Housing Services – Level 4 update

From 26 December Angus will move to Level 4 of COVID-19 restrictions.

The changes will mainly affect our repairs service. We will only accept new emergency repairs in occupied properties, and this includes:

•    loss of heating and/or hot water – Total loss of both heating & hot water with no electric shower

•    an uncontainable leak

•    sewage backing up and overflowing into the property

•    a serious security problem, such as a front door that cannot be locked

•    loss of essential services, such as water or electricity

The Right to Repair will be suspended.

When you contact ACCESSline on 03452 777 778 to report a repair, we will ask you the following questions to help us determine how best to protect against the spread of the virus:

1.    Do you currently have any symptoms of coronavirus? (new cough, high temperature, loss of smell or taste)

2.    Has anyone you work or socialise with closely had coronavirus within the last 14 days?

3.    Are you in a vulnerable or shielding group as identified in government guidance?

We will then:

1.    Assess the repair required and if it is classed as emergency, your repair will be processed in the normal way.

2.    If your repair is not classed as Emergency, we will not carry out the repair at this time. As before your housing officer will keep note of your routine repair.

3.    Please be advised that contractors will have to wear specialised personal protective equipment while in your property.

If you’ve already reported a repair, and it hasn’t been completed by Christmas Eve, then it will be on hold until the restrictions are relaxed again.

If you are reporting a gas repair to WRB directly you will be asked the same questions to allow them to assess how they will deal with your repair.

When we are able to deal with routine repairs again, we will post an update here.

If you report a repair to us, we will assume that we have your permission for our contractor to carry it out if they can.

Planned Maintenance

Many of our planned works, examples listed below, were due to restart on 5 January 2021, but this is no longer the case and we will contact tenants who have been given installation dates to advise of this and advise a new date when contractors return in the New Year.

•    Bathroom Upgrades

•    Kitchen Upgrades

•    Planned Heating Upgrades

•    Window Upgrades

•    Energy Efficiency Internal Works (including the ABS and ECO Flex schemes)

External works such as External Wall Insulation will restart as planned.

Other Services

Allocations – House moves to empty properties are unaffected. We will be offering tenancies as normal, and applicants can register and bid for properties at the Angus Homefinder site.

Homelessness – We will have very limited access to accommodation for callers who have nowhere to stay. We would encourage people not to travel or move between different restricted levels areas and to follow the government guidance.

Sheltered Housing

Sheltered lounges remain closed for the time being.

Fire Alarm Servicing is a requirement, and this work will go ahead where tenants have been notified and are comfortable with contractors working in their home.

Communal Areas: there are some planned works to carry out improvements to some lifts which includes a temporary stairlift installation. This work will go ahead, and we would ask that you use social distancing in the areas of this work.

Estate management – Housing and antisocial behaviour officers will continue to contact customers mainly by telephone. Home visits will be the exception and mainly limited to doorsteps only.

We appreciate that this enforced change is frustrating. Our team is working really hard to provide support for you, but our resources are fully stretched at the moment. Our officers are doing their best to deliver as much of our normal service as they can, whilst also taking on additional activities related to the COVID Emergency response. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this difficult period.

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Requesting Council Repairs

At this time of year, it is even more important to report repairs as soon as they are identified. This is can prevent:

• More problems for you as a tenant
  
• Serious damage to property

Also, if you see something in either a neighbouring property or in an empty property please report that a repair is needed, as it is better for us to get this repaired quickly too.

This is a benefit to both you as the tenant and ourselves.

Updates on repairs:

On 17 March 2020 the Government advised that people most at risk from the coronavirus were strongly advised to reduce unnecessary contact with others.  To slow the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus) the general public were asked to stay at home as much as possible and avoid unnecessary social contact.

At that time we moved to dealing with Emergency Repairs only and whilst we restarted our repairs service in August 2020 this was to allow us to work through the backlog of previously reported repairs. We are now accepting all routine repairs through ACCESSLine.

When you contact ACCESSLine on 03452 777 778 to report a repair, we will still ask you the following questions to help us determine how best to protect against the spread of the virus:

1. Have you returned from any risk areas as identified by the government in the last 14 days?
   
2. Has a member of your household returned from any of the same risk areas in the last 14 days?
   
3. Has anyone you work or socialise with closely been exposed to coronavirus in the last 14 days?
   
4. Are you in a vulnerable group as identified in government guidance?

As your safety continues to be our priority, we have developed a Health and Safety Guidance note for tenants that covers any repair work or improvement works to be carried out in your home at this time. It explains what you can expect from our contractors but also what we require you to do whilst they are working in your home.

