The Halton Homes Standard

At Halton Housing, we want every customer to live in a home that is safe, secure, comfortable and somewhere they can be proud to live.

This document explains the standard of home and service you can expect from us. It sets out our commitments to look after your home, invest in it for the future and work with you to keep it in good condition.

While this document explains what you can expect, our detailed policies and technical standards explain how we deliver these commitments.

We promise to provide homes that are:

Safe – meeting all legal safety requirements.
Secure – protecting you, your family and your belongings.
Well maintained – repaired and improved when needed.
Comfortable – providing a good place to live.
Fit for the future – investing in energy efficiency and long-term sustainability.
Maintained with care – treating every customer fairly, respectfully and honestly.

Everything we do is guided by three simple values:

We are Honest

We'll be open with you, set clear expectations and do what we say we'll do.

We are Dynamic

We'll use insight, innovation and feedback to improve our homes and services.

We Care

We'll provide safe, well-maintained homes and treat every customer with respect.

We will regularly inspect your home and use information about the condition, safety, repairs history, energy efficiency and customer feedback to help us decide where investment is needed.

We aim to:

carry out high-quality repairs
maintain homes in a good state of repair
keep homes safe and compliant
invest in improvements before major components fail wherever possible
make best use of our resources so we can improve more homes over the long term.

We repair components whenever this remains the most appropriate solution. When a component reaches the end of its useful life, we'll normally replace it through our planned investment programme.

What you can expect from your home

Kitchen

Your kitchen will provide:

a safe, practical and easy-to-maintain space
suitable cupboard and worktop space
appropriate ventilation
space and connections for standard household appliances
a choice of approved finishes where possible during planned replacement works.

Bathroom

Your bathroom will provide:

safe and functional facilities
easy-to-maintain fixtures and finishes
appropriate ventilation to help reduce moisture
a choice of approved finishes where possible during planned replacement works.

Heating and hot water

Your home will have:

safe and reliable heating and hot water
controls that are straightforward to use
energy-efficient systems where practical

heating equipment maintained to current safety standards

Windows and doors

You can expect your windows and doors to be:

secure
weatherproof
energy efficient
easy to operate safely
maintained in good working order.

Electrical installation

Your electrical installation will:

be inspected and maintained in accordance with current safety requirements
provide safe electrical services throughout your home.

Planned improvements

We don't replace kitchens, bathrooms, windows or heating systems simply because they reach a certain age.

Instead, we consider:

the condition of the component
safety requirements
repairs history
energy efficiency
customer feedback
value for money
available funding.

This helps us invest in the right homes at the right time.

Typical replacement lifecycles are shown below as a guide.

Component	Typical replacement cycle
Kitchen	20–30 years
Bathroom	25–30 years
Boiler	15–20 years
Windows and doors	30–40 years
Roof	60–70 years

These timescales are planning guides only and do not guarantee replacement at a particular age.

When your home is included in a planned improvement programme, we'll appoint contractors who meet our high standards and are committed to delivering quality work safely, professionally, and with minimal disruption. We will:

explain the work before it starts
give you reasonable notice of appointments
tell you how long the work is expected to take
keep you informed if plans change
complete work safely and to a high standard
inspect completed work
put right any defects within agreed timescales
ask for your feedback once the work is complete
provide a named contact in the event of any issues

Where possible, we'll offer a choice of approved colours, finishes or products.

Anyone carrying out work on our behalf will:

•    carry identification
•    treat you, your family and your neighbours with courtesy and respect
•    arrive at agreed appointments wherever possible
•    protect your home while work is taking place
•    minimise disruption
•    leave work areas clean and tidy
•    work safely and professionally at all times.

Your safety is our highest priority.

We'll inspect, test and maintain your home to manage risks relating to:

gas safety
electrical safety
fire safety
water hygiene
asbestos, where present
structural safety
lifts and communal building safety where applicable.

Find out more

We're committed to making our homes warmer, more comfortable and more affordable to heat.

As we improve our homes, we'll look for opportunities to:

improve insulation
install more energy-efficient windows and doors
improve heating systems
reduce energy use where practical.

Our long-term ambition is to improve the energy performance of our homes wherever it is technically feasible and funding is available.

When you move into a Halton Housing home, you can expect it to be:

clean and ready to move into
safe and secure
compliant with required safety checks
provided with working heating, hot water and electrical services
fitted with smoke and carbon monoxide alarms where required
free from significant hazards.

Looking after your home is a shared responsibility.

We'll:

maintain the structure and exterior of your home
maintain heating, plumbing and electrical systems
carry out required safety inspections
repair and maintain communal areas where applicable
respond to repairs in line with our Repairs Policy
keep you informed throughout planned works.

We ask you to:

•    report repairs as soon as possible
•    allow access for repairs, inspections and safety checks
•    take reasonable care of your home
•    decorate your home internally
•    maintain your garden where this is your responsibility
•    tell us if you need any additional support or reasonable adjustments.

Your feedback helps us improve.

We work closely with our Customer Committee and use:

customer surveys
Tenant Satisfaction Measures
complaints
compliments
customer feedback

to review our services and identify where we can do better.

Find out more

If we don't meet the promises in this document, we'll:

listen to your concerns
explain what has happened
put things right as quickly as we can
learn from your feedback to improve our services.

If you're unhappy with our service, you can contact us directly or use our Complaints Policy.

The Halton Homes Standard