Our repairs service

If your repair is an emergency please let us know straightaway by calling 0300 555 0600. You can do this 24 hours a day, seven days a week. An emergency could be a complete loss of power, no heating or hot water during the winter, faulty boilers, or a flood or leak that can’t be controlled.

The easiest way to report a repair is through the My Onward Portal. Here you can tell us about the repair in just a few clicks. Or, you can give us a call on 0300 555 0600 from 8am to 8pm on Monday to Friday, and between 10am to 8pm on Wednesdays. You can also use WhatsApp (07793 795882) or the live chat on our website.

When you contact us to report a repair, please give us:

• Your tenancy number
• Details of what needs repairing and as much detail as possible regarding what the issue is and the location of the repair
• Times when you will be available to let us into your home
• Details of any support you might need from us, for example special requirements
• Your current telephone number and email address

 If you can, it also helps if you can take a photo of what needs fixed. Photos should be well lit and taken from different angles.

If you live in a communal scheme and notice something needs fixed in a communal area, for example issues with lighting or Flytipping, please let us know in the same way as you would report a repair in your home.

Emergency repairs will be attended to within eight hours. For other repairs that can be completed in one visit, we will offer you an appointment and carry this out within twenty days. For bigger and more complicated jobs, we will agree a date with you, which may be for an initial inspection. We will then stay in touch with you until the work is completed and do this within 90 days.

When you report a repair to us, you will be offered a time for us to carry out the work. For non-emergency repairs, you will receive a text or a call to confirm your appointment. You’ll also receive a reminder the day before.

On the day of the appointment, you’ll receive a call when we’re on our way. Please make sure that someone over the age of 18 is at home whilst the work is being carried out.

If we need to change the time for any reason, we’ll let you know at least 24 hours in advance and agree a new time that works for you. If for any reason you can’t make an appointment, please let us know by calling us on 0300 555 0600 or via the My Onward Portal.

Anyone carrying out a repair to your home will have Onward branded ID badges which should be shown to you before going into your home. Before starting a job, they will:

• Tell you what they are going to do
• Tell you roughly how long it will take
• Let you know about any disruption there will be

 Before leaving your home, the repairs operative will confirm that the repair has been completed. If the work cannot be carried out or completed, they will explain to you the reason why and will book another appointment to do the work.

If you spot damp and mould in your home, please get in touch with us as soon as possible. Head over to the damp and mould section of our website to find out how to report this and spot the signs.

If you have requirements that mean you need extra support whilst we’re in your home, please let us know when you report your repair. We can offer:

• Joint visits with the repairs contractors and Onward colleagues can be organised, if you would like us to be there.
• Our repairs teams will work with agreed care providers, advocates or Onward staff where additional support is needed.

Let us know if you need someone else to be home in order for us to get in to carry out the repair.

As a basic guide, we’re responsible for the repairs to the structure and exterior of your home. This includes things like:

• Roofs, walls, chimneys, and chimney stacks (not sweeping unless you use solid fuel such as coal)
• Doors, window frames and catches, glazing and window sills
• Gutters, external pipes and drains
• Making good any plastering inside your home
• External painting and decorating
• Pathway steps and other means of access

We’re also responsible for some repairs inside your home, such as:

• Internal walls, floors, ceilings, doors, door frames and skirting boards
• Baths, wash basins, toilets, sinks and kitchen units (but not toilet seats, tap washers, plugs and chains)
• Electrical wiring, sockets, and switches
• Gas pipes and water pipes
• Fitted heaters and fires, fireplaces and central heating installations
• Communal areas and their electrical supplies
• Replacing suited locks in our older persons schemes

We also carry out planned improvements programmes to kitchens and bathrooms and we will be in touch with customers when we plan to do this.

We expect you to keep your home safe and clean, and to make sure that gardens are kept neat and tidy. You’re also responsible for fixing any damage that has not been caused by fair wear and tear. Examples of repairs that you are responsible for include:

• Replacing fuses, light bulbs, and fluorescent tubes
• Replacing toilet seats, tap washers, chains and plugs
• Decorating the inside of your home
• Replacing television aerials or satellite dishes, unless you live in communal areas
• Fixing appliances installed by you
• Fixing damage caused by a visitor or a member of your household
• Replacing keys or locks (unless caused by fair wear and tear)

We will charge you for any repairs that are needed due to neglect, wilful damage or accidental damage by you, a member of the household or a visitor. However, we won’t charge you if the damage is the result of being the victim of a criminal act, as long as you can provide us with a valid police crime reference number.

If you want to make any alterations to your home, you must get permission from us first. Please call us on 0300 555 0600. For minor adaptations you will need request this from the adaptations team either by calling the contact centre or via the My Onward Portal. Minor adaptations are small changes to your home such as grab rails, fixed shower seats, half steps and lever taps.

Major adaptations are larger changes to your home such as installing a level access shower, kitchen adaptations or ramps. For a major adaptation you will need an Occupational Therapy assessment from your local authority. An Occupational Therapist will work out the right adaptation for you and make recommendations to us.

For minor adaptations we aim to complete these within four weeks although for more complex works such as fitting bespoke rails this may take longer but we will keep you informed throughout the process. Where we receive an urgent referral from a professional to help someone return home from hospital, we aim to complete these within 48 hours.  

Major adaptations are a longer process and each local authority we work with has a different process. When your adaptation referral is received from the local authority, we will write to you explaining the process and keep you up to date with where your adaptation is up to.  

If you are experiencing issues with pests, please get in touch and tell us as much as you can about the problem. You will then be contacted by the pest control contractor, who will arrange an appointment. They will visit your home and carry out work to treat the affected area, blocking holes and access points as required. The contractor will report back to Onward to carry out any further necessary repairs to the area. We will:

• Respond by providing a morning or afternoon appointment
• Investigate the cause of the pest infestation

You should:

• Contact us as soon as possible if you cannot keep an appointment
• Report the issue of pests as soon as you can, as it may reduce the time needed to eradicate the issue
• If the issue of pests reoccurs after the treatment, let us know as soon as you can
• Please follow the advice or instructions provided

Investigating and treatment can take time, but we will keep in contact with you and work with you until the issue has been resolved.