Report a repair: England
Taking care of your home
Reporting a repair is quick and simple. Places for People is responsible for many repairs to your home, but not all. Please check the repair responsibilities before reporting a repair.
Before you start
You should know that:
- Some minor repairs are your responsibility. First, check whether the repair is your responsibility.
- You will have to pay for repairs caused by accidental damage, misuse or neglect.
- If you’re older or living with disabilities, then you may be able to use a handy person service from your local authority to get free help with more minor repairs.
Emergency and urgent repairs
What is an emergency repair?
An emergency repair is any problem with an immediate security risk or risk of harm to you, another person or your property.
What is an urgent repair?
An urgent repair is any problem that could be a security risk or cause harm to you, another person or your property.
The welfare and safety of our customers is our primary concern, particularly when dealing with emergency repairs. To make sure our customers receive help quickly for an emergency repair we have reviewed and updated our emergency repairs criteria, so that we can focus our resources on our residents when they need it most.
There may be repairs agreed to be an emergency due to a customer’s vulnerability or supported living arrangements.
The list below sets out our updated emergency repair criteria:
1. Electrics where:
- they are unsafe because copper wiring is exposed
- they are unsafe because water is leaking or has been leaking onto or near them
- there has been a total loss of power after checking with your supplier
- total loss of lights - you must attempt to reset your fuse box if in individual home.
2. Water problems where:
- there is a total loss of water supply after checking with your supplier
- ceilings have been damaged by water (and are in danger of collapsing)
- there are leaks causing uncontrollable damage
- the toilet is blocked and all attempts have been made to unblock it, and there is only one toilet in the home
- external drains are blocked and sewage water is backing up (and it is not a Council responsibility)
- all bathing facilities have been lost and when there are no other ways of bathing available
- total loss of hot water – when there is no other form of bathing, for example an electric shower available
3. Gas
- Any leaks from a pipe or gas boiler
- Boiler breakdown resulting in no heating or hot water is an emergency only between 1 October and 31 March
4. Any exposed asbestos (read more about asbestos)
5. Security and day to day living repairs where:
- home burglar alarms (where we have supplied) or smoke alarms are sounding constantly
- door entry systems will not allow you to enter or exit the building and there is no other door entry available
- the main front or back door cannot be used to enter or exit the home or be made secure overnight
- a window is broken and causing a security issue
- the walls and ceiling need repair as they are a potential injury risk or a dangerous situation
- there is complete loss of cooking facilities with no other way of cooking. For example no microwave available
- there is a total loss of heating between 1 October and 31 March
- there is any repair agreed to be an emergency due to a customer’s vulnerability or supported living arrangements
6. External repairs to:
- fences and gates - only if the fence is causing a risk of injury to the customer or general public
- roofing repairs - only if causing a health and safety risk
- masonry repairs - only if there is a potential injury risk and dangerous situation
- paths and walkways - shared or main access to the front of the property and flagging in communal areas only if potential injury risk and dangerous situation
All emergency repairs need to be reported by phone. Please call us immediately on 01772 667002 to report an emergency repair. The line is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our Customer Service Centre colleagues will ask you questions about your repair to make sure you receive the help you need and to determine if your repair is an emergency or urgent. If not identified as an emergency or urgent repair we will offer you our next available routine repair appointment.
Don’t have an online account?
If you haven’t signed up to manage your home online yet, do it now in just a few minutes?
All you need is your Payment Reference Number and an email address. Your Payment Reference Number can be found on your rent statement.
Sharing your details
We may share your name and contact details with In House Research, an external company who we have appointed to carry out surveys so that we can obtain feedback from you on our repairs service.
The appointed company will work on our behalf and will never use your information for any other purposes. If you wish to opt-out from receiving a survey from In House Research you can send your email address to surveys@inhouse.uk.net and ask them to remove you from the Places for People customer surveys or alternatively contact our Customer Contact Centre who will do this on your behalf.