Repairs and Maintenance Policy

We are committed to providing comfortable, well-maintained, and safe homes to our social housing tenants. Our ‘right first time’ approach to repairs means we are constantly striving for a better experience for you. We continually review working practices, policies, and procedures to ensure we meet your needs.

This policy sets out how we will deliver repairs and maintenance services to tenants of Newcastle City Council. It will be followed by all Newcastle City Council staff and any contractors involved in the reporting, monitoring, and delivery of our repairs and maintenance service.
Meeting our legal responsibilities

This policy has considered all relevant legislation, regulation, and statutory codes of guidance. We comply with the required standards set out by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in the Consumer Standards. We ensure that the repairs and maintenance service meet the standards set out in the Safety and Quality Standard which states:

• When acting as landlords, registered providers must take all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of tenants in their homes and associated communal areas.
• Registered providers must provide an effective, efficient, and timely repairs, maintenance and planned improvements service for the homes and communal areas for which they are responsible.

We comply with the significant range of legislation and regulation which supports the delivery of repairs and maintenance and the standards that govern the way in which we operate, including (but not limited to):

• Landlord and Tenant Act 1985
• Defective Premises Act 1972
• Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023
• 2006 Decent Homes Standard
• The Secure Tenants of Local Housing Authorities (Right to Repair)Regulations 1994
• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018
• Health & Safety at Work Act 1974
• Housing Act 2004
• Gas Safety (Installation and use) Regulations 1998
• Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) 2006
• Equality Act 2010

Equality and diversity statement

We are committed to ensuring that we do not discriminate against any of our tenants. We have a detailed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy which explains our legal obligations in relation to protected characteristic groups, and how we want to provide excellent services to all our tenants. This means that for all our policies and strategies we consider any specific issues that might be faced by these protected groups.

We understand our tenants have diverse needs and individual circumstances. Where we hold data of a vulnerability, we will use this to make a better judgement as to the priority of any necessary repair to your home.

If there are any additional vulnerabilities, exceptional or unusual circumstances we need to consider when applying this policy, we ask you, or an advocate for you, to discuss this with the staff member when reporting a necessary repair or add this information when reporting online. We will note this exception on our records to ensure it is applied fairly. We will also make necessary adjustments to ensure that we consider any vulnerability or additional need when planning access to complete any repairs.

Roles and Responsibilities
Tenant and landlord responsibilities are clearly laid out within the tenancy agreement which is issued to each new tenant at the point of sign up.

Landlord Responsibilities
We will be responsible for:

• Maintaining the structure and outside of the property and keeping it in repair
• Maintaining the installations for heating, water heating, sewerage and for supplying water, gas and electricity.
• Decorating the outside of all houses and apartments when necessary or as part of a planned maintenance programme unless customers have done the work themselves with the relevant permissions.
• For Leasehold properties we will be responsible for the main structure of the building, the shared parts and any shared services to a building or estate.
• We will carry out all structural, external, and communal works where appropriate and recharge a share of the cost to the Leaseholder in accordance with the terms of their lease and associated legislation.
• All repairs and maintenance work will be carried out by qualified and competent contractors and operatives using suitable materials and equipment.

We will work with you to offer a range of appointments that are convenient. We will provide confirmation of the time, date and duration of the appointment so you are clear on when the repair will take place. We will give you reasonable notice that we require access, except in the case of emergency. We may consider legal action in cases where we are unable to gain access. 

You will be kept informed of the progress of your repair(s), including any delays or changes to the repairs schedule. If you are not in, we will leave a card advising that the job has been cancelled and ask you to contact us again to reschedule the appointment. Feedback from you regarding repairs and maintenance services will be collected and used to improve service delivery. 

Tenant Responsibilities 

You will: 

• Report a defect requiring repair promptly using the contact methods below.
• Advise us of any additional vulnerability or individual need you may have at your earliest opportunity.
• Allow us fair access to your property to carry out any work that is needed or to carry out any inspections. This may include fire door inspections, gas, or electrical safety testing.
• Allow us access to the area we are to repair by removing personal belongings, moving any furniture or floor covering preventing us from being able to do the necessary works.
• Understand that minor repairs within the home are your responsibility. A list of your responsibilities can be found in here.

How to report a repair 

You can report any defect requiring repair by any of the following means: 

• Online Repairs Portal: ‘My Repairs Portal’ Contact Centre:
• (0191) 2787878 Our contact centre operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Type of repairs

To ensure we meet the needs of all our tenants, we prioritise and allocate work dependant on the type of repair, severity of work and health and safety risk to you.

Emergency repair
These are repairs which, if not attended to, could put the health, safety or security of you, the property, or anyone else at immediate risk. We will aim to respond to emergency repair requests and make the property safe within 24 hours.

Where possible, a full repair will be carried out. If this is not possible, we will make the property safe and arrange with you to return and provide a permanent fix at a mutually convenient time during core working hours.

Routine repair
These are repairs to defects which will not seriously interfere with your comfort and convenience. We will complete to these repairs within 28 working days.

Exterior repair
These are repairs to defects which do not interfere with your comfort and convenience and are to the exterior of your property. We will aim to complete these repairs within 40 working days where possible.

Planned improvements
We invest in the properties we manage to maintain the quality of your home. Work is planned in line with our capital investment programme and includes:

• Replacement programmes: new bathrooms, new kitchens, new boilers, roofing programmes, external doors/windows, and fire doors.
• Environmental programmes: new driveways, railings, turfed areas, planting.
• Communal upgrades in our multi storey and midrise accommodation.

Rechargeable Repairs
We may carry out repairs that are outside of our responsibilities and the cost of these will be recharged to you as outlined in your tenancy agreement.

 This could be if:

• A repair is required because of your neglect or damage (accidental or otherwise) including damage caused by any member of your family, pets, or visitors.
• A repair is needed following work carried out by you that is not to an acceptable standard or presents a health and safety or security risk.
• The need for repair has been caused by a criminal act and you have not supplied us with a crime reference number.

Rechargeable repairs will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and we will consider any tenant vulnerability or safeguarding issues. This will also be with the offer of appropriate support.

Complaints and Right to Repair

As tenants, you have the Right to Repair which relates to repairs of less than £250. That means that you can request certain qualifying repairs to be completed within certain timescales. Please see Appendix 1 for a list of qualifying repairs and their timescales.

You can make a complaint or pay a compliment about staff or services at any time. The full complaints policy can be found on our website, or you can contact us here:

• In writing to: Customer Experience Team, Floor 4, Newcastle City Council, Civic Centre, Barras Bridge, Newcastle, NE1 8QH
  Telephone: 0191 278 8600
• E-Mail: Housingcomplaints@newcastle.gov.uk
• Using our online form which can be found on our website

The Right to Improve
If you would like to make improvements to your home, you must check with us first. We will consider each application on a case-by-case basis and permissions will be granted or declined following an inspection and assessment carried out by one of our surveyors. You must not begin any work without first obtaining our written permission.

You can contact your local housing office or click here: 

Review of Policy
This policy will be reviewed every three years or sooner if there are changes in relevant legislation or if best practice, tenant or staff feedback, independent reviews, audits or complaint outcomes suggest a review is required.