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Repairs and major work
We are committed to providing you with a first-class, accessible and efficient repairs service. As a leaseholder, you are responsible for repairs to your home. Under the terms of the lease, the council is responsible for maintaining the structure and outside of the building and all shared areas and services on the estate where your leasehold property is. South Tyneside Homes carries out this work on behalf of the council. As a leaseholder, you will have to contribute towards the cost of us meeting this obligation.
When you signed the lease, you agreed to meet the cost of any repairs and maintenance to your block and/or estate, including major work. This section explains which repairs and maintenance we carry out and which areas of maintenance you are responsible for.
Often we carry out small-scale repairs to your block and estate, such as a repair to the guttering or replacing a roof tile. This maintenance work is carried out without letting the tenants and leaseholders in the block or on the estate know. We charge the cost of this day-to-day maintenance to you through the repairs part of your day-to-day service charges.
Reporting a repair
When you have a repair to report you can do this in a number of ways.
- You can phone our repairs helpdesk on Freephone 0800 694 6900 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays
- You can report a repair at any Housing Office
- You can fill in our online form online
- You can write to your local Housing Office
- Outside of our working hours and at weekends your call will be taken by our ‘Emergency Call Out’ Team on Freephone 0800 694 6900. The number is the same as during the day and the operator will ask you questions about your repair to see whether it is an emergency.
What is major work?
We treat larger repairs and improvements, such as a new roof or windows, differently. These are known as major work.
Summary of major work process
- The work is identified
- We carry out an informal consultation
- We hold a formal consultation for leaseholders
- Work begins on site
- The work is completed
- We inspect the work
- There is a liability period for any possible faults which may arise
- We make the final payment to the contractor
- We work out your contribution
- We send you an invoice
For further information on the types of repairs we deal with, please see section 8 of the Leaseholder Handbook
