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• Your responsibilities
• Decoration allowance
• Repairs that you may have to pay for
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Your responsibilities

You must take reasonable care of your home, both inside and out. You must report any repairs as soon as you can to prevent any damage getting worse and to allow us to look at the problem and make repairs if necessary.

As a Kirklees tenant, you are responsible for:

• Any deliberate or accidental damage that could have been prevented with reasonable care.
• Anything that you have fitted yourself (except gas appliances that you have signed over to KNH).
• Replacing light bulbs and curtain rails.
• Internal decorations in your home.
• Keeping your garden and any shared areas, such as stairways and landings, clean, tidy and clear of rubbish.
• Hairline cracks to plaster work.
• Checking whether electrical goods owned by you are safe and not able to cause trip switches in the consumer unit to cut off electric power.
• Ensuring that drains are not blocked due to inappropriate items being flushed down the toilet or emptied into gullies.

You are also responsible for the following, as KNH will not do these as responsive repairs:

• Lost keys which then require a lock change.
• Dividing fencing between properties - the responsibility for this fencing may be that of a property not owned by the council and any repair to that fence will need to be agreed before KNH are able to order work.
• Doors that need to be eased when new carpets are fitted.
• Internal painting and decorating including the repair of damaged plaster when using steam strippers or not taking care to remove old wallpaper carefully.
• Fixtures and fittings installed by the tenant.
• Repair to floor coverings other than fixed PVC tiles.
• Removing and refitting carpet/laminate flooring that needs to be removed to allow a repair to be undertaken.

Decoration allowance

You may be eligible for compensation if we have caused unavoidable damage to decoration in your home while carrying out a repair.

You may also be eligible for an allowance if you move into a new council home that is poorly decorated. Contact your neighbourhood housing team for details.

• Neighbourhood housing teams and estate management officers

Repairs that you may have to pay for

KNH is not legally responsible for damage that you cause to your home, or damage caused by your family, friends or visitors.

If we decide that the repair is rechargeable, you may be asked to get the repair done yourself or pay for us to get the work done for you.

You may not have to pay if any of the following apply:

• The damage was caused by an accident which no reasonable degree of care would have prevented.
• The repair is due to vandalism or deliberate damage by a third party and this has been proved to the satisfaction of KNH.
• You have successfully appealed against the recharge.

If you are asked to pay for the repair, you will be provide with a Fixed Price Quote and you will be expected to sign a form agreeing to pay for the repair. Once the work is ordered you will be issued with an Invoice to pay for the work. You will be offered a discount of 35% if you pay in advance or settle the invoice in full within 28 days of issue.

If you cannot pay in full, you can still get a 20% discount as long as you keep to a weekly payment agreement. There is a minimum weekly charge of £2.85p.

If you do alterations to your property without permission you could be faced with a charge when you leave the property if any alterations are not up to the required standard.

When you leave property you will need to leave it clear of rubbish and in a good sate of repair with all internal doors in place and any DIY fixtures and fittings removed and any damage made good.

Contact

• Housing improvements and alterations