Essential checks and visits to keep you safe in your home
We want you to feel comfortable in your home and understand that you deserve your privacy. This is balanced though with our responsibility as your social housing management company to keep you safe and your home in good condition. There are certain times when you do need to allow us into your home to carry out essential checks and visits.
Essential visits cover a wide remit but they include:
• Inspecting the condition of your home (including carrying out a stock condition survey)
• Carrying out repairs
• Dealing with infestations
• Planned improvement work to your home
• Alterations or other works to your home or an adjoining property
• Carrying out a gas safety inspection or service once a year
• Carrying out an electrical installation condition report once every five years
• For emergencies
• To deal with any suspected health and safety risks
If we need to visit you for one of these essential tasks it’s important that you allow us access. We’ll work with you and try to arrange a mutually convenient time where possible and for non-emergency visits we’ll always give you at least three working days written notice. If you have any special circumstances and would like to discuss how we can make a visit easier for you please don’t hesitate to contact us on the number below and we will work with you to find a solution.
We so appreciate that the vast majority of our residents do allow us access for these essential checks but sometimes we meet residents who don’t want to allow us into their home. This is a difficult situation because we are legally responsible and these checks and visits are essential to keep you safe.
In the very rare instance where a resident will not allow us access to their property and will not work with us to find a solution, we do have the power to take court action to get an injunction to enter. In a recent case where a resident hadn’t allowed us access to carry out an essential check the Judge ruled that the resident would need to pay £1200 costs to NPH so the penalties can be severe. To avoid such action please work with us to arrange access at a mutually convenient time and please don’t ignore our letters if we have asked you to make an appointment. If you are worried about the visit and we can make it easier for you in some way please do contact us to discuss it on 0300 330 7003.
You can read through the policy about gaining access to homes on our website here.
