Private Sector Housing Customer Charter

Our strategic aims are to:

• Protect the health, safety and welfare of Newham residents renting privately, or with a registered social landlord.
• Promote quality, choice and opportunity in all rented housing across the borough.
  What we do:

What we do

• Investigate complaints and referrals about poor rented housing conditions.
• Ensure accommodation in the London Borough of Newham meets current decency and health and safety standards through advice, enforcement and regulation.
• Advise both landlords and tenants regarding disrepair matters, technical aspects of housing and legal issues.
• Act in relation to empty houses, dilapidated commercial buildings and vacant unused plots of land, bringing them back into productive and sustainable use.
• Ensure conditions in hostels, hotels and other forms of shared accommodation known as houses in multiple occupation meet current standards.

Service standards:

The private sector housing group has been set targets to provide the most effective service for all clients and stakeholders.

We aim to:

• Establish the category for your request upon contact i.e. *urgent or non-urgent and then take appropriate action including arranging an appointment to visit you if needed and take all necessary steps to ensure your home is in a safe and decent condition.
• Investigate all urgent service requests within one working day of contact and take appropriate action to deal with any imminent risk to health, safety and welfare of (any) residential occupiers as soon as practicable.
• Respond to all non-urgent requests in relation to housing conditions, housing licensing, empty properties, vacant land, shared housing (houses in multiple occupation) and other related matters within ten working days.
• Acknowledge requests for service in writing where appropriate giving a reference and named case officer for future contact.
• Confirm what action, work or response is necessary within ten working days of our initial visit or investigation.
• Arrange appointments, where possible, for visits or meetings by telephone or in writing with tenants, agents, landlords and other stakeholders.

Our Performance Against Service Standards: (1 April 2009 - 31 March 2010)

96% of all Urgent Service Requests were responded to within one working day receipt between the 12 month period.

97% of all Non-Urgent Service Requests were responded to within 10 working days of receipt between 12 month period.