to think housing associations are going to have to start doing checks outside office hours.

[JenniferBooth]

The amount of checks HAs have to do is increasing
Gas safety checks are once a year and have been around for a while. Electric checks are every five years so not as often.

Last month a new rule came in for fire door checks. fireconsultancyspecialists.co.uk/fire-safety-regulations-2022-fire-door-requirements-from-23-jan-2023/

There seems to be some confusion whether its once a year or every three months but tenants will also need to be in for this if the door of their actual flat is a fire door so they can test it to see if it closes by itself.

There will highly likely be checks brought in for mould so that will be another inspection that tenants will have to be in for.

Tenants should not be expected to use up annual leave to facilitate all this so either employment legislation needs to change so tenants have a right to time off for all this in law or they need to start working round tenants schedules.

I have this issue. Well they said 8-5. I've had to ask them for years to be a bit more specific. They told me they can't do that. And then said it'll be just after 9.

Apparently their booking system prevents them giving out a time.

@fyn HA tenants have had mandatory gas safety inspections since the 90s So same as private tenants My thread is about the INCREASE in inspections for different things and how on earth working tenants are going to accomodate this. My friend who rents from another HA has a neighbour who works in an A&E dept. Is she supposed to keep taking time off?

Yes I agree. I try and book for Morning or afternoon to suit my work shifts but more often than not it sadly doesn't work out.

It was a nightmare when i was working nights in the early 2000s I was just expected to go without sleep and wait for them

We find it easier and quicker sometimes to pay for private tradesmen for any repairs we need doing. We’re lucky though as I’ve been part time for many years and have had academic holidays so have been around when needed. However our HA want to do some ‘improvements’ (not actually sure it will be, but there we go). I had a phone call to say someone needed to come out and have a look at the property, and could they give them my number to arrange an appointment. Gave permission. But the bloke actually arrived the following day just as I was leaving the house to take my daughter to school and then go on to work. He didn’t even have my number! So I gave him my number and heard nothing until I got a snarky letter telling me that they’d been trying to contact me and I had to give them access to my house or I could be evicted. And that he was coming at this time on this date. So OH arranged to wfh to accommodate this. Only he didn’t bloomin turn up. Every time we report a repair to the HA, they manage to mess it up. Every time there’s improvements something goes wrong. My boiler needs replacing - I can’t bring myself to actually report it as it’ll be a nightmare. So we’re currently without hot water. I will report it, I’m just gearing myself up for the nightmare it will be dealing with the HA about it. They used to use local tradesmen who knew the properties and it was fine then. But now everything’s centralised and it just doesn’t work for the tenants.

Yes That familiar feeling of dread when they want to do "improvements"

Actually if you own a flat then the management company also needs to ensure these checks on doors have been done for each flat.

We gaze to get everyone to do it soon. Will be fun getting every person to open up (hopefully it's just the external door to each flat and not go inside anywhere, else that will cost us a ton for visits then second visits and follow ups for anyone who refuses to cooperate

@SkyHippoOnACloud that's not true of every HA... mine have keys to the property & they certainly didn't change the locks between me & the last tenant.

They should probably provide counselling sessions to run alongside them.

It looks as if those regulations are for multiple occupancy buildings, which have strict regulations. I think that is different from buildings with individual flats.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/fire-safety-england-regulations-2022/fact-sheet-overview

It's same law but a lower level for my type of block (over 11 meters, more than 2 properties). Still needs annual inspections of all doors etc but doesn't look like doors beyond the exit door need to be examined. But you'd probably need to examine the door when open rather than just the outside of it.

They probably need to give you a bit more info, unless you are a hoarder / running a puppy farm / trying to grow weed * Expecting you to take a day off every month is ridiculous, if they are absolutely insistent then they need to work around you, first thing / last thing etc. A housing officer should have a lot more flexibility in their diary then the trades will.

*All stuff that does go on, not implying you are. 😮

Perfect example..........friend phoned me up this morning. They recieved three days notice that they have to move their car out of the car park because the HA want to paint white lines. On a weekday morning as people are leaving for work.
Friend does not work but has limited mobility due to waiting for a knee replacement on the NHS. He cannot park his car any further away. And a lot of tenants want their car parked where they can see it.

Isn't that reasonable though? Three days is enough surely. People may want to see their car but they have been asked to move it temporarily. I don't get your objections.

Interesting that you focused on that and not my friend who cant walk far enough to park his car any further away.

What is your suggestion for how they should re paint the white lines?

