Information for Our Tenants

Property Maintenance

The Carington Estate retains staff and contractors to carry out routine maintenance to its residential properties together with farm and commercial premises. We operate a rolling survey and preventative maintenance programme.

The responsibilities for repair and maintenance are set out in your tenancy agreement. Briefly, these are summarised as follows:

Repairs that are the Landlord’s Responsibility

1. Repairing the structure and the exterior of the building.
2. Repairing the installations for the supply of water, electricity and gas (where supplied). The repair of baths, sinks, basins and lavatories. Repairs to heating and hot water installations. We aim to service every boiler annually.
3. The Estate will decorate the exterior of the property. The aim is to achieve this once every five years.

Repairs that are Your Responsibility

1. Anything that belongs to you
2. Internal decorations
3. Anything damaged by you, your family or visitors. You may wish to consider taking out an insurance policy to cover this responsibility.
4. Upkeep of the garden, including trees, hedges, lawns & borders
5. Keeping Chimneys swept, gutters and downpipes clear, septic tanks emptied
6. “Self – inflicted” problems such as unblocking drains (unless defective), resetting heating after running out of oil
7. Rodents / Infestation
8. Replacing batteries in smoke alarms / light bulbs etc.

 To Request a Repair:

Please contact the Estate Office during working hours
(8.30 to 5.30 Monday to Friday)

Telephone (01844) 273508.

Outside of these hours, an answerphone will take messages and provide further instructions (only for use in a genuine emergency which cannot wait until the next working day)

Requests for repairs will be logged and attended to in order of priority. Minor or non-urgent repairs may be given a lower priority according to the volume of work in progress. We will not pay for any works commissioned directly on a tenant’s instructions without our specific prior approval.

Emergency Repairs

We endeavour to carry out emergency repairs as soon as possible

Emergency work includes the following:

• Major bursts to external water supply and major leaks to internal water services.
• Defects to WC pans or cisterns (where no other working WC available)
• Defects to water heaters (where no other form of water heating available).
• Major defects to central heating appliances (where this is the sole form of heating and where this is the Landlord’s responsibility).
• No electrical power to entire dwelling (other than a power cut or termination of supply by Electricity Board).
• Serious electrical faults, ie defective ring main / lighting circuit.
• Storm, accident or flood damage to the structure.*
• Dangerous structure, ie wall collapse or major roof leaks.*
• Repairs to entrance doors or ground floor windows, where the property is insecure.

* Works limited to making safe

For emergency repairs telephone the Estate Office. Outside office hours an answerphone will provide an alternative emergency contact number.

NB: If the repair is not a genuine emergency you may be charged an out of hours call out fee. We may also make a charge to recover our costs for remedial work arising from “self inflicted” problems – eg restarting a boiler after running out of oil, blocked drains (unless defective).

 

Other Emergencies

In an emergency you may need to contact your Electricity or Water provider. Please contact us as soon as possible after an emergency call out.

Improvements

The Estate draws a distinction between repairs and improvements.

Requests for improvements should be directed to the Estate Office – telephone (01844) 273508. Where the Landlord is being asked to contribute, an assessment will be made of the financial return before any decision is taken.

Tenants’ own improvements will also require the Landlord’s prior written agreement. No compensation will be paid for Tenants’ improvements at the end of a tenancy unless there is a written agreement to the contrary.

SAFETY

Electricity

Detailed advice is available from your electricity provider

• Never run an electrical appliance from a lighting socket
• Do not run wiring under carpets or rugs
• Check light flexes regularly for wear and tear
• Make sure plugs are fitted with the correct fuses
• Make sure plugs are wired correctly
• Always follow manufacturers instructions and guidance
  • Avoid overloading sockets when using multiple adaptors
  • Make sure you know where the main switch is and regularly test any tripswitches

Fires

(Meaning open fires as well as enclosed ones for cooking or water heating)

• Use a recommended type of fuel
• Only burn wood which has been cut for at least one year.
• Arrange to have your chimney swept regularly and at least once a year as a minimum.
• Do not use fire bricks or hearth fittings which are burnt away or damaged.
• Ensure that vents and airbricks are not obstructed
• Regularly test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

Insurance

The structure of the property is covered by the Landlord’s building insurance. Risks insured are: Earthquake, escape of water, explosion, fire, flood, impact, malicious damage, storm, subsidence, theft.

However, you are strongly advised to arrange insurance for your own contents, fixtures and fittings as these are not covered by the buildings policy, together with any consequential losses arising from your actions (or inactions). You should not do or allow to be done anything which puts the Landlord’s insurance in jeopardy – should that happen you will be liable for any uninsured loss (including any excess).

Precautions

Frost Make sure you know where the stopcock is for turning off the main water supply. Serious damage can be done to pipes, cisterns, sinks and basins when water freezes. To avoid this in cold weather you should:

• See that the stopcock is tested twice a year to ensure it works correctly.
• Keep your home as warm as you can.
• Isolate or insulate outside taps and pipework wherever possible over winter
• If you leave the property empty for an extended period in a cold spell, turn off the main water supply and drain down both the hot and cold systems.
• Arrange for someone to check the property if you are going to be away from home for more than a fortnight, and let us know if the property is going to be unoccupied for 3 weeks or more.

Burst Pipes

If you have a burst pipe, to keep damage to a minimum, carry out the following:

• Turn off the water immediately at the stopcock.
• Turn on all taps to drain the water as quickly as possible from the system to stop it flooding your home.
• If the water has been leaking onto or is near an electric switch or socket DO NOT SWITCH IT ON OR OFF but turn off the electricity supply at the meter position.
• Try to find out where the water is coming from and report the burst to the Estate Office.

Wildlife

• Properties in rural locations are sometimes vulnerable to mice, wasps, flies etc. Regrettably, we cannot be responsible for their eradication, but commercial pest control providers will be able to provide you with any assistance necessary.

Rent Payments

Your tenancy agreement specifies the amount, date and frequency of the rent payments.

Rent demands are generally sent at the start of the month in which they are due, but only to tenants who have specifically asked for regular written demands.

Payments by standing order are much easier for both Landlord and Tenant, and are a requirement of most of our tenancy agreements.

In all other cases, rent payments are accepted by cheque, (payable to the landlord specified in your tenancy agreement), sent to our office address:

Carington Estates Ltd
The Courtyard
Manor Farm
Church End
Bledlow
Bucks HP27 9PD

Cheques can take up to 5 working days to clear – please ensure these are sent well in advance of the rent due date.

Receipts will only be issued upon request.

Rent Arrears

There can be genuine reasons for difficulties in paying rent, and we will do all we reasonably can to help when these situations arise.

Tenants may be eligible to receive assistance in the form of Housing Benefit (telephone your District Council – see useful numbers).

We expect tenants to give priority to paying their rent over other debts, and to discuss the situation with us from the outset. Wherever possible, we will endeavour to agree an arrangement for the repayment of the rent arrears over a realistic period of time.

If you are having trouble paying your rent, contact us IMMEDIATELY.