Repairs and Property Care
We have a responsibility to maintain your home and keep it in good order. Our customers share this responsibility with us, as set out in your tenancy agreement. Our Home2Home Team works to fix repairs that you report to us. We also operate a programme of planned maintenance for major repairs and home improvement works.
You are also able to make changes to your home as long as you get our OK before making any improvements.
Report a Repair
You can report a repair using our online form, emailing [email protected] or calling our Customer Care Team on 01271 312500. If you need an emergency repair that is outside of office hours, please call 0800 9170 619.
Repair Responsibilities
As your landlord, North Devon Homes (NDH) is responsible for maintaining the structure (e.g. wall structure and roof structure), and the exterior of your property (e.g. roof covering and rainwater goods) and internal services and amenities (e.g. kitchen and heating systems etc) to a standard as set out by the Decent Homes Standard (2010).
There are also things that are your responsibility to repair and maintain in your home including internal decorations, your garden, changing light bulbs and maintaining your own fixtures and fittings.
Charging for Repairs
For all items that are our responsibility to repair, but where the repair is required due to customer neglect or damage there will be a charge for that repair.
Recharges are what we charge for undertaking repairs or other services where the works are considered to be the responsibility of the customer. A recharge is made to your customer account when we complete the works required on behalf of the customer. This could be items such as alterations undertaken without getting our OK, gaining access due to lost or forgotten keys or repeated missed appointments.
Our customers are responsible for the cost of carrying out any repairs to their home, which are not the result of fair wear and tear, as stated in the tenancy agreement.
Smell gas?
If you can small gas you should call 0800 111 999 immediately and call us on 01271 312500 (out of hours, call 0800 9170 619).
Feedback Survey
After your repair we may contact you to take part in a feedback survey over the telephone. It will only take a few minutes of your time but the feedback we receive will help us to make improvements to our service wherever they may be needed. This feedback from customers is vital to help us to ensure our service standards meet customer expectations.
Home Improvements Programme
The Planned Maintenance Team is responsible for the long-term maintenance of your home and delivers large scale improvements to approximately 1,000 properties each year. Improvements include kitchens, bathrooms, heating systems, electrics and external decoration.
Our surveyors carry out periodical visits to our homes to complete a home survey. This means we can keep up to date with the condition of your building, kitchen, bathrooms etc and assess when replacements are required. You can help us by confirming and keeping these survey appointments when they are booked. They take no longer than 20 minutes and will ensure your home gets the improvements it needs.
You can find out more about the long-term maintenance of your home on our planned works and improvements webpage.
Your home, your responsibilities:
Here is a list of things that you are responsible for while living in your home:
- Contents insurance
- Carpets, laminate flooring, curtains, curtain fixtures and soft furnishings
- Changing light bulbs, plug fuses and cookers
- Bathroom fittings, new toilet seats, new bath and sink plugs and chains, shower units (unless provided by NDH)
- Door keys, door name plates
- Washing lines, TV aerial, satellite dishes (unless they are communal ones and are faulty)
- Keeping gardens tidy: lawns, shrubs, hedges, flower beds and trees
- Garden sheds and fencing dividing properties, greenhouses and gates
- Window / door glass, adjustments of doors if carpets are fitted
- Controlling condensation levels
- Pest Control
Here is a list of our responsibilities as a landlord (unless the damage is caused by you)
- The structure and outside of the property, including drains, gutters and outside pipes where it is a danger or can cause more damage if not repaired. Cosmetic repairs will not be carried out by NDH
- Servicing: gas, smoke alarm, fire alarm and carbon monoxide alarm
- Fittings for water, gas and electricity
- Radiators and other items that heat your home or water
- Fixtures such as basins, sinks, baths, taps and toilets
- NDH kitchen and bathroom flooring
- The main route into and out of your property (paths and driveways) but not including your garden or fence (unless it is a boundary fence)
- Burst pipes, blocked drains, heating that isn't working, faulty front and back doors or windows.
If in doubt, get it checked out. Just call us on 01271 312500 or report it via the online form.
Health and safety
Your safety is our top priority, so we have put together a health and safety webpage with some essential guidance on fire safety, electrical safety and gas safety to help you stay safe in your home.
