Your home and repairs

We class any maintenance problem as an emergency if it puts your health and security or the safety of the building at immediate risk.

There are many things that could be emergency repairs, but some examples are:

• Loss of heating or hot water (from 1st October to 30th April) If parts are required to fix the fault we will provide you with temporary heating
• Gas leak or loss of gas supply – contact National Grid: 0800 111 999
• Flooding
• Severe storm damage
• Total loss of electricity supply – unless due to power cut
• Offensive or racist graffiti

Please call us on the numbers above if you think you have an emergency repair to report.

If you deliberately use our emergency repairs services when they are not needed, we may charge you for the call-out costs.

When you report a repair our repairs team will decide what priority the repair is. Our response times for repairs are linked to their priority so we can get to the most urgent problems first.

You can use MyHightown to track your repair and check our target for getting it fixed.

We have 3 different repair categories:

1. Emergency - within 24 hours

Our first priority is any problem that puts the health, safety or security of our tenants or the building they live in. Please call us on the numbers above to report an emergency repair. If you misuse the emergency repair service, we may charge you for the call-out costs.

2. Urgent - within 3 working days

Some examples might include:

• Partial loss of electricity
• Leaking radiators, minor pipe leaks
• Failure of entry phone
• Loss of heating, or hot water for period 1st May to 30th September
• Loose banister or handrail
• Faulty communal TV aerial

3. Routine - within 20 working days

Some examples might include:

• General joinery repairs
• Repairs to tiling
• Inside door repairs – wear and tear
• Mechanical extractor fan repairs
• Boundary fencing repairs
• Replacing/repairing dripping taps

Your tenancy agreement will give you information about exactly what you are responsible for in your home and what Hightown will fix. Here are some general guidelines about who is responsible for what.

Our tenants are responsible for:

• letting us know about repairs as soon as possible
• giving our contractors access to fix the problem
• fixing anything that you, your family or guests have damaged. (Hightown will charge you to repair something you have damaged)

Items in your house that you are responsible for:

If you, your family, visitors, or pets cause damage to any part of your home, you must repair it at your own
expense.

If Hightown carries out any repair which is the tenant’s responsibility, we will charge you for the cost of the work plus an administration fee.

It may be cheaper for you to arrange the repair yourself. Gas appliance and electrical repairs must be carried out by qualified/certified engineers. Work may be inspected and if the repairs that you have arranged have not been carried out to an acceptable standard, you may be charged to have this work corrected by one of our
qualified contractors.

Failed or missed appointments will also be rechargeable.

Renewal of glass in windows and doors is your responsibility unless the breakage is due to a break-in or vandalism. If the breakage causes a
security problem, we are responsible for making sure the window is secured. A charge will be made for this unless you provide us with a Police Crime Reference Number.