(In reality I'm sure your friend could call up, explain the situation and they will work something out with the line painters, that paint dries pretty fast)

HAs could be in deep shit if they were letting homes that were unsafe and a fire or anything similar happened. The 3/6 month delay in replacing an unsafe distribution board is unacceptable imo, and I'd be kicking off about that if I was that tenant. The delay in fixing this stuff is disgraceful.

But safety costs, and of course the contractors doing the testing will need to be paid, and will need to make a profit. But this is the way things work since compulsory competitive tendering was brought in.

People who own their own houses don't have to have mandatory gas safety checks (although my plumber does one for free when he comes to give the boiler its annual service) or 5-yearly electrical safety checks.

I don't know what the position is for leaseholders in flats though.

@LakieLady Ive never understood that one Its not as if home owners have a special different kind of gas supply to their homes.

Yes but if a homeowner has an unsafe boiler then they are putting themselves at risk, not a tenant who has no control.

I'm sure if you're neighbour died of carbon monoxide poisoning, you would hold the HA responsible for it.

I think that applies to anyone having improvements done, tbh. I had a mare of a time the other year: the guy replacing the gutters and soffits walked off the job after removing the gutters and left me gutterless. Needless to say, it poured with rain for several days straight, before I'd managed to find someone to replace the guttering, and the rainwater sitting on the flat roof of the bay window made it spring several leaks, so I had to have it releaded.

A few weeks later, the contractors replacing the windows and doors took twice as long as planned, so they overlapped with the plumber refitting the bathroom. It was chaos in every bloody room. The day the chippy and tiler were here, I had 5 tradesmen in the (very small) house.

I was at the end of my tether by the time they finally left.

Yes but if a homeowner has an unsafe boiler then they are putting themselves at risk, not a tenant who has no control

I guess in Headabovetheparakeet world there are no home owners living in homes that are semi detatched with a tenant renting next door.

You do realise that gas explosions affect more than one property right? What you really mean is that you dont think home owners should have to abide by the same rules.

The issue isn't the checks, it's the shit show of organising them and blaming tenants for 'refusing access' and threatening them with all sorts for 'refusing access'.

Every damned year I have it with the gas check, I know when it's due, but I can't ring up and book an appointment suitable for me because I have to wait to be told I can, or they say that the contractors are in the area and will just call at your house, no date or time until you have 'missed' an appointment you didn't know you had, are on a 'warning' now for 'refusing access' and then they send you a letter telling you when they're coming next and saying that refusal of access a second time could result in them cutting your gas off or even eviction, if you're lucky it'll arrive before the appointment, but still with about a week's notice - and then you have a job like mine where you have to give a months notice for a/l requests and only get your rota a week in advance.
So you ring up and explain that you weren't in for the first appointment because you didn't know you had it as they just called round without notice, and either a) you weren't in for the second timed appointment because you didn't get the letter until after the appointment or b) you have an appointment today and got the letter at 11pm last night when you got in from a late shift and have a morning appointment that starts at 8am (when the phones open) but you're at work from 7am and so won't be in - to be told you're 'refusing access' yet again and that they'll cut your gas off and you could lose your tenancy. I've rang in sick before just to get it done, I can't afford to keep doing that. Taking time off like that puts my job at risk.

As someone else said I'm the customer, I'm not asking for something unreasonable, just a decent amount of notice of when they need me to be in to complete these checks, which I want done because they are for my safety, I know that and agree with it, and to not be threatened and treated like I'm being obstructive when I'm not there for appointments I don't even know I have. And no, only someone named on the tenancy can be present for these checks, no children (not even adult ones), friends, neighbours or anyone else. I am the only tenancy holder for this house, and they won't let themselves in, nor would I want them to because I have two dogs.

But because it's social housing and despite paying rent that I'm supposed to get a decent service in return for, I'm treated like a second class citizen and threatened with having my gas cut off or being evicted because I have a job and can't drop everything at the drop of a hat, a job that pays the rent every month.

Renting a home (rather than for a holiday etc) seems to be the only time you pay for something and then are treated like you're being done a favour rather than it being a customer paying for a service and deserving of that service and a decent one at that.

The HA'S aren't doing these checks for shits and giggles, the laws are there to rightly protect tenants. If anything needs to change it is that private landlords and owners need to also have similar obligations, though realistically this would be impossible to manage.

Another point is that if a homeowner wants to let the property fall down around their ears, then that is pretty much their choice, if someone is paying rental for somewhere they deserve that property to be safe and in a state of good repair.