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Repairs and responsibilities

We aim to maintain and improve our homes to a high standard and understand that our repairs service is one of the most important to our residents. We are committed to providing a high-quality service that takes into account your needs, our resources and what we are required to do by law.  Repairing and maintaining your home is important because we want you to live in a home that is safe and of a decent quality. 

You have a responsibility to tell us when a repair is needed in your home so that we can fix it quickly and prevent long term damage. 

You will also be responsible for the cost of any repairs needed to your home that are caused by deliberate damage or misuse by you, your family, friends, or visitors.  

Report a repair.

Our Responsibility 

Your Responsibility 

External Repairs 
  • Outside drains and gullies within the property boundary.  

  • Roofs, chimneys, downpipes, and gutters. 

  • Boundary walls and fences separating your home from communal spaces, public footpaths, or roads. 

  • Maintaining external walls, paths, and steps. 

  • Outbuildings – sheds, garages. ** 

  • Keeping drains and gullies clear of debris, fats, and wipes. Clearing minor blockages. * 

  • Fences between you and your neighbours. If these are unsafe, we will make safe or remove. These will not be replaced. 

  • Maintaining private gardens and balconies or clearing rubbish from them. 

  • Maintaining patio areas not installed by Origin.

  • Any outbuilding not installed by Origin.

Walls, windows, doors, floors, and other internal repairs 

  • Cleaning and treating mould and dealing with other serious damp issues. 

  • Helping us to manage condensation within your home, for example using extractor fans, opening vents and using your heating system. 

  • Replacing kitchens and bathrooms.

  • Minor repairs to kitchens, such as fixing doors and draws 

  • Front and rear entrance doors including letterboxes (if installed by Origin ) including those in communal areas. 

  • Fitting or replacing draught excluders. 

  • Repairing or replacing kitchen fire doors 

  • Lock changes or replacing entry if keys are lost. * 

  • Window handles and catches. 

  • All non-fire rated internal doors and handles 

  • Large cracks to walls/ceilings. 

  • Minor hairline cracks (up to 3mm wide) to walls and ceilings. 

 

  • All internal decoration

  • Making safe broken glazing in windows/doors – Boarding Up (Replacement only when a valid crime number is obtained). 

  • Replacing windows or glazing when damaged by neglect or an accident. * 

  • Wall tiles in kitchens and bathrooms when damaged due to wear and tear. 

  • Damaged tiling due to neglect or not fitted by Origin. 

  • Loose floorboards or skirting boards. 

  • Floor coverings – laminate, carpet or tiles unless installed by Origin. ** 

Plumbing and pipes 

  • Leaking hot and cold-water pipes. 

  • Unblocking toilets, hand basins, sinks and baths. * 

  • Unblocking communal stack pipes when multiple blockages have been reported. 

  • Washing machine or dishwasher connections. 

  • Shower repairs when fitted by Origin Housing. 

  • Replacing shower heads, hoses, or plugs.  

  • Taps to hand basins, sinks and baths when fitted by Origin  (if non-standard and need replacing these will be standard tap replacements). 

  • Damage to pipes, taps, sinks and baths caused by neglect. * 

Heating and electrics 

  • Fixed controllable heating systems, gas fired boilers, storage heaters, radiators, and gas supply pipe work.  

  • Electric immersion heaters fitted to hot water storage cylinders. 

  • Mains operated fire or smoke alarms that we installed. 

  • Communal door entry systems and intercoms. 

  • Air extraction systems. 

  • Communal TV aerials. 

  • Replacing any type of light bulbs, fluorescent tubes, and starter motors. 

  • Resetting trip switches.  

  • Repairs to your own portable heaters or electrical items. 

  • Regular testing of smoke alarms.  

  • Front doorbells. 

  • Phone points or internal TV points. 

 

* We will repair for you, but you will be charged.  

** An item may be removed and not replaced if beyond repair. 

*** If the entrance door becomes insecure, from July 2023 this will be treated as an emergency repair. 

Repair responsibilities of leaseholders and homeowners  

Usually, leaseholders and shared owners are responsible for all internal repairs to their home at their own expense. This includes items such as the glass in the windows and the window handles and locks.   

  Residents living in a leasehold flat or apartment are responsible for all repairs to the inside of the property.  

  This includes repairs to:  

  • Central heating, water heaters and fitted fires  
  • Sockets switches and light fittings  
  • Baths, sinks, toilets and cisterns  
  • Drains and waste pipes.  

 We or another managing agent are responsible for:  

  • Communal doors and entrances, halls, lifts and other communal areas  
  • External repairs and painting of the exterior of the flat or apartment block and any communal areas on a set cycle  
  • The cost for the work we or the managing agent will incur in maintaining these common parts will be recovered from leaseholder and shared owners through the service charge.