Estate services

Taking care of your property

If you live in a council estate, block of flats or maisonette and other shared facilities, estate services officers will take care of various cleaning and minor maintenance tasks.

Daily we will:

• sweep and wash lifts and lobby areas
• remove bulk items from shared areas and play areas for collection
• carry out health and safety checks for spillages and hazards in lobbies, lifts and stairways, spot mop where required (lifted properties)
• check rubbish chutes and clear blockages
• replace defective light bulbs in communal areas

Weekly we will:

• sweep and wash communal areas, stairways, landings and corridors and chute rooms
• dust and wipe down ledges and railings
• dust and wipe down main entrance and exit doors, both inside and out
• remove bulk items from shared areas and play areas for collection
• sweep bin chambers and enclosures
• carry out health and safety checks for spillages and hazards in entrances, stairways and corridors (non lifted properties)
• replace defective light bulbs in communal areas

When required we will:

• wash light shades, walls and bannisters
• wash bin chambers and enclosures

You can help by:

• disposing of rubbish in bins and chutes provided
• not forcing large items of rubbish or furniture down chutes as this causes blockages
• keeping the areas surrounding your property clean and tidy
• not storing items in communal areas
• transporting bulky items to your nearest bulk store
• not smoking in communal areas
• recycling where possible
• not fly-tipping

Our estate services officers work from Monday to Friday. On large estates which have lifts, mobile teams carry out essential cleaning tasks at weekends.

Maintaining the grounds

We employ the council parks service to maintain the grounds around your council property. Our maintenance work requires us to:

• maintain and cut the grass all year round (weather permitting)
• maintain shrub beds and rose beds once a year
• cut back any shrubs that are causing an obstruction
• cut privet hedges 3 times a year and other hedges twice a year
• inspect play areas (every 3 months) with a 24 hour response for emergency repairs.

Cleaning of external areas

We employ Veolia to clean the external areas on your estate twice weekly to include:

• sweeping of footpaths, estate roadways and hard play areas
• litter-picking of lawns, green spaces, flower/shrub beds
• addressing any immediate health and safety hazards
• weed-spraying and removal of dead weeds 4 times a year
• seasonal works, for example, snow and leaf clearance

Veolia are responsible for all matters involving rubbish, dumped/fly-tipped waste, garden and household waste, as well as replacing damaged waste containers and sweeping. Their aim is to remove dumped items within an average of 24 hours of being notified.

Find out more about rubbish collections and recycling.

Estate services inspections

Every month your estate services team leader will monitor and grade your estate to ensure that it is up to standard. They will report any issues that need attention to the contractor providing the service to make sure that it is brought back to the required standard.

Block/estate cleaning will be delivered in line with the estate services cleaning standards (pdf, 17 page(s), 3.24 MB).

Find ratings for your estate.