Council Housing - Carrying out improvements to your home

We cannot unreasonably refuse to allow you to carry out improvements to your home, but we will not usually allow improvements where:

• The work would reduce the value of your home;
• The work would make the property less safe;
• The work would void a manufacturer’s warranty;
• The work would cause a nuisance to your neighbours;
• The work would result in additional costs to the council;
• You can not demonstrate the work will be carried out by suitably competent and qualified person/contractors and/or there may be a breach of health and safety legislation;
• You are removing amenities within the property that we have provided to make the property suitable for occupants with specific medical needs i.e. removal of a level access shower to fit a bath;
• The works are of a structural nature i.e. removal of walls or erection of a conservatory;
• Shared access rights to amenities, services or equipment will be compromised.
• Any room is to be divided to create an additional room. 

We may also set some guidelines that you must comply with and it is your responsibility to check with the Council's Planning Department or Building Control to see if you need Planning Permission or Building Regulations Approval.

Any improvements you carry out to your home will not lead us to increase your rent.

Please use the form below if you wish to carry out improvements, or call us on  01543 462621 for a form or any other query.

Please send us the application form at least 28 days before you plan to start work.

We may wish to visit you to inspect your proposals to check that there will not be any issues or problems arising from them before we give permission.

You must not start work until you have received written permission, and confirmed your agreement of the conditions under which the works can be carried out. Examples of the type of conditions you will be asked to stick to are set out below:

You must tell us as soon as the work is finished. We'll visit within 20 working days to check that everything is OK. If it isn't, we will ask you to put the work right or to restore the property to how it was before.

It's up to you to maintain any improvement that you put in except gas central heating, your new gas central heating system will be added to the councils service and maintenance programme once it has been inspected by our contractor to ensure it has been installed correctly. Once we are satisfied it has been installed correctly your boiler will be serviced annually and the system will be maintained in line with our maintenance specification. You will have to leave the boiler and system behind if you leave the property.

If you leave your home and you have replaced a fixture or fitting belonging to the Council e.g. kitchen units you must leave them behind or you will be charged for the replacement cost. You may be able to take your improvement with you -a conservatory for example but you must 'make good' after you've removed the improvement, by filling holes and repainting for instance. If you didn't do this we would charge you for putting it right (See Rechargeable Repairs contained in the Housing Services Repairs Handbook below). If in doubt please contact us.

If you leave the improvement behind when you move you may be eligible for compensation.

If you end your tenancy soon after you have carried out an improvement, you may be entitled to compensation. We will only pay compensation on a limited number of improvements. You will only receive the compensation if you have followed the guidelines set out; these are in addition to our general guidelines. More details on compensation for improvements are contained in your Housing Services Repairs Handbook below.