Leaks in council homes

We will treat leaks as an emergency repair; this means we will aim to visit the property, inspect the damage and repair the leak and affected areas if needed within 24 hours if the leak is discovered in the property that reported the leak.

Other damage might take longer to repair depending on drying time and scope of works.

If there is damage to tenants' or leaseholders’ belongings from a leak, they will need to claim this from their contents insurance. If there is damage to a leaseholder’s home, they can make a claim on our buildings insurance.

Leaks from neighbouring homes

Where the leak is from a neighbouring flat, we will establish if the property belongs to us or not.

If the property is owned by us, our Tenancy Management team will contact the tenant to inform them that they need to provide access within 72 hours and give a specific time for a repair appointment. We will also inform the tenant that if access is not provided, we will book an appointment to force entry into the property to carry out the repair.

Where we do not own the property including where Housing Associations are leaseholders, we will inform the property owner/ leaseholder of the leak from their property and that access with 72 hours will be required. We will require the property owner/ leaseholder to carry out the necessary work to fix the leak within 72 hours of being informed.

We will also inform the property owner/leaseholder that:

• if the leak is not fixed within 72 hours, we will isolate the water supply and
• if access is not provided within 72 hours, we will force entry to the property to isolate the water supply.

Where the leak is from a leaseholder flat, it is the leaseholder’s responsibility to ensure the necessary work to fix the leak is carried out quickly.

When a neighbour has a leak from a tenant’s home, the tenant must promptly report the leak and allow us to carry out the necessary repair works.