Tenant H&S GuidanceDownload

Update: Emergency Repairs due to Adverse Weather

We’re getting a lot of calls from tenants asking for repairs because of the adverse weather. Our team has been dealing with these calls as quickly as they can, however this has been a challenge, particularly for those requests received outwith normal working hours. We would advise tenants that the out of hours phone number is extremely busy so please only call if the repair is an emergency.

Contractors are dealing with these repairs, within the two hour response time for emergencies, but tenants may still experience delays. This is due to the volume of requests and the requirement to make sure their employees can work in a safe environment during the current conditions. They cannot go onto a roof when it is dark or raining, and any repairs carried out will be to fix the immediate problem and further repairs may be needed as a follow-up.

If tenants are experiencing a roof leak we would ask that they place a container under the leak to catch any excess water until the contractor is able to attend.

Please continue to call 03452 777 778 for emergency, out of hours calls.

Resumption of Repairs and Maintenance Works in Council Properties

Following the Scottish Government’s announcement last week, we can confirm that day-to-day repairs and planned maintenance works, including bathroom installations, electric heating upgrades and energy efficiency works are continuing across our housing stock with measures in place to reduce risks to tenants and contractors.

If you are on one of our Planned Maintenance Contracts and work is due on your home, you should have received a copy of our Tenant Health and Safety Guidance – COVID-19 Planned Maintenance Contract Agreement which sets out what is expected of our tenants and contractors when work is being carried out in their homes.

As we have done during the lockdown period since 23 March 2020, and as restrictions have been eased, we will continue to carry out annual servicing of gas heating systems as we are required to do by law.

You can find advice on the NHS Inform Coronavirus (COVID-19) website – the main symptoms of the coronavirus include;
o A new, continuous, dry cough
o A high temperature
o Loss or change to your sense of smell or taste

We appreciate your co-operation at this time and hope you find this information useful, but if you have any queries about this post, please email us at HousingTechnical@angus.gov.uk

COVID-19 Repairs Update – Draft Health and Safety Guidance Leaflet

In our post of 9 July, we advised that we were developing a Tenant Repairs Health and Safety Guidance leaflet. We shared the draft with our tenant participation panel and are awaiting comments, but we wanted to share the first version at the earliest opportunity ahead of the repairs restart.

You can view the leaflet here.

We will revise the guidance as we receive comments to ensure it reflects any concerns, and we will continue to provide updates on any developments relating to the repairs restart to make sure you are kept fully informed.

 Thank you for continuing to help us deliver a safe and efficient service.

 

 

Have Your Say on Our New Tenant Repairs Health & Safety Guidance leaflet

In our post on 30 June, we advised that we are working on a Health and Safety risk assessment for repairs in tenants’ homes. This is an important part of keeping our tenants, staff and contractors safe.

As a result of this, on Monday 13 July we will seek comments on our draft Tenant Repairs Health & Safety Guidance leaflet through the tenant participation process.

If you have registered to take part in tenant participation consultations, we would welcome your comments as they will be a valued contribution to the safe operation of repairs work in all our tenants’ homes.

If you have not yet registered for tenant participation and want to comment, please email  TenantParticipation@angus.gov.uk and we will do our best to register you in time for the document consultation.  

Keep an eye on your mailboxes!

 

Housing Repairs – update

In our post on Wednesday 24 June, we said we were looking at how we can deliver a full repairs service within the appropriate COVID-19 guidance. We intend to restart all types of repairs from Monday 20 July 2020. Until this time we will continue to do emergency repairs only.

As a result of the lockdown, there is a backlog of repairs so initially no calls will be taken for new repairs. A full service accepting new repair calls will start on Monday 10 August 2020.

If you currently have an incomplete repair logged your housing officer will contact you within the next week to review the status of this.

As your safety continues to be our priority, we are developing a tenant-specific Health and Safety risk assessment for any works to be carried out in your home.

