Contents insurance &
home safety tips
Find out how to get content insurance
and how to keep your home safe.
How we keep our homes safe
We provide free home safety checks for all our rent customers, to make sure our homes are safe places to live.
These checks are essential and need to be done regularly, so we sometimes ask our specialist partners to help us.
When your home is due for a safety check, a member of our team or one of our partners will contact you to arrange an appointment. Then, when it’s time for your appointment, you just need to let us into your home and we’ll do the rest.
You can read about each of our regular safety checks by clicking the buttons below.
Our safety checks
Fire safety
While we are responsible for ensuring your buildings are safe and meet all fire regulations, there are also precautions you can take to minimise the risk of fire. Read the fire safety page to learn how we keep you safe and watch our fire safety video to see what you can do to help.
Electrical safety
We have an ongoing programme of checks and maintenance providing Electrical Installation Condition Reports (EICR) for electrical supplies in communal areas and your homes. During these, we carry out repairs to any damaged or faulty systems and ensure electrical supplies are safe before we leave your home. We may need to turn off some or all power if we cannot make it safe on the first visit, but will always repair the supply as soon as possible prioritising repairs in the homes of vulnerable customers.
Do not carry out your own electrical repairs: If you think a socket in your property or an electrical supply in a communal area is damaged or faulty, please tell us straight away.
Learn more about electrical safety
Gas safety
Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas. It's colourless, odourless and tasteless but it can be fatal. It can escape from appliances like boilers and fires if they are not working properly. Carbon monoxide gas can also be produced if your gas appliance is faulty, or if the chimney or flue is blocked.
To make sure appliances in your home are working safely, we have installed carbon monoxide detectors. As well as the detectors, it is essential that you have a gas safety check each year and keep a valid gas safety certificate.
Water safety
Legionella is a type of bacteria found naturally in freshwater environments, like lakes and streams. It can be a health risk if it gets into your homes water system because drinking or breathing in water droplets containing legionella can cause Legionnaires’ disease or Pontiac fever.
We carry out risk assessments on the water systems in our buildings to make sure the water supply is safe. If these assessments identify a risk, we will either remove that risk or carry out a regular programme to control it. This could include regularly cleaning tanks and testing water samples.
Lift servicing
Lift safety checks are important to ensure that they can be safely used. Any lifts that are deemed to be unsafe or not operating properly will be removed from service until a qualified mechanic attends to repair them.
Our lifts are serviced every month and are inspected twice a year by our insurance inspectors.
Learn more about lift servicing
Asbestos
Your safety is important to us. We have prepared some information about asbestos which may be in your home, why it is dangerous, and what we are doing to reduce any risks to you.
Radon
Radon is a colourless, odourless radioactive gas. It is formed by the radioactive decay of the small amounts of uranium that occur naturally in all rocks and soils. In most areas, the radon levels are low and the health risk is small.
So, we are measuring radon levels in our homes in radon-affected areas. UK Radon advises that landlords should investigate areas where the annual average radon risk level is 3-5%.
Keep your home safe with our customer safety handbook
The customer safety handbook shows you how to keep yourself and your home safe from the risks of fire, electricity, gas and more.
Contents insurance
No matter how careful you are, there’s always a risk that your belongings could be broken, damaged or stolen. Home contents insurance can help provide peace of mind that your belongings will be protected in the event of damage.
Preventing pigeons from roosting on your balcony
Pigeons and their waste can cause respiratory infections in humans and balconies and terraces are attractive places for them to roost. It is important that you maintain and clean your balcony on a regular basis to stop birds from becoming pests.
Read our advice to stop pigeons from roosting on your balcony [pdf] 440KB