Charging you for housing repairs

For repairs that are our responsibility, you will not have to pay for:

• repairs due to fair wear and tear
• repairs where damage has occurred and a crime number has been provided to us

You will have to pay for repairs if:

• the damage was caused by abuse
• the damage was caused by neglect
• you do not provide us with a crime reference number or refuse to get one

Examples of repairs we will charge you for

A more comprehensive list of rechargeable repairs can be found below:

• replacement of door locks internal / external or garage doors unless due to wear and tear (Internal would only be if you are on the repairs exemption scheme)
• forced entry (following loss of keys or for an empty property where no keys were returned for the dwelling or garage)
• all glass to doors and windows 
• broken sanitary fittings (other than through normal use or age)
• broken floor tiles following removal of floor 
• any damage identified as being caused by the neglect or carelessness of the tenant, members of the tenant's household, or their visitors, sub-tenants or lodgers
• damage caused by an attempted forced entry (unless the tenant has provided a crime number from the police)
• to restore electricity supply - lights or power - where loss has been caused by a tenants appliance for example a cooker or by accidental damage to the wiring in the property
• any work carried out to fixtures, fittings or appliances installed by or belonging to the tenant, or to alterations the tenant may have carried out during the tenancy, in order to make them safe
• any work carried out after vacating the premises to repair damage caused to the property or to replace missing or broken fixtures and fittings, or to remove excess household articles or rubbish
• for transfer of all items to our stores and subsequent storage and / or disposal where belongings considered being of value have been left
• the clearance of all articles remaining at the termination of the tenancy of a garage (whether attached to the dwelling, in a block or isolated)
• burst pipes and any subsequent damage where tenant has temporarily vacated the premises and failed to turn off the water supplies
• any damage caused by overflowing or faulty household appliances 

How we will recharge you

We will send you a Recharge Liability form. It will show an estimated amount on the form so that you know the costs involved of the repair.

This form must be signed by the tenant of the property before we can order or carry out the repair work. It cannot be signed by a family member.

You have the right to get repairs done yourself but the work has to be up to our standards. If it is found not to be up to standard then we will give you the opportunity to bring it up to standard yourself or we will recharge you to put the work right.

If you replace an item, for example a wash-hand basin, instead of allowing us to carry out the work, then you will have taken over responsibility for repairing it in the future.

Billing process

If you are recharged then you will receive an advice note enclosed with the invoice explaining the appeals process. You must put any appeal in writing within 14 days of the invoice date.

You can enter into an agreement with us to pay the bill over an agreed period of time.

If you don't respond to the bill then we will commence debt recovery which could result in legal action