Service Standards
Who are we?
The Safer Housing Team is a team that forms part of the Regulatory Service in Coventry City Council. We are responsible for dealing with numerous statutory functions in relation to housing in the private sector including properties in disrepair, empty homes, fire safety in high rise blocks and the prevention of illegal eviction and harassment. We regulate private rented sector properties with the objective of raising housing standards within the city and ensuring that renters are afforded protection from a small number of unscrupulous landlords. We will therefore follow certain standards when dealing with our customers.
Our services
The Safer Housing Team offers advice and guidance on housing conditions to private tenants and owners in Coventry and improves standards using legal powers where this is in line with our Enforcement Policy and procedures.
What we will do
We want our customers to experience an excellent standard of service every time they contact us.
In all cases we will:
- treat you with respect; listen to your needs; be quick to take action, where necessary; and give you as much realistic help and advice as we can given our role as a regulator however, we do not provide legal advice
- explore the options to resolve any issues and explain clearly what we are able to do to help, even if sometimes this means having to say no to your requests
- deal with your enquiry consistently using Coventry City Council’s policies and procedures
- keep you informed about significant changes to the service; will consult with customers on key issues; and encourage regular comment and feedback on our service
- use plain English in all letters, emails, forms, leaflets, and on our website
- provide interpreters, or other aids to communication, when appropriate
- answer phone calls promptly and aim to answer your query in a timely manner. If this is not possible we will either inform you who to contact; forward your enquiry to the relevant officer; or we will give you a timescale when we aim to reply to you
- ensure our letters and emails confirm an office contact name, telephone number and e-mail address
- if you feel this standard has not been met you may follow the Council Complaints procedure set out in the Complaint leaflet available at all our receptions or on our website
We are committed to providing the following service to customers who contact the Private Housing Service. When dealing with specific requests for our services we will;
- make sure that we deal with your enquiry and service requests appropriately and proceed with enforcement action where required
- acknowledge your initial letter or e-mail to us within three working days
- respond to any further correspondence from you in 12 working days
- provide you with clear, relevant advice and information in response to any query (although the nature of our work sometimes requires us to use technical or legal terms)
- visit you in your own home if necessary
- carry identity documentation at all times. Please always ask to see identification before letting anyone into your home
- keep you informed of any significant developments and keep you updated on the progress of your enquiry at regular intervals during the process
- as we investigate a range of different matters there is no hard and fast rule as to when you can expect an update however, the expectation is that we would provide an update where a significant event has occurred within the investigation timeline or if there is an issue with the progress of the case
- contact you in a timely manner and let you know about the outcome of your request and if it has been closed, why. This should be done as a soon as practicable once a decision has been made whether we intend to progress the case or close the matter as no further action
Service standards
The Safer Housing Team deals with a significant number of requests and complaints and as such we may not have the staff to respond to all enquiries. We will prioritise cases based on the information you provide and require you to do certain things before we become involved, such as write to your landlord requesting any repairs to be completed.
All service requests will be assessed on risk and categorised as Low, Medium or High and our response times will vary for each category.
High Risk cases
If your housing conditions involve an imminent risk of harm i.e. overflowing sewage, heating failure in cold weather, dangerous electrics etc.. your case will be treated as a priority and initial contact will be made within 24 hours to discuss the problem in more detail and agree an action plan going forward, this will usually result in an Environmental Health Officer arranging to inspect your property.
After the inspection, the case officer will complete an assessment and will let you know whether we can or cannot help you. If the condition of the property presents
a serious imminent risk of harm to the occupiers. we will proceed with enforcement action.
In cases where there is an imminent risk of serious harm to the occupiers the case officer may need to take formal emergency action. For example, if there were exposed live electrical wires a child could easily reach or the main staircase at the property was about to collapse.
Copies of any Housing Act notices served will be sent to you and you will have opportunity to make comments to the case officer about the work required. The work may be inspected whilst in progress and on completion if necessary. The case will only be marked off when it is completed to our satisfaction. If the work requested has not been completed within the original time frame but there is an acceptable reason for this and reasonable progress has been made, the case officer may extend the timescale. If there has been little or no progress to carry out or complete the works on an informal basis then legal notice/s requiring works or other remedial action may be served (if we have not already done so). In this case the officer will revisit the property after giving both the occupiers and the owner a minimum of 24 hours’ notice of the visit to ensure our legal obligations are met. If at the end of the given timescale on a formal notice requiring work or other remedial action an unreasonably small amount of work or no work at all has been undertaken the case officer and manager will consider whether it is appropriate for us to arrange for the work to be carried out, this would be completed at a cost to The Council and recovered from the landlord at a later date.
We can consider prosecuting for the offence of non-compliance with a statutory notice where we have sufficient evidence, there is a reasonable chance of conviction and it is in the public interest to do so. This may happen even if the problem identified is not what you originally complained about.
In all cases we will explain what the problems we can deal with are and specify a time limit for getting the matter completed (time limits will differ depending on the case).
Where there are problems at a property, but we cannot require work to be carried out, but you still want us to continue, we may, if we believe it appropriate, make recommendations to your landlord / your letting agent / the owner. However, we would be unable to ensure that these are acted upon.
Low and Medium Risk cases
In cases where we consider there is a low or medium risk to health i.e. general repair items, minor damp and mould/condensation etc.. we will ask that a private tenant contacts their landlord first, to allow the landlord an opportunity to resolve the problem before we become involved.
When contacting your landlord you should ensure this is done in writing i.e. by letter, email or text message. If your landlord does not provide you with a response or does not start to address the problems after 14 days then you should contact us and provide the written evidence that you have tried to resolve the matter with them directly. We will then investigate the case and if appropriate take enforcement action.
Any cases referred to us will be assessed for risk and we aim to contact you within 3 to 5 working days, it is important to note that this can be longer during busier periods, especially during our colder seasons. The case officer will discuss and investigate your request and if appropriate will make an appointment to inspect your property.
Cases where there are minor issues will be dealt with on an informal basis wherever possible unless there is a history of non-compliance by the landlord, letting agent or owner.
As the complaints we deal with vary enormously, it is impossible to give a timescale for how long it will take to deal with a request, but we will keep you updated during the investigation and advise when it has been dealt with or closed.
Further information
Further information regarding our services can be found on our website.