Protecting Your Home During the Winter Months

ENEHL recognises that during the winter months there is need to maintain access paths within our sheltered complexes, multi storey flats and where resources are available, maisonettes.

As such we will follow the LCC/ENEHL gritting and Snow procedures where there are resources available to carry out these functions.  The Estate Services Team will undertake gritting in the following order of priority.

• Sheltered Housing
• Multi storey flats ( the teams work to a list starting with priority blocks ie elderly, disabled or vulnerable tenants, flats with difficult access ie  steps/slopes/inclines),
• Maisonettes (same criteria as above)
• Housing Offices.

Last winter many homes were affected by the extreme cold snaps and icy weather. Burst pipes were a big problem, especially where tenants left their homes empty or failed to prepare properly.

Looking after your home during the winter months is your responsibility as a tenant. If you fail to take the right precautions then you could be recharged the cost of any damage.  Remember, you are responsible for your own possessions so take out adequate home contents insurance before winter comes.

Leeds City Council tenants can take advantage of the arrangement with Royal Sun Alliance (RSA) which includes low cost - peace of mind from only £1.70 a week (99p for pensioners) and easy weekly payments with your rent. Find out more by calling Royal & Sun Alliance’s dedicated Insurance phone line on 0870 1650518 or by collecting an information leaflet from any East North East Homes Leeds customer outlet.

Here are the golden rules for protecting your home during winter: 

• Find your stopcock - the tap that turns off the main water supply. Find it now rather than looking for it when there's water pouring everywhere. It's probably in the kitchen near the sink. You should now check that it is working properly. If it is not, please report the matter to us immediately.
• Get to know your heating controls. Central heating thermostats and time switches can be complicated. If you are unsure, get advice from a heating engineer during your annual gas service or call us for advise.
• Try and keep your home reasonably warm and check the plumbing each morning to make sure that nothing is frozen or leaking.
• If you have central heating use the thermostat to keep the temperature comfortable. During the day a good setting is between 18°C and 22°C. If it's freezing outside set the heating to stay on continuously, but turn the thermostat lower for the night. Remember, the higher the thermostat the more fuel you use.
• If you need to go away and leave your home, tell your local housing office. If you've got central heating and you're away in cold weather, leave the heating on continuously with the thermostat right down to 6°C. This will stop your pipes freezing, but it won't cost much. If you haven't got central heating turn the water off at the stopcock and drain off all the cold water. Then turn off the immersion heater.
• If your pipes are frozen but not burst then you should turn the main water off at the stop tap. Turn the cold taps ON (so that they are in the open position). Make sure the sink and bath plugs are out. Try and save some water for drinking. If you know which pipe is frozen, very gently warm it with hot water bottles or a hair dryer.  Start from the end nearest the tap.
• If a pipe has burst then you should turn the main water off at the stop tap. Turn the cold taps ON (so that they are in the open position). Make sure the sink and bath plugs are out. Try and save some water for drinking. Turn the immersion heater and central heating OFF if you have them. Turn the hot taps ON. 

If there's water near the lights or sockets, turn the electricity off at the meter. Catch leaks in basins and soak up water with towels to prevent water damaging your home. Call our emergency line on 0800 9151600. Keep warm and dry. Put on extra layers of clothes till things warm up again.

• If you have a combination boiler with a condensate pipe that has frozen, (the condensate pipe is the one that runs from the boiler to an outside drain), try thawing out the pipe using a hot water bottle, hairdryer or by pouring hot (NOT BOILING) water onto the pipe. Never disconnect the pipe. If you use hot water, make sure you are safe. Never use boiling water and don’t try thawing out any pipes above ground level.

Practical Advice

We have set out above some practical advise to help you look after your home and deal with some problems caused by adverse weather such as frozen pipes.

Before you report a repair to us, please consider whether it is something that you can try and do safely yourself by following the advice.

If you are able to resolve a problem such as thawing out a pipe then it means that you will get the repair sorted out quicker and it also allows us to concentrate our workforce on sorting out the technical problems such as leaks or boiler breakdowns.

