Report a repair

• Call 240866 during office hours, which are 8am - 4pm, Monday to Friday. If your emergency is out of hours, (before 8am, after 4pm, weekends and Bank Holidays) call 07911 722353

• Click here to email the maintenance team, using the contact us form.

The GHA’s office can also be called on 245530. Please press ‘1’ which will go directly through to maintenance. This way your call will be answered by the correct team, you won’t need to explain your issue twice and it will be dealt with more quickly.

Please remember you should only call us out of hours if it is an emergency and cannot wait until the next working day, or you may be charged.

These guidelines are for rented properties only and residents of partial ownership properties should appoint their own contractors as per the terms of their lease agreements.

The responsibilities for looking after your home are shared jointly between you and us.

We are responsible for maintaining:

• the structure and inside of your home
• the shared (or communal) areas
• fixtures and fittings that we have provided

We are responsible for most repairs, maintenance and servicing needed to the property as a result of fair wear and tear. You are responsible for a number of minor repairs and decorating the inside of your home.

We want to maintain your home as best we can, and rely on you to help us by reporting repairs quickly and allowing us into your home to carry out the necessary work.

Remember; you are responsible for reporting any problems or property repairs needed, both to your own property and communal areas.

In some circumstances, for example if the work is difficult to identify, we will carry out an inspection so that we can accurately assess the repair work. We will make an appointment for our Maintenance Inspector to call and assess the work.

Appointments for repairs are normally made for work to be carried out between 8am and 4pm Monday to Friday.

If you are unable to keep an appointment you must give our Maintenance Inspector ample notice. Failure to do this will result in your being charged for our contractor's time.

We also want our contractors to keep all appointments. They must tell you if they cannot keep an appointment or they are delayed.

It is important that you give us as much information as you can when reporting a repair to help us arrange repair work as quickly and accurately as possible.

When reporting a repair, we will ask you:

• your name and address
• the details of the repair
• where the repair is needed
• information on access to the property
• a daytime phone number
• any special circumstances, for example if you are hearing or mobility impaired or have a pet in the house that must not be let out
• any other important information (for example, a crime reference number if you are reporting a repair resulting from vandalism to your home).

For internal and external repairs to your property we will arrange for a contractor or one of our technicians to contact you to make an appointment.

Damage resulting from repairs and maintenance work

Sometimes, the type of work that our contractor is doing will damage the decoration. This is unavoidable and, wherever possible, we will tell you beforehand that damage is likely to happen.

When there is inevitable damage: we will not compensate you for damage to the decoration, although we shall make good all decoration.

Examples of the type of work that will result in inevitable damage include damp-proofing work or repairs to plasterwork.

Damage by you or your contractor

If you employ a contractor to work at your home, and they damage the property, we will hold you responsible for the repair and you may be charged to put things right.

If you cause a lot of damage to the property, we will take legal action to repossess your home and to recover the costs of repairs.

Other parties

If someone who is nothing to do with you has caused the damage, please report the incident to the Police and get a crime number for insurance purposes and inform our maintenance team of all the details.

We will do all we can to carry out repairs as quickly as possible. We give repairs a priority depending on the type of work that is needed. The time taken depends on the sort of repair you need.

We have various categories of repair ranging from 'same day' emergency repairs to non-urgent repairs that may be included in programmed work being carried out at a future date.

On assessing a repair, our maintenance team will give each job a priority rating. This is a guide on how long the job should take to complete. The priority gives our contractor the number of working days as a target for completing the work.

Despite our best efforts it may not be possible to meet the target. This can depend upon a variety of factors, for example the number of other priority repairs occurring at the same time or obtaining parts.

Sometimes we have to carry out major repair or modernisation work to your home which cannot be done while you are living there. Depending on the type of improvements, you may have to move permanently or temporarily. But in both cases we will help you find a new home.

We would expect to make you an offer of reasonable accommodation, if possible within the same area. You would be expected to accept any reasonable offer.

Except in an emergency, we will give at least one month's notice of a transfer to temporary accommodation.

We will let you know as soon as you can re-occupy your original home and we would expect you to do so as soon as possible.

The GHA appreciates that smoking is a personal choice and will not prohibit any resident smoking in their own home.

However, we also have a duty of care to members of staff and contractors so they can carry out their duties in a smoke-free environment.

If you smoke and have a pre-arranged visit with any member of GHA staff or contractor then we kindly ask if you could please refrain from smoking for at least half an hour before the visit and ensure the property is fully ventilated.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter and we hope it does not cause any inconvenience.