How often we’ll upgrade your home

We’ll let you know about your next planned improvement and which contractor will be carrying out the work.

The contractor will get in touch to introduce themselves and explain what sort of work they’ll be doing. They’ll let you know if you have any choices in colour or design, and clarify how long they expect the work to take.

From time to time there might be unexpected changes to the schedule. We’ll keep you posted if this happens.

To decide how often to update our homes, we use information from our stock condition surveys. We carry out stock condition surveys every five years to keep track of the condition of our homes, schemes and blocks.

If we contact you about carrying out a survey, please get back to us as soon as you can. Without it, there’s no way for us to know what condition your fixtures or fittings are in, which means we won’t be able to update your home.

If you think your home needs or is overdue maintenance, or you want to know when it was last surveyed, please get in touch with us at plannedworksteam@accentgroup.org.

Asbestos surveys

When we do a stock condition survey, we might also want to carry out an asbestos survey in your home. This is a routine safety check, and nothing to worry about.

If our survey shows you need planned maintenance in your home, our specialist contractor will check the walls inside, particularly where the work will be carried out.

Not every home needs an asbestos survey.

Fixtures and fitting type and how regularly we’ll update them:

Boilers and heat sources: 15 years

Kitchens: 20 years

Bathrooms: 30 years

Windows: 30 years

Radiators and heat systems: 30 years

External doors: 30 years

Rainwater goods like gutters and drains: 30 years

Roof structure: 60-80 years

We’re required by regulations to maintain your home to a set standard. However if you’re a renting tenant, you might be able to opt out of certain improvements.

To do this, you’ll need to fill in our improvement refusal request form. If your request is granted, it will last for five years before you’ll need to let us improve your home or submit another improvement refusal request.

If you do agree to let us improve your home after five years, your home will be placed back into our programme – it doesn’t mean we’ll start working on your home right away.

Homeowners cannot opt out of planned improvements.

As a leaseholder or homeowner, you might qualify for planned maintenance on your home. Your lease or property title will explain what works are our responsibility and what you’re in charge of maintaining.

For example, if your home is a flat in an Accent-owned block, it’s likely we’ll be responsible for maintaining the communal roof.

Your lease will state how you will contribute to the cost of any communal works.

If you’re not sure what your agreement says, please get in touch with us via the form on our Contact us page and a member of our leasehold and homeownership team will get back to you as soon as possible.

Section 20 notices

If we do a specific piece of work on your home that’s worth £250 or more, we might need to consult with you first which is called a Section 20 notice to give you more information about what we’re planning to do. You’ll also be able to discuss it further with us.

Section 20 only applies to leaseholders. It doesn’t apply to freeholders.

Can homeowners do their own maintenance?

Even if your agreement says that the maintenance you want to carry out is your responsibility, you might still need our permission to get started.

To find out more, get in touch with us.