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We're about listening

Looking after your home

Children helping sweep up leaves
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In your Tenancy Agreement you will find out which duites are your responsibility and those that are the responsibility of City West.

You can attend a DIY Skills Course to help you take care of your home. Email Jo Flitcroft at joanne.flitcroft@citywest.org.uk for more information and to sign up to the course free of charge.

We also have some helpful advice should your boilers condensate pipe freeze in the winter months.

Taking care of your home

To keep your home in peak condition you, your household and any visitors should:

  • Take care of the property and use anything in your home which belongs to us only for the purpose intended.
  • Prevent damage to your home
  • Take care of any fixtures, fittings or furnishings that were provided as part of your tenancy
  • Try to solve minor problems like changing washers on dripping taps
  • Report faults promptly and allow us to access your home so that repairs can be made within agreed timescales
  • Keep the inside of your home clean and decorated
  • Do not deface or graffiti your home or communal areas
  • Do not throw anything from any landing, balcony, corridor or window in your property.
  • Do not fly tip or dump rubbish
  • Remember you are responsible for the actions of your household, pets and visitors, whether you are aware of their actions or not. If City West has to repair any damage or maintenance that was your responsibility you may be charged.

We offer a Handy Van service to help people who most need assistance in maintaining their homes.

Repairs which are your responsibility

Some repairs are the responsibility of the tenant to maintain or replace. The most common ones are:

Plumbing

  • Minor tasks including replacing toilet seats
  • Repairs to your own equipment such as washing machines.
  • Work arising as a result of faulty workmanship carried out by tradesman employed by yourselves (not City West staff)
  • Replacing sealant around baths and sinks.
  • Providing plugs to sinks and baths.
  • Unblocking external gullies or grids.

Joinery

  • Replacing internal locks, door handles, cupboard catches and hinges.
  • Replacing drawer handles
  • Work resulting with the loss of house keys
  • Replacing hat and coat hooks
  • Putting up curtain rail battens
  • Refitting doors after carpet laying
  • Repairs to gates
  • Repairs to fencing
  • Releasing windows that have been stuck after internal painting
  • Plastering
  • Minor plaster cracks

Electrical

  • Replacing fuses (except for those maintained by electrical suppliers i.e. main fuse)
  • Providing electrical plugs
  • Replacing light bulbs (unless they are in a communal area).
  • We do recognise that some tenants (for instance, people with disabilities) may not be able to carry out such minor repairs. In this case, please contact us as we may be able to help.

External

  • Gates
  • Any paving or flagging apart from the main path, and the paving immediately adjacent to the property
 
If you need help with the above or with DIY our Handy Van Service may be able to help. Handy Van aims to provide help to carry out these DIY tasks. Ask in your local area office to find out more!

 

Own home improvements

If you want to make any improvements to your home you will first need to fill out an application form. You can post the completed form to your local area office or drop it off with them.

To make sure you're not at risk, we will always conduct an asbestos check before approving any home improvement works. This may be a simple search through our records, or could include a new survey.

Remember, if you carry out work on your home without permission, you and those living around you could be at risk of releasing asbestos fibres from asbestos containing materials. For more information on asbestos, see our Asbestos Leaflet.

Home insurance

All customers are responsible for insuring the contents of their home. We can help you with insurance, to find out more about City West’s scheme contact our Insurance Team on 0161 605 7290 or download an application pack. Your application will be considered by the Insurance Team who will contact you directly. The cost of insurance can be paid weekly and premiums are paid separately to your rent.We will however not accept responsibility for any damage to uninsured possessions. 

Gas Safety Checks

By law, as your landlord we must carry out checks in your home each year, this is free and will give you piece of mind. It only takes between 30 minutes and 2 hours and can save your life! Failure to allow access to your home to complete the annual gas service will lead to court action and you will be liable for all court costs.

You may have seen a notice on your neighbour’s door if their home is without an upto date gas safety certificate. This is a potential hazard to yourselves and the neighbourhood you live in. Gas is highly explosive and carbon monoxide kills or could cause serious harm to your health if inhaled over a long period. Therefore if you have any information regarding a property, with this notice on the door, that we may not be aware of and may help us gain access please let us know. This may be information such as the tenant is in hospital, the tenant only visits the property a couple of times a week or the property is empty.

The Health and Safety Executive provides further information on checking your appliances, keeping them safe as well as providing details of the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. There are a number of videos you can watch regarding gas safelty please visit the HSE website.

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