of our Repairs Policy below. It answers many common questions relating to our repairs service, like:

• Which repairs are our responsibility and which are the tenant's responsibility.
• How we prioritise repairs.
• What happens if there are special reasons we should prioritise a repair.
• Which repairs might be dealt with by our planned programme.
• Our response times for different types of repairs.
• Our out of hours service.
• Rechargeable repairs.
• + more.

You can tap on a link below to jump to a section of our Repairs Policy:

1. Introduction
2. The purpose of this policy
3. Scope (who this policy is for)
4. Definitions
5. Reporting your repair
6. Completing your repair
7. Repair responsibilities
8. Individual circumstances
9. Damp and condensation
10. Awaab's Law: timescales
11. Disrepair
12. Our cyclical checks for your safety at home
13. Lettable Standard
14. Chargeable repairs
15. Permissions and improvements
16. Right to Buy/Right to Acquire
17. Complaints, compensation, and redress
18. Building Insurance
19. Equality Impact Assessment
20. Responsibility
21. Consultation
22. Related policies and strategies
23. Monitoring, review, and evaluation
24. Approval

Our Repairs Policy also includes these important appendices (each one opens in a new tab when tapped):

• Appendix A: Repair priorities and timescales (opens in a new tab)
• Appendix B: Our/your repair responsibilities (opens in a new tab)

1. Introduction

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This policy outlines our commitment to maintaining safe and secure homes. It sets out our responsibilities and the timescales you can expect for the completion of repairs.

3. Scope (who this policy is for)

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This policy relates to our tenants and sets out how we will keep your home and our assets in repair whilst providing a service that offers value for money. It also explains your repair responsibilities and our repair responsibilities.

Any exclusions are stated within the Tenancy Agreement. Leaseholders should check their lease for information on repair responsibilities.

4. Definitions

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• You:
  The tenant(s) of the property.
• We, us:
  Bolton at Home Limited, your landlord.
• Property:
  Your home and any private yard, garden, garage or attached outhouse.
• Communal area:
  A part of a building or estate that may be used by any tenant, occupant, or visitor, usually relating to a block of flats or maisonettes.

• Emergency repairs:
  These are repairs that could result in an immediate risk to the property or people. For example, an uncontrollable leak or exposed wiring.
• Emergency hazard/investigation:
  These are repairs or damp and mould investigations that could result in an immediate risk to the property or people. For example, anyone living in the property with a high-risk health vulnerability.
• Urgent repairs:
  These are repairs that need to be dealt with quickly but don’t present an immediate risk to the property or people.
• Responsive repairs:
  We carry out responsive repairs that are covered under our policy following a request by you, or someone acting on behalf of you, to repair or replace something already in the property that is not working.
• Routine repairs:
  These are repairs that don’t need to be dealt with quickly but cannot be left until we start a planned programme.
• Significant hazards/standard investigation:
  These are repairs or damp and mould investigations that pose a significant risk of harm to the tenant. For example, minor mould in an attached outhouse. 

• Inspections:
  We aim to complete a repair on the first visit, but there are occasions where an inspection is required first.
• Follow-up damp inspection/renewed investigation:
  There may be occasions where we need to follow up with an in-depth damp inspection. For example, where rising damp has been identified.
• Investigation findings:
  Following an emergency or standard investigation, we will provide you the findings and next steps to resolve the damp and condensation issue  
• Safety work:
  There may be occasions where we need to follow up an emergency investigation with additional safety works. For example, additional mould removal. 
• Further works:
  Following a damp inspection, we may identify further preventative works are required. For example, additional ventilation.
• Maintenance:
  We may carry out maintenance when something needs replacing. For example, brickwork, fire doors, and external doors. We identify these either when we carry out a responsive repair or as part of checks to ensure we are meeting our legal obligations.
• Capital investment improvements:
  We regularly carry out major improvements. For example, improvements to the outside of properties, replacement of heating systems, and renewing electrical rewiring.   
• Cyclical (repeated) maintenance:
  We carry out cyclical maintenance when repeated maintenance is required, either for health and safety purposes or to keep properties in repair. For example, lift servicing, gas servicing, electric periodic testing, and gutter cleaning.

Reporting your repair:

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We provide several ways to report a repair, these are:

• Telephone: call us on 01204 328000.
• Face to face: at our reception, 98 Waters Meeting Road, Bolton BL1 8SW. You can tap here to see our office opening times.
• Website: via our web chat facility facility.   
• Email: info@boltonathome.org.uk
• Facebook: by sending a message. 
• Via your local UCAN centre: you can tap here to find your nearest UCAN centre.

