UK supply shortages and your repairs

Current potential repair service delays and disruption

The news, backed up by our own recent shopping experiences, tell us that many products are in short supply. The UK’s fuel supply was recently affected by a shortage of drivers and some items seem harder to get. Unfortunately, these shortages are also affecting our repairs’ service.

What’s causing the problems?

It’s a combination of things. It includes the impact of the pandemic, along with a reduced supply of products from Europe as we adjust to Brexit. 82 per cent of builders have had to delay work due to material shortages, according to the Federation of Master Builders

For our repairs’ service some items are much harder to obtain. This includes wood, cement and plaster but there are many examples, and these seem to be changing each week.

Having the right amount of skilled people

You won’t lose your place in the queue and one of our customer service advisors will see your request and give you a ring back as soon as they’ve completed the enquiries before you and become available.

What is the impact on repairs?

The good news is that we are still able to carry out most repairs, and all our emergency jobs on time. However, it’s unavoidable that some repair appointments are having to be postponed until later and because repairs are being delayed more customers are trying to contact us at peak times. This means you may wait longer than usual to speak to our Communications Centre.

We know this can cause unwanted disruption and are sorry if your repair or call takes longer than normal.

What are we doing in response?

We are working with our contractors to increase our supply sources. We are looking further to try and get the things we need. Our contractors are also working hard to make sure they have more people on hand to fix your repairs.

Bringing our repairs service into bpha

Towards the end of 2022, we are bringing our repairs service inhouse. Most of our repairs’ colleagues will be directly employed by bpha rather than through contractors. We continue to consult with customers on this and are looking forward to the improvements this will make to your repairs service. We will keep you updated on the website, on Twitter, Facebook and through Talk Magazine.

Thank you for bearing with us through the current shortages. It’s frustrating this is out of our control and we will continue to complete your repairs as quickly as we can.