We are committed to creating sustainable communities and improving the quality and energy efficiency of the council housing stock - your home, which in turn may help save you money on your energy bills.
This page details the Asset Management team's current and future planned programmes of work.
Planned Maintenance (Cyclical Maintenance)
We currently undertake minor external property repairs and painting to properties. The range of works included in this programme will depend on the condition of your home, we will carry out a survey to find out what work is needed before work commences. Work might include:
- Cleaning and clearing of gutters and rainwater pipes
- Repairs to rainwater pipes and gutters
- Cleaning to soffit and facia boards
- Cleaning of widow frames
- Painting and minor repairs to estate fencing
- Mop up driveways - these are properties where tenants chose not to have a driveway on an earlier scheme and one can be installed.
Energy Performance Certificates
An energy performance certificate is carried out prior to a property being let or before a mutual exchange if we do not have an up-to-date certificate, this provides the new tenant with the energy efficiency of the property in a clear, transparent and universal way.
An energy assessor will record details of a property’s key attributes including:
- Property type
- Age and construction type
- Size and location such as ground floor, mid floor, top floor if a flat
- Detachment such as detached, semi-detached, terraced
- Heating type
- Glazing
- Loft and wall insulation
- Low energy lighting
- Presence of photovoltaic cells.
Surveyors are required to take pictures to evidence their findings. The actual assessment takes approximately an hour to complete, but it could vary depending on the size of your home.
Improving the energy efficiency of your home
Following recent changes in government legislation and our commitment to improving the quality and energy efficiency of our homes, Wigan Council Housing is reviewing the energy performance of its properties.
What this means for you
Properties that currently:
- Have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D or below, or
- Do not have a valid EPC
will be included in an upcoming programme of data collection.
Why we are doing this
The purpose of this programme is to:
- Gather up-to-date information about your home
- Better understand its current energy efficiency
- Identify which homes would benefit from retrofit energy improvements.
This will help us plan future work to improve homes and bring them closer to a target of EPC band C, in line with current standards and government guidance.
What happens next
If your home is included:
- You may be contacted to arrange a visit to carry out a survey
- The visit will involve assessing features such as insulation, heating systems, and overall energy efficiency
- No work will be carried out without further consultation.
Benefits of this programme
Improving your home’s energy performance can:
- Help to reduce energy bills
- Improve comfort
- Lower carbon emissions
- Support wider environmental goals.
We will keep residents informed as the programme develops and before any improvement works are planned.
Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund
In recent years we have been successful in obtaining a combined total of £3m of grant funding under the Wave 2 SHDF scheme and Year 1 of the Wave 3 SHF scheme, with 330 dwellings benefiting from retrofit remediation works.
As a result, tenants have experienced improved energy efficiency, reduced fuel costs, increased comfort, and enhanced overall wellbeing within their homes.
We are now in the process of developing and submitting further funding bids to support continued improvements in the energy performance of properties and the quality of living for tenants.
Stock Condition Survey
The government has introduced carbon emissions reduction targets for all social housing providers to achieve. Our aim and focus is to enhance the energy efficiency of our least performing homes for energy efficiency by installing retro fit energy saving measures which will make them not only more sustainable but could also mean they are more cost-effective to run.
To help achieve this we have procured a new stock condition survey that will survey the full council housing stock over a 3 to 5 year programme. Alongside the stock condition survey, Asbestos and Energy Surveys will also be carried out.
The surveys to your home will be conducted by Pennington Choices.
When it is time for your home to be surveyed you will receive letters and an information leaflet providing you with full details, and you will also have an opportunity to book a mutually convenient appointment for the surveys to be carried out.
We have also procured an asset management system which will allow us to actively manage, maintain and use our data within a centralised system with supporting data.
The collection of stock condition data from surveys will be fed into the asset management system which will help the Asset Management team to make investment decisions driven by evidence and data, supporting the delivery of the installation of energy efficient measures and refurbishment work across the borough that achieves value for money and intended outcomes.
Asbestos checks and advice
Before work commences at your home we will need to identify if there are any asbestos materials present. If asbestos is suspected to be present at your home and in the vicinity of the work area, a check will be carried out to see if we hold any relevant information about the suspected material. If we don’t then an asbestos survey will be ordered and carried out to identify exactly what the suspect material is.
If needed, the material will be removed by a fully licensed asbestos removal contractor.
Further information can be found on Asbestos in a council home.
Customer Charter
All contractors follow the planned works customer charter, we understand that improvements can be accompanied by temporary disruption, but we want to assure you that your comfort and satisfaction are our top priorities. We work very closely with our partnering contractors who all employ resident liaison officers to aid in the smooth delivery of our planned works.
They must:
- Ensure good communications are established from the outset, customers receive a leaflet that explains what is going to happen and the sequence of events including contact telephone numbers of both contractor and Council
- Security must always be adhered to; identification badges must be shown on the first point of contact with the customer and be worn
- Treat the customer and home with courtesy and respect and always use dust sheets
- No smoking in customers’ homes or within the curtilage of their garden
- No radios to be used (unless the customer gives permission)
- Remove any rubbish generated by work activity at the end of each day
- If you do not know the answer to the customer's query, offer to find someone who does
- Be genuinely happy to help, let customers know what will happen next
- Do not use offensive language
- Report any issues of any concern and be willing to complete an incident form should any unacceptable behaviour be encountered
- Provide a manufacturer’s instruction booklet for each resident and a short version if available (will be dependent on works delivered)
- A handover visit with the resident to ensure they are satisfied with the completed work and obtain signed completion form
- On completion of the installation and after handover the contractor will be expected to carry out a customer satisfaction form based on a template supplied by Wigan Council.