Repairs

Although bpha are responsibile for most of the essential services and structural repairs on your home, when it comes to repairs and the maintenance of your property, some of these may be your responsibility. For more information, please visit our responsibility for repairs page.

Emergency repairs put the health and safety of you, your family, other customers or a third party at immediate risk. They also include repairs that affect the structural stability, integrity or basic security of the property.

Before we arrive, please make sure that you clear the area. Move all items and furniture that may get in the way. You may also have to pull back your carpet or lift your laminate flooring if the repair is in that area. If you can’t do this, please let us know when you speak to the team.

Please make sure that all dogs and other pets are kept secure and are out of the way. We also ask that you don’t smoke or vape inside your home while we are there.

All operatives and contractors from bpha will carry ID and are expected to wear overshoes to protect your floors.

Our repair team and contractors will explain what they are there to do, please show them where the repair is needed.

For your safety, we ask that everyone in the home stays away from the area where the operative or contractor is working.

Our repair team and contractors will tidy up after the repair has been completed.

Our repair team and contractors will explain what they have completed during the repair visit and show you what they have done to fix the issue.

We always try to put things right straight away, however this is not always possible. Sometimes the amount of work or materials needed will mean we have to book another visit. These are known as follow-on works. When this happens, we will explain to you the reason why, and the scheduling team will be in touch within five working days to arrange the next appointment.

We will always try our best to keep follow-on works on the original order number we gave to you when you reported the repair, as this helps us to track the entire repair process.  Where it is not possible to keep the original repair order number, we will request a new order, and will let you know the details. The new order will be linked to the original reported repair in our system.

Your tenancy agreement says that you must allow us access to carry out inspections, repairs and servicing to items such as your heating appliances, smoke detectors, and electrical wiring.

Giving us access on the date and time of the pre-arranged appointment is important. If you miss the appointment, it means we have missed the chance to go and complete another customer’s repair. If you’re not going to be in, for whatever reason, and you need to re-arrange the date and/or cancel the repair, then please contact us as soon as possible. It helps us if you can get in touch 24 hours before your appointment.

There must be a person aged 18 or over in the home when we arrive to do the repair, if not, then the repair cannot go ahead.

If you’re not going to be home on the day of the arranged appointment, or refuse access for any reason, this will also be record as no access.

When we record “no access” and the repair does not relate to a health and safety issue, we will leave a missed appointment card, and your reported repair will be closed. We would like to help keep your home well maintained, so if you would like another visit, please contact us to book these works in.

Where the repair relates to a health and safety issue, for example, some damp and mould cases, we will follow our internal procedures. Unfortunately, if you refuse to give us access, we will have to apply for a court order to gain access to your home. This is to make sure your home stays safe.  

All operatives and contractors who work for bpha will carry appropriate photo ID. Please make sure any operatives or contractors who ask to enter your home has an appointment and ID confirming who they say they are. If the ID is not provided then you should not let them enter your home and contact us to report this.

If our operatives or contractors feel threatened, or that it’s unsafe for them to enter your home for any reason, they are within their rights to refuse to complete the repair until the situation can be made safe for the works to start or continue.

If you or anyone in your home have any specific needs or requirements that may affect how we respond to certain repairs or repairs in general, please let us know so we can update our information. This will help our teams make sure that we accommodate your needs and work with you to make sure the repairs in your home are completed. More information can be found in our Vulnerability Policy.

We offer support to those customers who need help to provide access to their home. We understand that large repairs can be disruptive and will work with customers to make sure support is available. Details of how we do this can be found in our customer reasonable adjustment policy below. Customers can be accompanied in their home by an individual they trust at all stages of the repairs process, from reporting a repair through to job completion.

We have your contact information and preferences in our system, and use this information when communicating to you about the repairs you report. It is important that you keep us updated with your latest contact information and preferences.

Depending on the type of repair required in your home, we will assign this to either our In-House Maintenance service or one of our approved contractors.

In-House Maintenance Service: When your repair is assigned to our In-House Maintenance team, you will receive a repairs appointment confirmation. This confirmation will include the order number, the date, and a time slot for when we are coming. You will then also receive automated reminders seven days before the repair, the day before the repair, the day of the repair, and when our operative is on their way to your home

Approved contractors: When repairs have been assigned to one of our approved contractors, you will be told the order number and which contractor we have assigned your repair to. Our contractor will contact your directly to arrange the appointment date and time.

You can view reported repairs in your my.account. You can also see future repairs appointments and your repairs history for the last six months. To access your my.account, click the button below. If you are not already registered, you can sign up and access various information around your home and tenancy.

We make sure that our properties meet the Government’s Decent Homes Standard. This is a Government target to ensure all social housing meets certain standards of decency. This includes all general needs and sheltered properties owned and managed by bpha. A decent home is one that is wind and weather tight, warm and has modern facilities.

How long will it take?

Usually less than one hour, depending on the size and age of the property.

Do I need to be at home for the survey?

Yes, but if you need to do the school run, please tell us when you book and we’ll ask your surveyor to avoid these times.

What happens afterwards?

Once the survey is complete, the information will be used to update our records - this enables us to maintain your home and plan for future works. When work is due, we will be in touch.

What happens if we don’t carry out the survey?

The survey is important to keep your home safe and in good condition. Allowing access for periodic inspections is part of your tenancy agreement - if we aren’t able to carry out the survey, your home may not be included in future home improvement plans.

What do I need to do?

If you receive a letter asking you to book your survey, please contact us on 0330 100 0272.

• Press Option 1 to get through to our repairs team
• Then press Option 3 to speak to us about a property inspection.

Alternatively you can speak to one of our Customer Communication Centre advisers to book your stock condition survey.

How do bpha monitor quality of the repairs service?

We take before and after photos during the repairs process which are stored securely in our system. These let us review the standard of work being completed and gain a better understanding of what has taken place during the repair in your home.

We also carry out post inspections on all repairs over the value of £1,000 and on random samples of not less than 10% of all repairs completed. The post inspection may involve a member of our repairs management team to either attending your home in person; calling you to discuss the repair and make sure you are happy; or completing a survey based on the photos taken. Any work that we are not happy with is raised as ‘recalls’ and we will return to correct any issues.

Any customer who completes the customer feedback survey sent by text or email, and scores us an overall average score of seven or below will be contacted by a member of our repairs management team who will discuss what has gone wrong and to see what can be done to put things right.

We also use customer complaints and compliments to review the quality of the services we provide overall, and to shape our approach to the service we provide.

How can I give you feedback about the repairs service?

We will send you a link to give feedback on completed repairs. The information you provide gives us valuable insights and lets us respond quickly if things have gone wrong. It also helps us shape and improve our services.