Repairing, maintaining, and improving homes
We know how important it is for your home to be warm, safe, and comfortable to live in.
We’ve put a new Asset Management Strategy in place for the next five years, which includes investing more money to improve our customers’ homes and make them more energy efficient. It also outlines how we’ll offer more opportunities to get involved in shaping our repairs service.
In the last 12 months, we’ve updated our Repairs Policy to make it clearer. It explains what you can expect from us when it comes to resolving issues like damp, mould, and condensation. The policy also includes a new 90-day timescale for our most complex repairs, such as replacing a kitchen or bathroom.
How we performed
Between April 2023 and March 2024, we spent around £24.9m on responsive and cyclical repairs, maintenance, and improvements.
Target 100%
of emergency* repairs responded to within 24 hours (16,719 of 16,780).
Target 80%
of urgent** and routine*** repairs completed within seven (urgent) or 21 (routine) days (27,202 of 37,181).
Target 96.5%
of repairs appointments kept (24,921 of 25,798).
boilers and heating systems installed at a total cost of £2.17m.
kitchens and bathrooms installed at a total cost of £2.24m.
electrical rewires in properties at a total cost of £1.88m.
spent on installing fire safety measures such as new doors and windows, fire doors and fire stop work.
*Emergency repairs are incidents that could result in an immediate risk to the property or health and safety of people, for example uncontrollable leak or exposed wiring.
**Urgent repairs need to be dealt with quickly but don’t present an immediate risk to property or people.
***Routine repairs are those which don’t need to be dealt with quickly but cannot be left until we start a planned programme.
Prioritising damp, mould and condensation issues
We continue to prioritise cases of damp, mould and condensation, with a dedicated team established to respond to address these issues promptly. We act quickly to remove any health risks, and we’ve hired more technical team members to investigate the root cause of the problem faster before completing any necessary repairs or improvements to your home.
We’ve also expanded our tenancy liaison team to support customers once any remedial work is complete to make sure the damp mould and condensation issues have been fully resolved.
You can get more information and guidance on damp, mould and condensation at www.boltonathome.org.uk/damp-condensation-mould.
Our plan to improve repairs and maintenance
We continue to look at ways we can improve our repairs service. In the last 12 months, we’ve cleared all repairs backlogs related to the pandemic. In addition, the pressures we were experiencing post-pandemic due to supply chain issues and rising costs of materials have eased.
In the last 12 months we have:
- started trying new ways of working to increase the number of repairs we can complete on our first visit;
- recruited additional tradespeople to complete more repairs;
- started to review all contracts for materials and services to ensure we continue to deliver the best possible value for money.
You can find our Repairs Policy at: www.boltonathome.org.uk/repairs-policy.
Investing in homes
Below is a list of the areas we’re investing in:
- Increased asset investment budget by around £5 million in 2024/25. The main increases in spend this year relate to: windows and doors, external refurbishment, kitchens and bathrooms, communal decoration. This also covers other works such as heating upgrades, repairs and maintenance and cyclical servicing and repairs.
- An increase in the damp and mould budget, to spend more on preventative measures, rather than reactive, as we continue to see high level of cases.
- We’ll carry out stock condition surveys on 20% of homes each year (access permitting).