Repairs for Housing Executive and housing association tenants
Housing Executive and housing association tenants have a Right to Repair Scheme. This scheme allows their tenants to get some small, urgent repairs done within certain timescales. If you need a repair, you must report this to your landlord.
Your right to repair
The Right to Repair scheme covers small, urgent repairs costing up to £250 which, if not carried out within a reasonable short, prescribed period of time, are likely to be a risk to your health, safety or security.
If your landlord is responsible for doing the repair, check their timescales for doing different types of repairs.
An association should have published target response times, for example:
- emergency: one working day (24 hours) - defects affecting the tenant's safety, security or health
- urgent: four working days - defects causing loss of facility to the tenant or likely to cause further deterioration to the structure, fabric, fittings, fixtures or services to the building
- routine: 28 working days - defects which can be delayed without serious inconvenience to the tenant
You may be entitled to compensation when the contractor fails to complete qualifying repairs within the agreed timescale. The amount of compensation should reflect the delay in completing the repair, not the cost.
Entitlement to compensation is removed if exceptional circumstances occur which are beyond the control of the association.
Repairs eligible for the scheme
A qualifying repair:
- costs £250 or less to do
- is likely to be a risk to your health or safety if not done by a certain time
Most repairs are electrical or plumbing work. Sometimes building repairs qualify as repairs.
Arranging repairs to your home
You should tell the Housing Executive or the housing association any repairs that need to be done. When you report a repair to your landlord, they will tell you:
- the contractor
- the last date for the repair to be done
- job number
You must tell the Housing Executive or housing association a time when someone will be at home to let the contractor in. You should check the contractor's identity before you let them into your home.