Looking after your home

We work towards ensuring your home is maintained to the highest standards and annually invest in council homes. In this section, find out how we deliver planned maintenance. Our focus is on keeping you safe and secure, as well as improving your home.

Planned maintenance

We deliver an annual programme of replacements and upgrades in council homes. This can include replacing the following:

• kitchens
• bathrooms
• doors windows
• roofing
• communal area upgrades

Our programmes depend upon the condition and age of the components, as well as meeting the Government's Decent Homes Standard.

We aim to have homes that will:

• meet the current standard for housing set by the Government
• be in a reasonable state of repair
• have reasonably modern facilities
• be warm and comfortable
• include any additional items agreed with tenants

Each year we carry out hundreds of improvements and make significant investment across all council homes.

The Council's stock condition survey

To improve the quality of our properties, we need to carry out home health checks every five years. These are visual inspections of your home's inside and outside to:

• review the age and condition of parts of your home, such as the kitchen, bathroom, windows, doors and roof
• look for anything that could be a health and safety issue and ensure these are reported
• help us plan our replacement programmes

The survey will take between 30 and 45 minutes depending on the size of your home. During the survey we may need to take photos of the condition of certain parts of your home.

Tenant satisfaction surveys

The council will contact tenants when works have finished, to ask for feedback on the works carried out. We use your feedback to improve our service to you.

Planned works programme

The council has a planned works programme for the next 30 years. The programme helps us to know what we need to do to maintain and invest in homes over this time. Yearly programmes are set to replace key components that are near the end of their life.

What do we do?

In the 2025/2026 financial year, we are delivering key improvements across our housing stock, including:

• replacing doors and/or windows in over 400 properties
• re-roofing more than 100 homes
• upgrading kitchens and bathrooms to meet Decent Homes standards
• undertaking planned preventative maintenance works that could include new communal doors, upgrading door entry systems and decorations in over 60 communal blocks
• undertaking planned preventative maintenance works to include external repairs and decoration to over 300 individual properties
• carrying out structural repairs and communal area enhancements at St Paul's Court, Sackville Close, Windsor Way, and Isis Close
• delivering energy efficiency upgrades, including heating systems, external wall and loft insulation and solar panel installations
• continuing essential fire safety works to ensure full compliance with government regulations

Frequently asked questions

How will I know when my home is due for a planned improvement? / How do we decide who gets what work done?

We will let you know about your next planned improvement and which contractor will be carrying out the work. The contractor will get in touch to introduce themselves and explain what sort of work they will be doing. if there are any choices in colour or design as part of the works, they will ask you for this. They will also tell you how long they expect the works to take. It is always important to note that from time to time there may be unexpected changes to the schedule. The contractor and the council will keep you updated if this happens.

Can I opt out of planned improvements? / Do I have to have the work done?

We are required by regulations to maintain your home to the decent homes standard.

Some of the repairs or replacements have to be done, though we'll try to be as flexible as we can when arranging times to carry out the work. 

Essential jobs include: 

• health and safety maintenance, such as rewiring your home or carrying out fire safety works 
• work that's needed to prevent further damage to your home, such as window and roof replacements

Kitchen and bathroom improvements aren't essential. You can 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. 

We would always appreciate your cooperation in helping us improve the quality of homes and communal areas across the borough. If you have any questions or concerns regarding works, or if you need assistance making arrangements, please do not hesitate to contact the Housing Assets Team.