Estates management policy
We are committed to providing safe, and well maintained neighbourhoods for our residents and the wider community. We take the cleanliness and safety of our communal and shared spaces seriously. This policy outlines how we will maintain these areas and enable residents to live safely in our homes and neighbourhoods.
Our commitment to you
We are committed to keeping our communal and shared spaces clean and provide residents with an professional and value for money service.
We provide a range of services, delivered to pre-agreed standards, across our communities. Some of these services will be paid for as an element of your service charge as a tenant, shared owner or leaseholder, and this will be outlined in your service charge statement. We will consult with residents on any changes to service charges in line with our Service Charge Policy.
Outlined below are the variety services provided by our Estates Management team. This applies to our general needs communities, with the exception of St Mary’s Court, Peterborough, which has its own policy. Obviously, services provided vary according to the style of accommodation that we provide.
Your responsibilities
- You are responsible for treating their communal and shared spaces with respect.
- You are responsible for disposing of your rubbish in the correct waste bins and arranging for a bulky waste collection or using municipal waste disposal facilities as necessary.
- Please report any repairs needed to communal areas as soon as possible.
- Vandalism and fly-tipping will not be tolerated.
- We expect you to treat our employees and contractors with respect. We will not tolerate any harassment or inappropriate behaviour towards them.
Block inspections and cleaning
We carry out regular inspections of the communal areas in our blocks of flats. This is to check for any repairs or maintenance required, as well as any health and safety concerns. These includes asking residents to remove items from communal areas that could compromise fire safety. Any repairs needed will be reported to our Repairs team to action in line with our repairs timescales.
If you live in one of our block you can report a repair to a communal space at any time by calling 01733 385030, through MyCKH, by emailing housingrepairs@crosskeyshomes.co.uk or in office hours, by using Live Chat on our website. All emergency repairs should be reported by phone.
Items must not be left in communal areas as these are a fire risk/hazard and could block the exit routes in the event a fire, or prevent the emergency services accessing the building.
If items are found in communal areas, our teams will attempt to identify the owner and ask them to remove the item. If they are unable to identify the owner, a card will be left on the item with instructions to remove it. If the item remains in place after one week, we will remove the item and destroy it.
Our Cleaning team operate to a schedule of cleaning all the communal areas in our blocks on a regular basis. We are looking to provide these schedules on our website so that they are readily available to view – generally we clean blocks fortnightly.
Bulky waste collections
We offer a bulky waste collection for our residents who live in Peterborough and the surrounding villages. We will remove up to three items for a charge of £20. This is to reduce incidents of fly-tipping.
You can book a bulky waste collection by calling 01733 385030, through MyCKH, by emailing housingrepairs@crosskeyshomes.co.uk or in office hours, by using Live Chat on our website. We will contact you to arrange a time for your collection.
Pest control
We provide a pest control service in accordance with our Pest Control Policy. We will ensure any pre-treatment advice is communicated to you (and all residents in a block, where appropriate) as well as providing you with post-treatment advice and follow up visits as required.
Refuse collections
Refuse collections are the responsibility of the local authority.
If recycling bins have been contaminated with non-recyclable waste, they will not be emptied by the local authority. Where communal recycling bins serving our blocks of flats are contaminated, we will empty these to ensure collection happens.
Fly-tipping
Where fly-tipping is reported to us, or observed by a member of our team, and it is on land owned by us, we will remove it and dispose of it in line with our Waste Management Policy. Where the fly-tipping is not on land owned by us, we will, where possible, seek to identify the owner of the land to report it to them, or advise the person making the report where to send it.
Health, safety and environmental considerations
The health and safety of our employees and residents is our priority. We operate in accordance with all health and safety legislation and our team are highly trained in all aspects of health and safety, in accordance with their roles.
We take our responsibility to the environment extremely seriously, and operate within all environmental legislation.
Further information:
Who is responsible for managing the Estates Management Policy?
The Director of Asset, Housing Needs and Estate Management and Assistant Director Assistant Director, Assets and Estates are responsible for Estates Management.
Legislation and regulation
This policy is written in accordance with the following regulatory and legislative requirements:
· 'Control of Substances Hazardous to Health' (COSHH) legislation
Information sharing
Cross Keys Homes has an information sharing agreement with key agencies and contractors to share information in relation to the delivery of our services. Information shared must be relevant and the Data Protection Procedure adhered to when handling data. You can find more information about how we manage your data in our Transparency and Privacy Policy.
Monitoring and review
The Estates Management Policy was written and approved in April 2024 and will be reviewed every two years – next review April 2026.