Planned improvements and upgrades

There are two types of planned maintenance:

• Compliance: This is surveys or tests that need to be carried out regularly to comply with legislation. They include gas safety checks and servicing (every year) and periodic electrical testing (every five years).
• Planned improvements: Maintenance work which needs to be carried out less frequently, to ensure your home is comfortable and energy efficient, such as bathroom or kitchen replacements or heating upgrades.

We’ll assess the condition of your home approximately every five years.

This assessment checks all the key components in your home and helps us plan when improvements and replacements need to be carried out.

Our programme of upgrades includes:

• kitchen replacements
• bathroom replacements
• heating system updates
• roof refurbishment
• windows and doors replacement
• external painting of woodwork

We also have an extra schedule of work focused on improving the energy efficiency of our homes. You can read more about this is the section below 'Energy efficiency upgrades - government funding'.

Every home will have:

• a gas safety check every year
• an electrical inspection every five years

We’ll contact you in advance of any works planned for your home, to let you know:

• what work we’re planning,
• when it’s likely to happen, and
• which contractor will do it.

We normally let you know by email (or by post if we don't have an email address for you).

The contractors will then contact you with more information, giving at least two weeks notice before work is due to begin.

We're doing more energy efficiency upgrades thanks to extra government funding.

Why have only some homes had these upgrades?

In April 2023, we secured over £710,000 from the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). This money, plus an equal amount invested by Warwickshire Rural Housing, is enabling us to improve the energy efficiency of our homes. We’re aiming for all our homes to have a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of Band C by 2030.

The improvements include:

• replacing inefficient heating systems with air source heat pumps
• installing solar panels which have battery-powered storage
• and increasing loft insulation and cavity wall insulation (if needed).

These improvements will make homes warmer, lower energy bills and improve the comfort, health and wellbeing of the people living in them.

Which homes are included?

The homes with the lowest energy performance ratings are bring upgraded first.
Between April 2023 and March 2024 we completed these upgrades on 29 houses. And between April 2024 and April 2025 we'll complete a further 27, bringing the total to 56 homes.

We will bid for more of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund money to support our ongoing programme of upgrades. We will continue to upgrade homes with the lowest EPC rating first.