Repairs and maintenance

Of course, you have a role to play and it’s important that you understand your responsibilities for looking after your home and being a considerate neighbour. We’ll also be offering a range of services to look after the buildings and gardens. If you rent your home, we’ll also offer maintenance services within your home.

Repairs to communal areas

You’ll see the Team East Village team around East Village and they will be managing and maintaining the building and common areas – things like lifts, corridors, lighting and stairwells, common – as well as the communal gardens and courtyards. If you notice a repair which needs to be done in the communal areas or gardens, just get in touch with the Triathlon Homes team.

Get in touch

If you rent your home, Triathlon Homes will arrange and cover the cost of most repairs within your home, although some repairs are your responsibility (see the ‘You and Your Landlord‘ guide for more information). Shared owners and leaseholders are responsible for maintenance and repairs within their home (please refer to the ‘Leaseholder Handbook’ for more guidance).

If you rent and need to report a repair, just get in touch with the Triathlon Homes team. If it’s an emergency, such as a loss of electricity or water, we’ll carry out your repair as quickly as possible, including making your home safe within 2 hours. For other repairs within your home, we aim to carry out urgent repairs within 5 working days and routine repairs within 21 working days.

Don’t forget

• To let us know if you need to report a minor building defect as many of the Triathlon Homes properties on East Village are still currently within their defects liability period. This means that the company that built the properties has an obligation to repair any “defects” to the property for two years from the date the home is handed over by the construction company to us.*
• To arrange contents insurance for your personal items such as furniture and clothing, as this is not covered by the buildings insurance.
• To talk to us first before you alter your home. It’s fine if you want to hang a picture, install a shelf or bookcase or replace a light fitting, but anything beyond this, please check first as you’ll most likely need permission.
• To get our advice if you or someone in your household has a disability and could benefit from aids or adaptations to make your home more suitable.

Repair responsibilities

The responsibilities for repairs differ depending on whether you rent a home from us, or are a leaseholder or Shared Owner. Select the appropriate link below for more information about repair responsibilities:

• Repair responsibilities if you rent from us
• Repair responsibilities for leaseholders and Shared Owners

Please note: You should always check your tenancy agreement or lease in the first instance for full details about the specific repair responsibilities in your home.

Repair responsibilities if you rent from us

If you rent your home from us, you are responsible for minor repairs and the replacement of minor items in your home. You should always check your tenancy agreement in the first instance.

Please note, you’re responsible for insuring the contents of your home, with Team East Village, we’ll ensure the building is insured.

Your repair responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Repairing damage caused by you, members of your household or visitors, (this means we’ll recharge you if we need to replace broken glass in the windows)
• Replacing locks and lost keys
• Replacing broken toilet seats
• Unblocking sinks, baths and toilets
• Replacing sink and bath plugs and chains
• Replacing electrical plugs and fuses
• Replacing light bulbs (except in shared or communal areas such as stairwells)
• Changing the filter in your mechanical ventilation unit (above the cooker hood)
• Filling minor cracks in plaster
• Testing smoke alarms in line with manufacturers’ instructions
• Repairing items you have installed yourself
• Repairing your own electrical appliances
• Telephone points or individual TV aerials – (repairs to communal aerial connection points should be reported to us)
• Handles, hinges and cupboard catches on internal doors and kitchen cabinets
• Trimming and/or re-hanging doors when you’ve put in new carpets
• Minor fixtures such as coat hooks, curtains, curtain rails, shower heads and hoses
• Repairs to your cooker, fridge and other white goods (including those that we have gifted to you) (unless you have a tenancy in our Intermediate Market Rent properties)
• Floor coverings (unless you have an Intermediate Market Rent tenancy, or those in communal areas)
• Fixtures or fittings provided by yourself, including additional alterations
• Maintaining your home in a good decorative order and not allowing it to fall into disrepair by deliberate damage or neglect
• Keeping any decking in a good, weatherproof condition
• Taking reasonable care of all specialist adaptation equipment.

What are Triathlon Homes responsible for?

If you have a tenancy with us we’ll maintain any installations in your home that supply water, electricity, heating, hot water and sanitation.

This includes:

• Basins, sinks, baths, toilets, flushing systems and waste pipes, but not plugs, chains or toilet seats
• Electric wiring, including sockets and switches
• Central-heating systems, cylinders and water pipes, water heaters, showers and ventilation fans & ducts
• We’ll also investigate leaks and any damp quickly

We’re also responsible for the inside walls, floors, ceilings and doorframes, although the decoration is your responsibility

Triathlon Homes does not own the building you live in. We’ll work closely with Team East Village if there is a repair needed in the shared areas of the building or the parts of the building it has responsibility for.

Team East Village is responsible for:

• keeping the structure and outside of your home in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order.
• insuring the structure of your home and any shared areas

The repair responsibilities of Team East Village include:

• Drains, gutters, outside pipes and the roof
• Outside walls, outside doors, windows, window catches and window frames, including any painting and decorating needed outside
• Decoration of the communal areas
• Maintaining stacks, riser cupboards and the services within the building
• Front & rear paths, steps or other access points
• The refuse store and the car park in the undercroft
• Boundary walls and railings
• Repairs to communal areas such as entrances, halls, stairs, lifts, corridors, refuse stores, paths, grounds, parking areas and communal gardens.
• Communal lighting, CCTV and the fire detection and prevention equipment.

Repair responsibilities for leaseholders and Shared Owners

As a leaseholders or Shared Owner, you are responsible for all internal repairs to your home . There a few exceptions and we’ve listed these below.

You’re responsible for the following:

• Underfloor heating and water cylinders
• Sockets switches and light fittings
• Baths, sinks, toilets and cisterns
• Drains and waste pipes within your apartment
• Weatherproofing your balcony decking (where appropriate)
• Mechanical ventilation (at your cooker hood), we recommend you change the filters regularly
• Ensuring smoke and heat detectors are tested and replaced on expiry (unless these have been installed as a temporary, mitigating measure)
• Electrical certification checks every 5 years
• Annual checks of the Elson hot water cylinder.

East Village Management Ltd is responsible for managing and maintaining the buildings, shared or communal areas and the grounds including your courtyard garden and the public areas and gardens. They are based in East Village and known as Team East Village. They must keep the structure and outside of your home in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order

Team East Village are responsible for:

• Your heating system has a collection of parts called the Heat Interface Unit. This includes the Honeywell controller but not the Elson cylinder. These parts of the heating system are not in your demise. East London Energy will inspect this every two years; Team East Village have the repair responsibility.
• Windows and balcony doors including the glass, the window handles and locks
• Balcony repairs including balustrades, glazing and decking (excluding cleaning and weatherproofing)
• Communal doors and entrances, lifts and other communal areas
• External repairs and upkeep of the structure and exterior of your building and decoration of the communal areas on a set cycle the structure and exterior of the building including the facades
• lifts
• the roof
• communal drains, gutters and outside pipes
• all communal doors and fire doors (but not your apartment door)
• lighting in the common and external areas
• fire prevention equipment such as alarms and automatic opening vents
• soil stacks (not including blockages originating in your home)
• boundary walls and railings

The cost for the works Team East Village incur in maintaining these common parts will be recovered from leaseholders and shared owners through the service charge.