Improvements and repairs - general information & advice

Responsive Repairs

Responsive Repairs are best reported to our dedicated Repairs Team on freephone 0800 027 5888.  If you do not want to call there are alternative ways to contact us.

The repairs team will ask you for details of the repair and in most instances the Repairs Team will then offer you the first available appointment to have your repair carried out.

Appointments can be either in the morning between 8 - 12 or in the afternoon between 12 - 4.00pm, Monday to Friday.  

You can change your appointment at any time if your appointment date is no longer suitable by calling the Repairs Team.

Emergency Repairs

In some cases, where the repair is:-  

  • a health and safety risk or

  • likely to cause deterioration to the building or

  • likely to develop into a health and safety risk

Housing Services will respond to this as an emergency repair.  Our emergency target times are either 4 hours or 24 hours, depending on the repair.  For both these categories we will attend to the emergency repair to make safe.  These repairs often require follow-up appointments to complete the repair.

If it is more convenient for you to make an appointment rather than wait in for up to 24 hours, our team will be happy to arrange this with you.

Right to Repair

The right to repair scheme applies to tenants of Stirling Council. From 30 September 2002, under the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, Scottish Secure tenants and short Scottish secure tenants have the right to have small urgent repairs carried out by their landlord within a given timescale. This is called the right to repair scheme. More details of this is found in the following leaflet.

How long will I have to wait for a housing repair?

How long it will be before your repair is carried out depends on the nature of the requested repair.   If your repair is routine then you normally would be offered an appointment within 5 working days.  If the repair involves external works, shared costs or where specialist materials are required the repair will be completed within either 20 or 90 working days.  You will be told by a Customer Advisor when you make the initial call, what the priority and target date is.

What happens if I miss an appointment to carry out a repair at my house?

A card will be left asking you to make another appointment by calling our dedicated repairs team on

0800 027 588.

What can be done about flooding by or damage from other properties in my block

Once it has been identified where the problem lies, if the property causing this issue is Council owned we will make arrangements to have the fault rectified. If the fault lies with an owner they will be approached and told to have the problem repaired.  All damage caused by flooding or any other fault should be claimed through the tenant's own home insurance with the exception of items that would require replacement such as new wall or base units, wall and ceiling boards and so on. The Council will replace these items and re-charge the the price of this work to the person who originally caused the damage.

What are tenants' responsibilities regarding minor repairs?

Tenants are responsible for minor repairs within their home. You must: keep your house in a reasonable state of decoration, heat and ventilate when required, maintain any garden areas. Other responsibilities include: latches and keys to doors, internal doors, smoke detector batteries and light bulbs, floor coverings, bleeding of radiators, repair of minor cracks in plasterwork, maintenance and repair of your own fittings and appliances.

Do I have to pay rent if I have outstanding repairs?

Yes, it's a condition of your tenancy that you pay rent.  If you have a query with regards to your repair please contact us and we will inform you of our progress to complete the work.  If you have a complaint you can use our talkback form.  If you decide that you wish to withhold rent because of outstanding repairs, it's important that you write to the Head of Housing to inform them of this.

What is a rechargeable repair?

A rechargeable repair is where a property requires repair as the result of damage or negligence.  There repairs will be payable by you if the damage is caused knowingly or unknowingly.  We will never carry out a rechargeable repair before informing you of the estimated costs first.

If my council property has been damaged by fire, who is responsible for redecoration and replacement of damaged articles?

If your council property has been damaged by fire, you, as the tenant are responsible for making good any damage. This is normally covered by standard household insurance policies, so you should make sure that you have contents insurance on your house.

Further information…