When you contact us it is best that you have at least spoken to your landlord about the problem first and if possible written to them (for examples of letters follow this link).

We will need the following information

• who the landlord or agent is and their address and phone number;
• what you think needs repairing.

House Inspection

An Environmental Health Officer will call at the property to inspect the repairs needed, usually within about five working days of your call to us. The visit will last between 20 minutes and an hour depending on how big the property is or how many problems there are.

Powers to require work to be done

If the work is urgent, for example, a ceiling has collapsed, we can serve a notice on the landlord to do the work within nine days.

If the repair is less urgent, we will tell the landlord about the work that needs doing and send them a notice showing all the work that needs to be carried out.

The time it takes for the Council to get repairs carried out depends on the repairs needed and the response of your landlord to any contact we've made with them. If the condition of the house is dangerous we may be able to have the work completed within a couple of weeks. If however the works required are general items of disrepair that pose no immediate danger to health, it can take anywhere up to six months to complete them or even longer in exceptional cases.

The Council has to inform the landlord prior to serving a formal notice to carry out the works, of what we intend to do and allow at least fourteen days for the landlord to respond. If we receive no response or the response is unsatisfactory we may serve a formal notice requiring the works to be done. This must allow a minimum of 28 days to start the work and a reasonable time to complete them.

For more information on the legislation that the Environmental Health service enforces please go to the following websites.

Basic Guidance on HHSRS

Housing Act 2004