To carry out repairs and safety inspections, council staff and contractors need access to your property at reasonable times.
If you contact us (or one of our contractors) about a repair or if you need a gas safety check, we'll contact you to schedule a visit. If we can't reach you, we'll leave a message asking you to get in touch to arrange a time.
It could put the health and safety of your family, visitors, and neighbours at risk if you don't allow contractors into your home. Our goal is to give you the best service at the lowest cost to you, so having to come back to gain access can impact response times for other tenants and knock-on effects on costs, which could mean cutting other services. Failure to allow access to your property may result in legal action being taken against you.
Contractors and council staff will follow a 'Controlled Access' procedure, giving you plenty of notice and letting you pick an appointment time. If we can't get access through an appointment, we have the authority to force entry into the property to make sure it's safe. This will be conducted in a controlled environment according to our documented procedure.
View our Housing compliance - Controlled access statement (PDF, 110.58KB)
Beware of bogus callers - If you are unsure, don't open the door!
All our staff and repair contractors will always carry formal identification cards to prove who they are and who they work for. Please ask to see their identification cards and if you are not expecting their visit or want to check the person is working for us, please call us or contractor to check.
Do not feel under pressure to let a person in if you were not expecting a visit, or if there identification does not look right. Your safety is very important and it's best to double check that the person visiting is who they say they are.