Across our branches, one issues that keeps coming up is the poor standard of repairs across social and public housing.
Tenants are made to live in house unfit for occupation: ongoing damp, black mould, leaks and recurring poor standards of repairs leave tenants facing enormous heating bills, health issues from the damp and mould as well as stress of having to live in such conditions. Local member defence teams support tenants to fight for individual repairs, however we know that broader structural changes are needed too.
For instance, in Muirhouse, members found out that out of 8773 residential council properties with an EH44 postcode, between the 10th of January 2019 and the 11th of January 2020, there were 11,142 repairs - or 1,2 repairs requests per property. Furthermore, the average completion times for a job was 35 days, with many tenants additionally reporting that despite a job being deemed 'closed' they faced ongoing issues.
Members across Glasgow are facing similar issues with GHA. You can see them talking about it here.
That's why several branches have started campaigns to get social and public landlords to overhaul their repairs system, improve communication with tenants, ensure satisfaction of their tenants and improve the quality of repairs.
As outstanding repairs often include damp, mould and poor heating, these campaigns tie in closely with our demand to tackle the energy efficiency of homes across Scotland,read more about it here!
