Reporting Repairs

If your home needs repair work to be carried out by the council you should contact us as soon as possible. You can report a repair request online, by phone, by letter, by e-mail, or in person at our local offices.

Repairs to your home

Repairs

Sometimes things in your home will be broken or wear out. To make sure that your property is looked after to a good standard, we both have a responsibility to carry out repairs.

If you need a repair to your property, first check whether the repair is something we will do for you, or if you need to do it yourself.

You should report repairs that we will repair as soon as possible to us to prevent further damage to your home.

We aim to fix your home to an acceptable standard in a reasonable period of time.

How to report a repair

There are a number of ways you can report a repair:

Online

Using the Housing Repairs form.

By phone

Call our repairs phone line on 01476 406170.

Emergency contact number - 01476 590044 out of hours.

By email

repairs@southkesteven.gov.uk

In person at your local council offices:

Grantham - St Peter's Hill.
Stamford - 1 Maiden Lane.
The Deepings - 89 High Street, Market Deeping.
Bourne - Town Hall, North Street.

Normal office working hours are:

Monday to Thursday - 8.45am-5.15pm.
Friday - 8.45am-4.45pm.

By letter

Write to: Property Services - Repairs, South Kesteven District Council, St Peter's Hill, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 6PZ.

We will ask for:

Your name and address.
Your phone number.
Times when someone will be at home - we will not enter the property unless someone is there

We will also need as much information as possible regarding the repair, such as:

Which items need repairing or replacing?
What is the location of the problem?
Where is it - which room (inside) or whereabouts (outside)?
What is the problem - is it loose, stiff, leaking or broken?
What is causing the problem?
How did it happen?
Have you been able to prevent it from getting worse?
Is the problem from one of your own appliances?
If it is an electrical problem, have you checked the fuses and trip switch?
Can you describe the item?
What is it made of?
How big is the problem? - for example, whole or part of the room or one wall
Is it causing any other problems or damage?

How we deal with your repair request

When you report a repair to us, we will make an appointment with you for the repair to be mended.
We will aim to undertake the repair at our first visit. If this cannot be done, another appointment will be made and the same repair person will return to complete the job.
When making an appointment we will always consider your individual needs and personal circumstances. Additional assistance will be given if required.

Repairs are treated in the following ways:

Emergency repairs will be dealt with within 24 hours depending on the situation
Non urgent repairs - an appointment will be made with you

We monitor our performance - how quickly we fix your repair, by the time it takes in days from when you first tell us about the repair, until it is completed. For our latest performance ask the person taking your call.

If we cannot identify the repair over the phone, we will arrange for someone to visit you to assess the job. They will either repair it there and then or make an appointment with you to repair it at another time.

All repairs are considered for health and safety implications.

During winter (31st October - 1st May), a heating or hot water supply breakdown should be dealt with within one working day. During summer (2nd May - 30th October) it will be dealt with within three working days.

What we expect you to do

Once an appointment has been made we expect you to:

Be in when we call. Let us know if you need to cancel the appointment and make another.
Remove personal items, furnishings, to allow access to the repair before we arrive.

Appointments are not usually needed for non-urgent external repairs such as brickwork and guttering. Any locked gates need to be left open for access.

If you don't allow us to enter the property and as a result the unattended repair work causes damage to your home or another property, you will be charged the cost of repairing the damage.

Emergency repairs (outside normal working hours)

Our emergency repair service deals with repairs outside normal working hours, for example:

Total failure of electrical power and lights to just your home having checked your neighbours are not affected.
Serious water leaks (not waste or gutter pipes).
Insecure properties.
Blocked toilet, where the property has only one toilet.

The emergency repairs service team only deals with jobs that cannot safely be left until normal working hours. They may only make safe or undertake temporary repairs, in which case permanent repairs will be completed as soon as possible during normal working hours.

Urgent repairs in normal working hours

Typical jobs include:

electrical repairs.
no heating or hot water.
toilet blocked where the property has only one toilet.
insecure properties.

Gas leaks

If you smell gas inside or outside your home you should immediately phone Transco on 0800 111 999 at any time, day or night.

Gas boilers and fires

For the repair of all gas boilers and fires supplied by us, please contact us on 01476 406170 during normal working hours and select the 'gas repairs' option, or call 01476 590044 out of hours.

Gas safety checks

Faulty gas appliances can give off poisonous carbon monoxide fumes that cannot be seen or smelt but can kill. We have a legal duty to make sure that all our appliances are checked every year by qualified gas servicing engineers.

Our contractors will get in touch with you to arrange an appointment for these checks to be done. If the appointment is inconvenient, please call the number provided to rearrange it.

You must allow our contractors into your home to undertake gas safety checks. It is a condition of your tenancy, and if you do not, we will start legal proceedings to gain entry to your home.

Security - letting people into your home

All our employees carry identity cards that include a photograph. People who work on our behalf will have identity cards. You are advised to ask to see their identity card before allowing them into your home. If you have any doubts do not let the caller in - make sure they are genuine by contacting us on 01476 406170 or 01476 590044 out of office hours.

Tenants' Right to Repair

Certain emergency or urgent repairs qualify for compensation under our Right to Repair Scheme.

If a repair has not been carried out within the agreed timescale, please let us know. We will arrange another appointment date. If repair is still not completed, and neither of these failures has been due to you not allowing us to enter your home, you will be eligible for compensation of £10 plus a further £2 per day up to a maximum of £50.

Vandalism and neglect

We are not responsible for any repair or replacement resulting from an act of vandalism or neglect by you. If damage by vandals has been reported to the police, we will normally only accept responsibility for the repairs if we have been given the police crime number.

If you do not want to report vandalism or any other crime directly to the police, call Crimestoppers on free phone 0800 555111 or our Tenancy and Neighbourhood Services team on 01476 406373.

Taking care of your home

The following information includes easy measures which you can take to improve the comfort and safety in your home for you and your family.

Fire Safety

All of our properties should be fitted with smoke alarms. Please contact us if you do not have a smoke alarm, or are unsure of how to check it is working.

You can reduce the risk of fire by:

Never leaving cigarettes burning.
Never leaving a chip pan unattended.
Regularly checking electrical fittings and flexes for signs of wear and tear.
Not leaving anything lying around that children could use to start a fire.

Water Supply

Serious damage can happen if water freezes in pipes or cisterns and causes pipes to burst. To prevent this from happening you can take the following precautions:

Check that all water pipes and tanks in the loft our outside are lagged.
Keep your home as warm as possible.
Turn off the water stop tap if you go away during the winter and drain the water from the system. Your stop tap is usually located underneath your kitchen sink.

Condensation

Condensation happens when moist air comes into contact with a cool surface making it wet and creating the conditions where mould may grow. To reduce the likelihood of condensation you can: