Who is responsible for council house repairs

Find out which repairs you need to tell us about and which repairs you need to do yourself.

We deal with a wide range of household repairs but some might be your responsibility to fix.   

Leaseholders of council houses have different repair responsibilities - check leaseholder repair responsibilities.

Repairs you need to do

  • All decorations inside your home - including repairing surface cracks and holes in walls and ceilings
  • Maintaining, and minor repairs to, internal windows and doors 
  • Repairing or replacing locks, latches, keys, handles, bolts and letter boxes, numbers, peepholes, security chains, knockers and bells
  • Repairing and adjusting kitchen units, cupboards, drawers, doors, shelves and worktops
  • Replacing broken tiles
  • Repairing and maintaining meter boxes
  • Pest control
  • Clearing blockages in sinks, toilets, baths and waste pipes, or external gullies (except in shared areas)
  • Replacing washers on dripping taps and broken toilet seats
  • Replacing the chain and plugs on sinks, baths and basins
  • Changing plugs on electrical appliances, replacing fuses and resetting trip switches
  • Replacing light bulbs and fluorescent tube and starters
  • Testing and cleaning your smoke alarm and replacing the batteries
  • Repairing footpaths, yards and patios that are not the main access to the front door
  • Repairing or replacing gates and fencing (unless it borders a pavement or public footpath)
  • Replacing clothes posts, pulleys and washing lines (except in designated shared drying areas)
  • Keeping air bricks clear and clean
  • Keeping your garden tidy by cutting the grass and trimming any hedges

Repairs we need to do

  • Looking after the structure of your property
  • Gas safety - we will carry out an annual safety check and service
  • The outside of your property - including your chimney, roof, drains, gutters, pipes, outside doors and windows
  • Plaster work (unless it's a minor surface crack), internal plumbing, power and lighting, carpentry such as floors and stairs
  • The area around your property - front paths or steps, garages and shared areas like stairwells and entrances
  • If you live in a flat - door entry systems, communal TV and satellite systems, lifts, windows and doors