Tenant responsibilities
Repairs you as a tenant are responsible for:
- Damage to the property caused by you, your family or visitors, including broken glazing
- Smoke alarms - cleaning and weekly testing
- Making sure your extractor fans are clear of dust or anything else so they keep working
- Additional door, window and shed locks
- Small patch repairs to ceilings or walls. Such as where a light fitting has been changed or shelves taken down
- Internal decoration – papering and painting
- Light bulbs, light shades and light fittings
- Fuses, electrical plugs
- Cooker connection and your appliances
- Pelmets, battens and curtain rails
- Sink and bath plugs and chains
- Toilet seats – refix or replace
- Carpets and flooring
- Gardens - landscaping and cutting back of shrubbery and grass
- Television aerials and satellite dishes other than communal aerials erected by us
- Clearing gutters (except blocks)
For more information, please read our Repairs and Maintenance Policy
Leaseholder responsibilities
It is the leaseholder’s responsibility to maintain and manage repairs within their own home. MKCC is responsible for keeping the communal parts of the blocks looked after.
All information about roles and responsibilities can be found in your leasehold agreement. MKCC does not have a singular leasehold agreement that covers all the properties we own. These are on an individual basis and reflect the contribution on service charges or other fees and this is what we follow in each case.
Disrepair claims
A housing disrepair claim is when a tenant takes legal action against their landlord to fix issues that make the property unsafe or unliveable. Typically, you must go to court within six years of first notifying your landlord about the problem.
If you need any repairs for your Council home, please use our repairs service. Allow us a reasonable amount of time to address the issue, which includes providing access to your home and informing us if the problem recurs. Failure to use the repairs service and submitting a claim may result in charges for processing an invalid claim.
If you feel that your concerns are not being properly addressed, you can raise a complaint with us. This allows us the opportunity to investigate and resolve the issue together.
If you make a disrepair claim, we will inspect your Council home. Any alterations made without permission from MKCC will be considered breaches of your tenancy and included in our response to the claim. You will need to restore the property to its original condition to the required standard, or we will do so and recover the costs from you, including through your claim.
Going to court can be costly. You may need the assistance of a specialist adviser or solicitor, and you may also have to pay court fees. The court will review all the evidence provided by both you and your landlord.
We encourage you to report your repairs first. If you are not satisfied with the response, please make a complaint. This approach helps us address the issue more quickly.
