Home Safety

We have a legal responsibility to carry out regular checks to ensure that your home is safe and efficient.

Read the full Electrical Safety, Asbestos and Fire Safety policy or our summarised versions.

Electrical Safety Policy Asbestos Policy Fire Safety Policy

Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

Most of our homes are fitted with smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, which are tested during your annual gas safety check. It is important that these are checked on a weekly basis by pressing the ‘test’ button.

You should never disconnect or remove the batteries from your smoke or carbon monoxide detectors. Should you have any issues with your smoke alarm or carbon monoxide detector, please get in touch and we will send an engineer to your home.

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Gas safety checks

The safety of you and your family is our priority. By law we have to make sure that a gas safety check is carried out in your home every year. The annual service also provides us with an opportunity to carry out routine preventative maintenance that helps to minimise any inconvenient breakdowns.

Gas servicing page

What to do if you smell gas

Turn off your gas supply immediately and open your windows and doors. Do not turn any electrical switches on or off, light matches or lighters. Immediately ring The National Gas Emergency Services on 0800 111 999, they will come to your home and make it safe.

Call 0800 111 999

Electrical safety

We need you to be safe in your home which is why we must carry out regular electrical maintenance checks.

We send a qualified competent electrician who will undertake a periodic inspection to create an Electrical Inspection Condition Report (EICR).

View electricity check information

Home lift maintenance

We know that you rely on your lift daily to move around your home. To keep it in good working order we need to carry out regular servicing and maintenance to avoid breakdowns.

We will visit your home four times a year. Two visits will be by our maintenance contractor Thyssenkrupp, a further two visits will be carried out by our insurers appointed inspector Bureau Veritas. If you have any issues with your stairlift, please let us know.

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Water hygiene

All water systems within our homes naturally contain bacteria. Under certain conditions, the bacteria can grow, which can cause illness. A common water bacterium is Legionella, which can be fatal if small droplets of contaminated water are inhaled. However, the risks of legionella in your home are low based on regular water usage and turnover.

It is important that you do not interfere with your boiler temperature. This should be set at 60°C to ensure that hot water in your system remains hot. Keep shower heads and taps clean and free from limescale and mould and descale shower heads at least every 3 months. We recommend making sure taps, showers and toilets are flushed at least once a week to ensure water is kept circulating.

If you'd like to speak to us about water hygiene in your home, please contact us.

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Communal areas

We inspect all of our communal areas at least once a year to check that they are safe. You may see our Health and Safety team checking that:

  • There are no obvious fire hazards e.g. blocked fire escapes or flammable items stored in the hallways
  • Fire safety equipment e.g. extinguishers, emergency lighting, are present where necessary
  • Fire doors are working correctly and are in good condition
  • Any asbestos present is safe i.e. not damaged or disturbed
  • There are no general health and safety hazards present e.g. loose tiles that could cause a fall

If you see any safety hazards in communal areas, please let us know so we can fix them.

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Asbestos in your home

Most of our homes built before the year 2000 contain some asbestos, often in ceilings and floor tiles. Asbestos does not usually present a health risk unless it is disturbed (e.g. by drilling) or damaged (for example by fire or water damage).

When you move into your home, if it contains asbestos, we will give you a copy of the asbestos information that we hold for the property. If you ask us to do any repairs, we will check the asbestos information we hold to ensure that we do so safely.

It is important that you contact us before undertaking any work that could potentially damage or disturb asbestos containing materials in your home.

If you notice that you have disturbed or damaged any asbestos in your home, please report it to us and we will assess the risk level and may undertake further checks to make sure that your home is safe.

If planned improvement works or major repairs are needed in your home, a more in-depth asbestos survey might be required. Our contractors will take small samples from your walls, ceilings or floors, which will be tested in a laboratory for asbestos. We will contact you to arrange this.