Our repair service
Your questions answered
What repairs are carried out by Hackney Homes?
On behalf of Hackney Council, we are responsible for the outside of your home, the main structure and any fittings and appliances we have provided. You are responsible for taking care of the inside of your property and for certain repairs. See Your repair responsibilities. If you live in a TMO area, repairs to your home will be handled by the TMO, but larger communal repairs will usually be referred to the Housing Contact Centre.
What if I can't carry out my responsibilities?
If you are elderly or disabled and have no-one who can help you, we ay do some tasks for you or put you in touch with other organisations that can help.
Do I have to pay for any repairs?
If you, or someone in your home, has caused damage in your home, we expect you to repair it or arrange and pay for it to be done. If your home is damaged by a break-in or vandalism, we may arrange to have it repaired but you will have to pay for it. See Damage and charging in Your repair responsibilities. We will always do emergency work to make your home and family safe but we will charge for this if you have caused the problem.
Can I claim for damage to my property?
You are responsible for your own possessions, carpets, fittings, etc and for internal decorations. We strongly advise you to take out home contents insurance to protect your possessions. We have identified a scheme that you can pay for with your rent. See Home contents insurance in Moving in.
Our responsibilities
We are responsible (on behalf of Hackney Council) for repairing and maintaining the structure of the property you live in. This includes all the external parts and any internal fixtures and fittings originally provided by us unless they are identified as your responsibility.
Our responsibilities also cover all pipes, wiring, fixtures and fittings for heating, drainage, power and lighting, and mains-wired smoke detectors and for servicing any appliances provided by us.
Outside your home we are responsible for the steps and paths leading from the property boundary to your main entrance door.
We will maintain any boundary walls and fences we own that border public areas or footpaths.
We are also responsible for any shared items such as lights and entry phones, and common gardens.
You must let us in
You must allow our staff, agents or contractors to get into your home at any reasonable time to carry out repairs, inspections or improvement work. In particular, we must carry out an annual gas safety check in every property with a gas supply. If you do not let us in, we can take action to force entry.