Repair Response Times

Adverse weather conditions often impact on our ability to respond to service requests within agreed timescales. This can be because demand increases due to the weather conditions (high numbers of repairs are reported over a short period) or due to resource issues because staff or contractors are unable to travel to work or to attend and complete a repair safely.

Our emergency plans include an ongoing assessment of response times and resource levels so that we can keep customers aware of any issues which will impact on service delivery.  We will be honest and tell you if it is going to take longer to complete a repair than our target timescale and we will tell you why.

For obvious reasons, we ask you to be patient and understand why there may be inconvenience. If you have any special requirements which you believe means that your repair needs prioritizing then please tell us as we may be able to help.

Please don’t try and bypass any delays by falsely telling us that repairs are more urgent then they actually are. We will ask the right questions and ask our engineers and operatives to feed back to us. If you are found to be doing this then you may be recharged for the repair.

Serious Leaks / Inhabitable Homes

In the event of serious leaks caused by burst pipes, these should be reported as an emergency and the precautions taken as set out above.  Emergency work carried out to stop and repair the leak and make safe any services such as isolating and checking electrics.

Serious leaks often result in water leaking into electrical fittings and walls and ceiling becoming saturated. Often damage caused by serious leaks cannot be fully repaired until there has been adequate drying out time which can be prolonged during the cold winter months.

ENEHLs priority is always to ensure homes are left habitable with the provision of basic facilities such as bottled drinking water or temporary electric heaters. However, this is not always possible, especially where there has been flooding of living areas.

Sometimes however, homes can be left temporarily inhabitable because basic facilities such as drinking water or heating is not available.  In these circumstances, assessment of your home will be made. In the event that it is agreed that your home is not habitable then this will be discussed with you.  You will always be asked first if you are able to find temporary accommodation with a friend or relative.

If you are unable to do so then ENEHL will initiate emergency accommodation plans and will liaise with other agencies. Emergency accommodation may include a respite centre, hostel accommodation or a temporary move dependant on the extent of the problem and an assessment of how long it will take to get your home habitable again.

Extent of Liability for Damage Caused by Adverse Weather

ENEHL/Leeds City Council are responsible for the fabric of the building and any services that are provided for the provision of heating and water.  As a tenant you are responsible for your own personal possessions and are expected to have these adequately insured. If your possessions are damaged then you should report this immediately to your insurer.

The only support that ENEHL/Leeds City Council may be able provide in respect of damage to personal possessions (including floor coverings) is via charitable organisations and furniture stores. This support is over and above the responsibility of either ENEHL or Leeds City Council and should never be relied on as cover for any loss or damage.

As a tenant you are also responsible for any loss or damage to the property or your own possessions caused if you have failed to prepare your home for winter as set out above, for example, if you have not had your heating on or if you have gone away for a long time and not told us. If this is the case and damage is caused to the property, you will be recharged for the work and you may be expected to arrange your own temporary accommodation.

Temporary Heating

In the event that there is a total loss of heating to your home between 1 November – 31 March then this will be classed as an emergency. An order will be raised with a target timescale of an engineer attending within 3 hours and completing the work within 24 hours.

In the event that adverse weather causes disruption to normal service delivery, these response times may be extended. We will ensure that our frontline staff are told of any delays so that you can be informed when you report the problem and we will ask questions to see if you have any specific needs which mean that attendance to your home should be prioritised.

During these periods of adverse weather it is more likely that there will be delays in fixing heating systems within 24 hours, especially if extreme cold snaps cause large scale problems with frozen pipes. Where it is not possible to fix your heating system on the first visit, you will be provided with two temporary portable electric fan heaters as standard. If you feel that due to your circumstances you require additional heaters above this then you should make the engineer aware and they will provide you them.

Where temporary heaters are left, repairs will be programmed in to ensure that your full heating can be installed at the earliest opportunity and the heaters can be removed.  We will assess our contractors response times regularly to ensure that adequate engineers are being made available.

Use the link on the right to download information on staying safe this Winter and Frequently Asked Questions. 

Use the links below for more information