Safe and secure homes
Housing Repairs and Maintenance
The Council’s Housing Repairs team assists tenants and leaseholders with queries about housing repairs and arrange for contractors to carry out those repairs that are the responsibility of the Council.
Our Housing Repairs and Maintenance Policy sets out the Council’s approach to the housing repairs and maintenance services which is provided to Council tenants and leaseholders. The Policy was revised in 2024 to ensure it remains up-to-date and compliant with any new legislation, regulation and best practice.
Decent Homes
The Decent Homes Standard sets out the criteria that Council homes are required to meet. The definition of what a decent home is was updated in 2006 to reflect the introduction of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). A decent home must meet the following criteria:
- Meet the current statutory minimum standard for housing. A home which contains one or more hazards assessed as serious (Category 1) under the HHSRS will fail to meet this standard.
- The key building components and non-key building components need to be in a reasonable state of repair.
- It must have reasonably modern facilities and provide a reasonable degree of thermal comfort.
The Council will be commencing a full stock condition survey in 2025 which will help to better understand and identify any repair needs or health and safety issues. It will also ensure the stock data is up-to-date and allow planning for any required future works to be undertaken.
The Charter for Social Housing Residents published in 2020 committed to review the Decent Homes Standard. The Standard will also be extended to cover the private rented sector, in addition to social housing. This will also ensure that all temporary accommodation and supported housing will be subject to the Decent Homes Standard, as it is split across the social and private rented sectors.
Fire Safety
We are committed to ensuring we are compliant with the requirements as set out in the relevant legislation and regulation, including the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, Fire Safety Act 2021 and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022.
A pro-active regime of fire risk assessments (FRA) is undertaken in council properties as well as the management of all fire protection and safety systems and equipment. The Council also focuses on fire prevention measures which are designed to eliminate or reduce fire hazards in order to provide a safe environment and reduce both the likelihood and impact of a fire should one occur. The Council has developed a Fire Safety Policy which sets out how we will manage fire safety risk in its buildings and communal areas.
Damp and Mould
The Damp, Mould and Condensation Policy sets out how the Council will address and respond to reports of damp, mould and condensation in Council properties. We take all reports of damp and mould seriously and have preventative measures in place, ensuring all relevant guidance is followed.
This includes the introduction of Awaab’s Law through the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 which requires landlords to fix reported health and safety hazards within a strict timeframe, such as taking immediate action on dangerous damp and mould in a tenant’s home or rehousing tenants where a home cannot be made safe. At the time of writing, Awaab’s Law is set to come into force from 27 October 2025 via the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025. The Regulations mean landlords must adhere to specific requirements, such as investigating any potential emergency hazards within 24 hours, investigating any potential significant hazards within 10 working days and undertaking the relevant safety work within 5 working days of the investigation concluding, if the investigation identifies a significant hazard.
Asbestos
The Council’s asbestos responsibilities include ensuring our asbestos register is updated as necessary, monitoring the condition of known or suspected asbestos containing materials (ACMs) and labelling any ACMs and ensuring the maintenance of these labels. We will also instruct contractors to undertake removal works where asbestos is likely to be disturbed.
The Asbestos Management Policy and Plan sets out how the Council will manage asbestos in its housing stock and sites which fall under the responsibility of the Housing Service. The Council carries out asbestos management surveys on all of its residential housing stock and has completed surveys to all of the communal and common areas of low rise properties.