Anyone renting through a housing association?

[getal]

I've just moved into a property. I've been homeless for a year and saved a good chunk of money as I was well prepared that some housing association properties are in desperate need of improvement and as expected - my new home is.

The internal doors are absolutely awful - extremely dirty and rotten in places. Door handles are old and could easily just snap. I'd like to replace them with new doors however I've been told I need to wait 12 months before I can do anything like this. It's also the same with the skirting boards. I wouldn't of deemed this major work. Just simple improvements.

Anyone got any experience with this? I'm tempted to just do it anyway. This is a long term new home for me and my kids and I just want to make it as nice and homely as possible for us.

I'm also house proud - can't help it!

I didnt ask i just replaced the doors myself ,what they dont know wont bother them.I am going to be living in this for the next decade or so who knows.

If you have just moved in, you are almost certainly on a probationary tenancy (usually for the first year).

That may be why they have said wait a year.

Theoretically, most HAs won't want you to replace the doors or skirting boards. Those count as fixtures/fittings, which they expect to be the same when you move out as they were when you move in.

This is because they are responsible for those things so in theory they are the ones responsible for replacing them.
If you replace them with better & then someone else takes over the tenancy, the new tenant would expect them to be better if they have to replace them in the future.

Different HAs have very different ideas about when things need replacing.

Dirt doesn't require anything other than a bit of elbow grease, the rest can wait.

This is exactly it. I think they will come and check at the end of the 12 months as I am currently on a starter tenancy

Are you going to get an experienced tradesman to replace them?

As they're rotten in places will the housing association replace them?

Just do it.. highly doubt they will care

Wait until you've got the full tenancy. You probably won't spoil anything but the inspector could be an arse.

Yes my brother is the owner of a construction buisness. He is a brick layer, plumber, joiner....you name it. He's going to do it all for me. Im very lucky that I have someone who can do a good job all at no cost.

No they won't do anything else unfortunately. I also need to get half the garden fenced and put either a patio or gravel which I have permission for.

That's what I'm worried about. Even though it would be a good proper job doing to it.

Can you put their doors in the shed or somewhere if you have one? Then if they mention it, you can tell them you still have them

If they are in bad shape report them as a repair. Quite often repairs have been overlooked because they arent obvious until you are living there.
Cant you just give them a scrub a sand then paint them for now?
As for door handles just replace and keep the crap ones until safe until you move out. Mine are languishing in the shed for when I eventually leave.

I’ve been renting my HA flat for 25.5 years. But I was given an assured tenancy from the get go (was different back then!), so I’m not 100% sure what the rules are around the current starter tenancies.

Could you maybe just tidy them up for now? Quick sanding down and bit of paint so they look a bit cleaner and fresher? You can also get cheap door handles from B&Q.

Once your tenancy becomes assured you can pretty much decorate however you wish, as long as you’re not changing any structural elements.

Yes I think that could be the way to go with the doors. I'll ask my brother what he thinks. He's been and had a good look round and said ideally get rid but I don't want to risk getting into trouble.

I think I'll still do the skirting boards though. It won't be as obvious once all the furniture is in

For anything defective and unsafe the work should be done now- so I would raise this fact with them making it clear that it’s NOT cosmetic, it is essential!

Focus on the decoration and a spruce up for the first year, once that's done they'll be unlikely to refuse reasonable stuff.
congratulations btw.

It just takes forever to get a response from them. I need some disabled equipment taking out of the bathroom and it's taking weeks and I've not even had a response yet! I understand I need to get permission for this as it's a big move but the communication is so poor

Also my HA are probably a little more laid back about this stuff.

So once you leave, you’re not expected to put everything back to how it was etc. As long as it’s been maintained properly, that’s all that matters. They don’t expect us to keep old door handles etc to put back on if we’ve replaced them.

The woman who lived here previously had a big brick fireplace built (liked it when I moved in during the 90’s. HATE it now and need to get it ripped out! Looks so dated! 😂). The housing never tore it down and removed it. They just left it in 🤷🏽‍♀️

Thank you, I will get there with it. It's shocking how they leave properties. I wasn't expecting it to be immaculate by any means, I was more than prepared for it to be in bad condition - hence why I've been saving to do it up - but sometimes a lick of paint and a new floor isn't enough

Hope it's not clarion housing. They're an absolute nightmare. Do anything that they can spin against you and they'll do everything to get the property off you. Don't do anything without the HA's explicit written consent.
on a side note, it's very kind of your family member to help out and do the work but, for the future, get them to give you a proper quote and have it marked paid. Tuck it away for the future so the HA can never claim that they did the work and paid for it.

My home has been left with elderly disabled equipment in the bathroom and no bath. My son is autistic and cannot have showers. He can't cope with the water on his skin like that so I desperately need that taking out and a bath putting in.

Regardless, if they know a family is moving in with children, they should remove the elderly disability equipment anyway as it's not practical.

I must sound like I'm moaning and ungrateful- I'm really not. I'm just surprised you're not allowed to do certain things to make it a home

I would just do it. I retiled my kitchen in a HA property, it’s improved it, they didn’t give a shit (housing officer commented how much better it looked then they inspected it after a year).

Ahh good tip! Thank you!

No it's not that particular housing company but it does sound similar in the way the expect things!

Send them in a written request by recorded delivery. Sure then it will be done by qualified tradesmen and include photographs of the poor quality of what you have and the proposed updates. Reassure them it's at your own cost. When you have a reply, if they agree, copy the letter and for gods sake keep it. That's all I did.

Yes my housing officer told me to do whatever in order to make it look better too. It would be easier if I could actually speak to them but it's literally about a 3 hour wait on the phone only to get cut off when they answered!