Repairing Council Homes

Ascham Homes maintains your home with their repairs partner Kier Building Maintenance, on behalf of the landlord the London Borough of Waltham Forest. They are responsible for maintaining many parts of your home and your estate or block. They have to maintain the structure and outside of all buildings, including the drains and gutters. If you are a tenant they also have to maintain:

Fittings for gas, electricity, and water (except where these have been installed by you to serve your own appliances, such as a washing machine)
Basins, sinks, baths and toilets, and
Heating and hot water facilities (this also applies to leaseholder properties if these are part of a shared system)

They are not responsible for repairs when the damage is:

Caused by you or someone who lives in or visits your home
Caused by something you have installed
To items you provided yourself, or
Not reported to us

They will only carry out those repairs that landlords must carry out by law. Please help them to help you by allowing staff into your home to complete repairs. If you do not allow them into your home, they may take legal action against you for breaking your tenancy agreement. If they carry out a repair that you are responsible for, or you have caused, for example if you lose your front door key and they have to force entry, or cause damage to your home, they may charge you for the cost of the job before they start it, including an administration charge. You may be able to reclaim the cost of a rechargeable repair through your contents insurance. It's up to you to check your policy details to see if you are covered for accidental damage.

Once you have applied to buy your property under the Right to Buy scheme, Ascham Homes will only carry out repairs as defined by Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. These include repairs to the structure and outside of the premises. It also covers repairs needed to the heating, water supply and toilet systems.

Tenants can report day to day repairs in their homes through Ascham Direct, their telephone service centre or face to face as follows:

Ascham Homes Direct
1 Wood Street
Walthamstow E17 3LU
(map)
Tel 020 8496 4197
Email direct@aschamhomes.org.uk

Opening hours
The office is open Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm.
Customer Service Advisors are available to telephone between 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am - 1pm on Saturday.
Out of hours please telephone the emergency operator on 020 8496 3000 (Waltham Forest Direct)

Priorities for repairs

Under Ascham Homes' system of carrying out repairs they classify tenants’ requests into 'emergency', 'urgent' or 'routine' repairs.

Emergency repairs

These are carried out to prevent a serious threat to health and safety. Ascham respond to such requests within two hours and complete work within 24 hours. Examples include gas leaks, vandal damage and lift breakdowns.

Urgent repairs

This must be raised within four hours and completed within three working days.

Routine repairs

There will be attendance to the property within 5-7 days. The repairs should be completed within 21 days.

General housing advice

If you require general housing advice you can contact:

Housing Services

Cedar Wood House
2d Fulbourne Road
Walthamstow E17 4GG (map)