My rights and responsibilities

My Rights

Albyn Housing has a legal duty to maintain your home to ensure it is safe for you to live in. Check out the Tenant’s Handbook which details repairs you are responsible for as well as the work we will carry out.

You have the right for small, urgent repairs to be carried out by us within set timescales.

Under The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001, you may be due compensation if the repair isn’t carried out in the time limit. When you report a repair, we’ll:

• tell you if it’s covered under the Right to Repair scheme
• tell you your rights
• let you know the date the repair will be completed.

My responsibilities

It is important that you inform us straight away when repairs need done and that you allow us access to carry out those repairs. You are responsible for ensuring your home is maintained internally and kept in good order.

Damage where you are responsible
If you have damaged your property through negligence or misuse we may carry out the repair and recharge the costs to you. We will provide you with a copy of the contractors invoice and will charge you the actual costs of the work.

Improving your home
If you want to carry out any alterations or improvements, you must get written permission before you start the work. If you do not get our permission, we may have to carry out work to put things back the way they were and will charge you for this cost.

You also need our permission to install satellite dishes or aerials. We will only refuse permission if we have a reason to do so. You may also need to get permission from the Planning Department at the Highland Council.

For permission to make improvements, please either contact our Customer Services Team.

Why do you need to inspect my home?

As a provider of social housing we are required to meet the standards which the Scottish Government has laid down. If you would like to know more about Scottish Housing Quality Standard please follow this link to the Scottish Government website.

In order to ensure that your property meets these standards we will require to make periodic inspections of your home. We may also inspect your home if you have reported an on going fault or problem, or to ensure that our contractors have completed a repair to the standards we expect.

If you are unhappy with the state of repair within your home you can request a visit from your Housing Services Officer who will advise on the necessary steps to remedy the situation.

When we need to carry out an inspection we will contact you to arrange access. Access will always be during office hours, except during emergencies.

Planned Maintenance

From time to time we will need to carry out planned maintenance to your home. We understand that this can cause disruption and inconvenience to you and your family and we do aim to minimise this by combining works where possible, for example we may fit new doors and windows at the same time or upgrade your insulation while we are fitting a new heating system.

We carry out two types of planned maintenance, Estate Investment Works and Cyclical Works. You can find out what is happening in your area on our “What’s happening in my area” page.

Estate Investment Works

Estate Investment Works are one off projects, which are carried out to improve the standard of living within our properties and/or to raise our properties to Scottish Housing Quality Standard. If you would like to know more please see the Scottish Government website.

There may be occasions where you have carried out the work yourself, for example you have fitted a kitchen or extra insulation, which we have included in our Estate Investment Plan. In this situation we will need to inspect your property to confirm that the work meets the Society's standards and is SHQS compliant, therefore we ask that when we contact you about proposed works you let us know if you have already carried out the work.

Cyclical Works

Cyclical Works are repeat maintenance projects which are carried out to maintain the standard and/or safety of your home and your family. They are usually carried out every year or every few years and include gas servicing, external painting and gutter cleaning among others.