Your Right to Repair

As part of the Citizen's Charter scheme, a Right to Repair scheme was introduced for Council tenants from April 1994. The Right to Repair is a scheme that will make sure that certain small urgent repairs which might affect your health, safety or security, are done quickly and easily. Councils are told by Law to carry out these repairs within a certain time. If Tristar Homes Limited doesn't do your repair in time, you can tell it to get another contractor instead, you will get a copy of the second repair notice. If a second contractor doesn't do the repair in time, the council will pay you compensation.

Tristar Homes Limited will tell you what repairs come under the new scheme and how long it has to carry them out. Repair times vary depending on the type of repair. For example, if your toilet isn't flushing, Tristar Homes Limited usually has one working day to come and repair it. It has three working days to mend a loose banister rail and seven working days to mend a broken extractor fan in your bathroom or kitchen.

Compensation

If the second contractor doesn't do your repair in time, you will get £10 in compensation. For every extra day you wait, you will get another £2. The most compensation you can get for any one job is £50. The Council will pay your compensation - unless you already owe it some money. If you do owe money to the Council, it will take away the amount you owe from your compensation. Sometimes there may be a good reason why a repair can't be done. For example, if you didn't keep your appointment to let the contractor in, and they therefore couldn't carry out the repair, the council won't have to pay you any compensation.

What repairs can you get done:
You can get certain small urgent repairs done (up to the value of £250) if they are likely to affect your health, safety or security. These are called qualifying repairs. Qualifying repairs include:

• unsafe power or lighting sockets or electrical fittings
• blocked flue to open fire or boiler
• leaking roof
• toilets which don't flush
• blocked sink, bath or basin
• leak from a water or heating pipe, tank or cistern
• loose or broken banisters or handrails

Tristar Homes Limited have a full list of repairs which come under the scheme. It will be able to tell you if a repair you need is included in the scheme and how long it has to get the repair done. Tristar Homes Limited will also be able to tell you how it deals with repairs which aren't covered under this scheme.