Resumption of Repairs Services, Property Surveys, Cyclical & Planned Works, and Staff Visits

Following consideration of current Government advice, and the risks of contact within the office environment, it has been agreed that Albyn staff will continue to operate a home-working model until the end of the year (31st December 2020) with periodic reviews. Our offices will remain closed to visitors for the same period.  All Albyn staff will continue to be available to tenants through the usual contact numbers, but you may notice some changes to the pre-recorded messages when you phone outlined on the attached document:  Aug 2020 Tenant Mailout

We will soon be recommencing our normal repairs service, property surveys, cyclical & planned works within your homes, with our contractors wearing the required Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) e.g. face masks, hand sanitiser etc. and observing the relevant safety guidance, to ensure that any work required in your property can be carried out as safely as possible, with minimum risk. More information on what will be required of staff, contractors, and tenants, as attached above.

If you have reported a repair since the lockdown and been advised that it was necessary to put this on hold due to the restrictions on visits to properties, you will be contacted to make arrangements for this work to proceed. Similarly, if you have been holding back on reporting a repair, you should contact the office now and your repair will be logged.

We have a substantial backlog of repairs and would ask you to bear with us in the meantime while our contractors catch up on this work.

We are also about to recommence staff visits to properties. Again, these visits will be carried out with the required safety precautions in place, including the use of PPE and observing social distancing. Before any visits to your property by either a contractor, or a staff member, goes ahead, you will be asked a number of questions in relation to the current Coronavirus pandemic such as whether you or any members of your household have confirmed Covid-19 or are showing any symptoms of it. The visiting staff member will explain this to you in more detail when arranging the visit, including information on how we will be managing track and trace.

In addition to the attachments mentioned above we have also included an update on the Tenant Hardship Fund and Rental Payments and the open letter to all tenants from Kevin Stewart, along with Albyn’s response.