If you have registered to take part in tenant participation consultations, we will contact you and give you the opportunity to engage in this exercise. There will be more information on this in next week’s post.

Our Housing Spokesperson, Councillor Craig Fotheringham said:

We want to thank everyone for their continued support and understanding. We will continue to provide weekly updates on the repairs restart and  we hope that our customers can work with us  to help us deliver a safe and efficient service.

Housing Repairs – COVID 19 Update

National restrictions and guidelines introduced as part of the necessary response to the COVID-19 pandemic meant that we could only carry out emergency repairs inside tenants’ homes. We also suspended the Right to Repair.

This was to ensure the safety of tenants, staff, contractors and the wider public. We know it has been a difficult time for all and would like to thank everyone for their patience.

Scottish Government announced the move to Phase 2 of their Route Map out of lockdown on the 18 June, signalling the start of restrictions easing.

We want to restart the repairs service as soon as we possibly can and will advise when we are able to do this. For now, we continue to do emergency repairs only.

We are looking at how we can deliver routine external repairs within current guidance and hope to start these shortly. You may see our staff carrying out Estate inspections as part of this process.

We are also considering which routine repairs can be delivered safely in tenants’ homes as we move through Phase 2 and into Phase 3 of the Government’s routemap.

For this to be possible, we must consider the views of our contractors. We will also listen to tenant views about whether they would be happy for maintenance activities to be carried out. If tenants report repairs to us, we will assume we have permission for our contractor to carry it out, if they can.

Thank you for your understanding while we review the repairs service. We will post weekly updates here and on our News website.

      Please be assured that tenant safety remains our priority.

 

Reminder: Changes to Repairs Delivery Due to Coronavirus

As we announced previously, we are suspending the Right to Repair and we will only carry out certain emergency repairs to tenants’ properties.

The reduced list of emergency repairs which we will still do is:

• Loss of heating and/or hot water – Total loss of both heating & hot water with no electric shower

• Uncontainable leak

• Sewage backing up and overflowing into the property

• Serious security problem, such as a front door that cannot be locked

• Loss of essential services, such as water or electricity

We appreciate only undertaking emergency repairs is frustrating for everyone, including ourselves.  However we take a zero tolerance  approach to abuse of staff who are complying with government guidance – abuse towards our staff will not be tolerated.

Changes to Repairs Delivery Due to Coronavirus

 INFORMATION FOR ANGUS COUNCIL TENANTS

On 17 March 2020 the Government advised that people most at risk from the coronavirus were strongly advised to reduce unnecessary contact with others. To slow the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), the general public were asked to stay at home as much as possible and avoid unnecessary social contact.

So we can achieve this, we have reviewed our housing repairs service.

To safeguard the health and safety of tenants, staff and contractors, we will only be carrying out emergency repairs inside tenants’ homes from Monday 23 March 2020.

We will continue to carry out all communal and external works to our properties as normal. In the meantime we are suspending the Right to Repair.

The reduced list of emergency repairs which we will still do is:

• Loss of heating and/or hot water – Total loss of both heating & hot water with no electric shower
• Uncontainable leak
• Sewage backing up and overflowing into the property
• Serious security problem, such as a front door that cannot be locked
• Loss of essential services, such as water or electricity

When you contact ACCESS line to report a repair, we will ask you the following questions to help us determine how best to protect against the spread of the virus:

1. Have you returned from any risk areas as identified by the government within the last 14 days?
2. Has a member of your household returned from any of the same risk areas within the last 14 days?
3. Has anyone you work or socialise with closely been subject to exposure for corona virus within the last 14 days?
4. Are you in a vulnerable group as identified in government guidance?

We will then:

1. Assess the repair required and if it is classed as emergency, your repair will be processed in the normal way.
2. If your repair is not classed as Emergency we will not carry out the repair at this time,.
3. Please be advised that contractors will be required to wear specialised personal protective equipment while in your property.

If you are reporting a gas repair to WRB directly you will be asked the same questions to allow them to assess how they will deal with your repair.

Once the risk has reduced and we are in a position to resume other emergency, urgent and routine repairs, we will advise of this as soon as we can. You will need to report any repairs we have been unable to do in the meantime. We are sure that you will appreciate how challenging the current situation is for everyone but, please be assured that our reason for this temporary measure is to keep tenants, staff and contractors safe.