Asked, and answered
Residents’ and owners’ questions
What people living in a home, and the people who own the building, ask a building manager first. Each answer says what this company does, and where on the site the detail is.
A picture made for this page.
At homeLiving in a home the company looks after
- Who do I tell when something in my home goes wrong?
- The company, in writing: in the keep if the owner has given you your home’s code, or by email to tenants@kenyonproperties.website with Repair at the start of the subject. A report in the keep gets a reference and shows every step it reaches.
- What counts as an emergency?
- Danger to someone or to the building now: a smell of gas, water reaching the electrics, no safe way in or out, a home that cannot be secured. Call 999 if anyone is in danger, and the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 if you smell gas, before you write to anyone. The company has no out-of-hours line, so it is never the first call in an emergency.
- How quickly will a repair be dealt with?
- It depends on the class the repairs desk sorts it into. An emergency is made safe within 24 hours of being sorted; an urgent fault gets a first visit within 3 working days and is put right within 10; a routine one gets a first visit within 10 working days and is put right within 28 days. All three classes, with every target, are set out on Opened up, and a report in the keep shows each target with its date.
- Why does my report still say Reported?
- Because nothing has happened to it yet that the company has recorded. A report moves only when the repairs desk sorts it or reaches a step, and each move carries its date and time. The company does not yet look after any building, so for now every report in the keep stays at Reported.
- Do you need to come into my home, and how much notice will I get?
- To look at the condition of a home, at least 24 hours’ notice in writing, at a reasonable time of day, as the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (section 11) requires. You are told who is coming and why. Only something dangerous that cannot wait is dealt with sooner, and you are told what was done.
- When do I get the gas safety certificate and the electrical report?
- A copy of the gas safety check goes to you within 28 days of the check, and to anyone moving in before they move in. A copy of the electrical inspection report also goes to you within 28 days. The rules behind both are on Kept in date.
- There is damp and mould on a wall. What happens?
- The cause is found before anything is treated, because condensation, damp coming in from outside, rising damp and a leaking pipe can look alike and need different remedies. Report it with where it is and when it is worst; a photograph helps. How damp is traced is set out on Opened up.
The buildingOwning a building
- What does the company need from me to take on a building?
- A written agreement, and the papers the building already has: the gas safety certificate, the electrical report, the energy certificate, the alarm test dates and, for a block, the fire risk assessment. What is missing or has run out is brought into date first. How an agreement works is in the management terms.
- Who books the safety checks, me or you?
- Whoever the management agreement says. That matters in law as well as in practice: where the agreement hands the gas safety check to the company, the company carries the same duties as the owner for it.
- Can I see my homes’ check dates in my own calendar?
- Yes. In the keep, every home’s check dates download as a calendar file (.ics) that most calendar apps open: the gas deadline and the start of its early window, the electrical inspection, the energy certificate and the next alarm test, each with the rule behind it and a reminder before it. Nothing is stored when you download it; download it again after a date changes.
- Do you find tenants or collect the rent?
- No. The company looks after the building: its fabric, its installations, its safety checks and its shared parts. Finding the people who live there, anything to do with their tenancies, and anything to do with a sale stays with the owner.
- Can you run a consultation with leaseholders before major works?
- Yes, where the landlord asks: the notices, the time for observations, the estimates and a written account of why the work was chosen, as section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 sets out. More on Shared stone.
- Do you belong to a redress scheme?
- Not yet, and the company takes on no building until it does. Every property manager in England has to belong to a government-approved redress scheme (SI 2014/2359). The scheme will be named on Making a complaint and in every management agreement once the company has joined.
Not answered hereAsk the office
Write to tenants@kenyonproperties.website. Questions that come up more than once are added to this page.
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