You must report all emergency repairs by telephone or face to face:

Please do not report emergency repairs in any other way. Emergency repairs can be reported any time of day throughout the whole year.

6. Completing your repair

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When you report your repair, we will give it a priority according to how urgent it is.  Tap here to see our repair priorities, timescales, and appointment times (in Appendix A) (opens in a new tab).

We will usually give you an appointment when you report the repair. If we cannot give you an appointment straight away, we will contact you as soon as we have an available appointment. We won’t provide an appointment for external works, but we will give you a timescale for completion. Appointment slots are listed in Appendix A.

Where we have an unusually large number of repair requests or we need to order materials, there may be a delay in completing your repair beyond our normal. If this happens, we will let you know the reason for the delay and when your repair is expected to be completed.

We will always try to complete your repair on the first visit, however sometimes this may not be possible. In these cases, we will ensure the property is safe and secure and arrange another appointment to complete the repair at your convenience.  

We, and our contractors, will always have identification badges to confirm our identity when we visit your property.

We may refuse to carry out a repair if you are abusive or aggressive to our staff. If the property is unhygienic, the area is too cluttered or if our colleague feels it is unsafe for them to carry out your repair, we may not be able to complete the work until you have resolved the issue.

If we need to carry out major repairs, you may need to move into temporary accommodation whilst we complete the work. We will arrange this with you and give you reasonable notice, except in an emergency.

7. Repair responsibilities

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We have a joint responsibility with you to maintain our property.

You must keep to the conditions set out in your tenancy agreement relating to repairs and maintenance and carry out the responsibilities set out in Appendix B (www.boltonathome.org.uk/repairs-appendix-b) (opens in a new tab).

8. Individual circumstances

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We recognise that you have individual needs and may need repairs completing more quickly than normal due to special circumstances such as but not exclusively health issues, disabilities, or personal circumstances. 

If you tell us about something that makes the repair more urgent, we will consider your request and may increase the priority of your repair and respond faster than normal.

9. Damp and condensation

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We are committed to maintaining healthy and safe living conditions in all our homes. In line with Awaab’s Law, we take reports of damp, condensation, and mould seriously and will act promptly to identify and resolve root causes, not just treat the symptoms.

Dampness and condensation can arise from various causes. Depending on the information provided by you, we may raise a repair or inspect the property first to better understand the cause of the problem.

All residents living in our properties must provide access to their homes to enable us, as the landlord, to maintain and improve the property and undertake regular servicing to ensure it remains safe and secure for occupation.

More information on our timescales under Awaab's Law is available below. You can also tap here for more information on our website about how we can support you to tackle issues relating to damp, condensation, and mould.

10. Awaab's Law: timescales

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When you report a damp or mould issue, we will assess how serious it is.

If it is classed as an emergency or a significant hazard, we will make sure the necessary safety work is carried out within the time limits shown below:

Emergency hazards/emergency investigation: 

We will visit within 24 hours to make the hazard safe and in respect of damp and mould this will be cleaned.

Significant hazards/standard investigation:

We will investigate any potential significant hazards within 10 working days to clean the mould and remove any hazards.

Investigation/findings:

A survey report will be sent to you within three working days with the conclusion of the investigation and the next steps.

You will be kept updated throughout the process and we will provide information on how to keep safe.

Safety work:

If the investigation identifies a significant hazard, we will undertake relevant safety work within five days of the investigation concluding.

Follow-up damp inspection/renewed investigation:

We may arrange a follow-up damp inspection within 10 working days after the initial triage visit.

Further works:

We will begin or take steps to begin any further required works within five working days of the investigation concluding, if the investigation identifies a significant or emergency hazard.

If steps cannot be taken to begin work in five working days, this must be done as soon as possible, and work must be physically started within 12 weeks.

We will satisfactorily complete works within a reasonable timeframe depending on the nature and extent of the work required. These will be in line with our repair timescales.

If the relevant safety work cannot be completed within specified timeframes, we will provide suitable alternative accommodation at our expense.

Aftercare:

After we’ve fixed the problem in your home, we will keep checking to make sure the issue hasn’t returned. We will get in touch with you after three months and again after 12 months to see if any damp or mould has come back.

If you spot any issues before we get back in touch, please tell us right away. We will look at it again and fix it if needed. This will help to ensure the issue has been fully resolved and allows us to take further action if needed.

11. Disrepair

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If you make a disrepair claim, we will deal with this in line with the Housing Disrepair Protocol as part of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.

We will not put any existing repairs on hold or cancel if you have a disrepair claim in progress and will work with solicitors to resolve the claim in a timely manner.