Decent Homes Works
We know how important your home is to you and your family.
As part of our continued commitment to providing our customers with great places to live, we at Stevenage Borough Council, work continuously to maintain and improve the condition of your home.
The Major Internal Works Programme has been designed to ensure that your home meets the required standards.
We are just about to begin a new programme of Decent Homes Improvements. This work may include some or all of the following, depending on the age of the items.
- Window Replacement
- Door Replacement
- Heating and Controls
- Boilers
- Electrics
- Bathroom Replacements
- Kitchen Replacements
We are working hard to protect both you and the teams working to improve your home during the Covid-19 pandemic and have introduced safe working practices which will be explained to you before any work commences.
You do not need to do anything; we will make contact with you when your home is due for any work.
All contractor staff are required to carry full face photo identification and all appointments will be made by prior arrangement. Please ask to see identification before letting anyone into your home. If you have any doubts about the identity of the person, please call our Customer Service Centre on 01438 242666.
If you have any queries about when your home may be due for works, please contact the Investment Team by calling our Customer Service Centre or email investment@stevenage.gov.uk.
Decent Homes 2020
How we decide what works are carried out
A survey will have been completed on your property. This may have been done recently, a few years ago or before you moved in. The results of the survey will be compared to the Decent Homes standard. The results will determine the extent of work to your home. If surveyors were not able to gain access to your property, they will have cloned survey data from a similar property within your area. Not all homes will need work.
Neighbouring properties
Properties will have had different work (repairs, renewals and upgrades) carried out over the years, so your home will be different from your neighbours. The work that is carried out in each property will depend on the outcome of the surveys.
We will contact you
Before any improvements are carried out to your home, you will receive a letter from us telling you what work is likely to be carried out. When the appointed contractor is ready to start work, you will be contacted to arrange an initial visit. At this visit, a detailed survey will take place to identify and confirm exactly what improvements are needed. You will also be able to choose from a range of colours and styles where appropriate, for example paint and kitchen unit colours.
Resident Liaison Officers
A Resident Liaison Officer will keep you informed of proposed works and liaise with you before, during and after the works. The officer will visit you before the work starts and will let you know how long it is likely to take. They will keep you updated about when key phases will be completed.
Your furniture
Your Resident Liaison Officer will discuss this in more detail when they visit you before the work starts but you can help us take the best possible care of your belongings by taking some simple precautions. It makes sense to put away fragile or valuable items and remove things from the walls to prevent them from falling. We always use dust sheets when working in your home to protect floor coverings and furniture that has not been removed.
Decorating vouchers
Our project surveyors will survey your property after the work has been completed to say whether you will be entitled to the decorating voucher. For example, when a property has had a full electrical re-wire or a full central heating system fitted, we will provide a decorating voucher to use in Johnstone’s Decorating Centre, Gunnels Wood Trade Park, Stevenage. The decorating voucher should be used by the expiry date on the voucher; usually around 3 months.
Decorating materials
The voucher allows you to collect a pack of decorating materials. This includes items such as interior paints, wallpapers and pastes, brushes, sandpaper, fillers. Items may be different depending on the room that is to be decorated. You will have this information on the letter you receive with the voucher.
Collecting a decorating pack
The person whose name and address is on the voucher must be present when collecting the decorating pack; proof of ID and the voucher letter must be shown.
Working closely with our contractors, we have reviewed government guidance and assessed all site activities to address the changes that need to be made. Operatives carrying out work will adhere to the government’s ‘Working Safely During Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guidance’ to ensure any such work may be carried out safely. If certain work cannot be undertaken safely due to a lack of suitably qualified personnel being available, or social distancing being implemented, it will not take place.
If you have any further questions about any of our major works programmes, please email us at investment@stevenage.gov.uk or call our Customer Service Centre on 01438 242666.