The standards regarding maintenance or repairs will differ in the minds of both landlords and tenants. Usually, landlords will overstate the timescale due to the inconvenience, and tenants will understate them expecting trivial things to be rectified in a short timescale.
Tenant Maintenance – The Up to 28-Day Prioritised Timescale
Here at Abbey Property, we have drafted a Maintenance Schedule document to allow full transparency and continuity throughout any tenancies we manage, so that an even keel is upheld for both parties.
There are 4 priority levels, that range from getting work done within 24 hours, all the way to up to 28 days.
Top Priority Maintenance
Priority 1 is works that are to be carried out within 24 hours.
These would be emergency repairs required to avoid danger to health, cause risk to the safety of residents of the surrounding neighbours or cause severe damage to residents’ belongings or the building itself.
Things such as blocked drains and toilets, a loss of water supply, or reports of a gas leak. All examples of an inhabitable property should be subject to an urgent action implemented.
The difficulty with such a small time frame is potentially the availability of replacement parts, as the 24-hour timescale commences from the date the issue was first reported.
Second Priority Maintenance
Priority 2 is works that are to be carried out within 48 hours.
Classed as urgent repairs, with a potential to materially affect the comfort or convenience of the residents or surrounding neighbours. Things such as a broken external facing window, loose fittings such as bannisters, or reports of a pest are examples of a priority 2 report.
Again, completion of works is to be done within 48 hours from when it was first reported.
Third Priority Maintenance
Priority 3 is works that are to be carried out within 7 days.
These issues would generally be classed as non-urgent, something that inconveniences the tenant, but not as far as to cause discomfort living on the property. Some examples could be defective white goods or damaged or missing roof tiles.
Completion of works to be done within 7 days from the instance being reported.
Fourth Priority Maintenance
Priority 4 is repairs that are to be carried out within 28 days.
Again, non-urgent, it’d be something to inconvenience the tenant but not to the point where it’s a constant hindrance.
For example, a telephone intercom system in a flat not working, or a garden fence is being blown in by heavy winds. As much of an annoyance as it is, it isn’t an immediate cause for concern, hence the justification to allow up to 28 days for repair works to be completed from the date it was initially reported.
Long-Term Obligations
These would be items to meet legal obligations, the key to ensuring you are compliant throughout the tenancy and the property is in good and safe standing.
A Gas Safety register inspection and certification checks are compulsory and expire 12 months from when it was first conducted.
There is also an obligation to maintain an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR), they typically expire around 5 years from when the test was conducted.
What Else?
These obligations should be upheld ensuring that there are no outstanding repairs that could prove detrimental to making an eviction notice invalid due to aspects that haven’t been sorted promptly. The same applies to the safety checks and certificates that are needed too, if any of these are expired it could mean a tenant is within their rights to contest the eviction notice.
In turn, keeping these documents current will help ensure that we always remain compliant, whilst keeping the tenant satisfied that we are on top of any complaints.
And for any landlords that already work with us, or plan to, it is part of your obligations in the management agreement to comply with this schedule.
The best way to not have to deal with issues such as these is to hand the responsibility over to the letting agent
Get in touch with us to discuss how we can help make your life easier!
