Repairs, maintenance and improvement of council housing

In some cases, you may need to move out of your house to allow major repair work to be done. Examples include dry rot work, structural repairs, chemical preservation treatment, or any other circumstances where we feel your safety could be compromised. When you have to move out in these circumstances it is called a 'decant'.

Decants will not normally be arranged for planned improvement works such as heating replacement, kitchen and bathroom replacement and rewires.

For longer arrangements it is more likely that another council house will be used. We will try to provide accommodation of a similar size and type as near to the property type and location of your home as we possibly can. Our decants leaflet offers more information.

We will arrange to provide alternative accommodation that meets with our decant procedure. In doing so we will:

• make sure that you are responsible for only paying rent for the property with the lowest rent charge for the duration of the arrangement
• meet the removal costs both to and from the decant accommodation
• supply cooking facilities and furnishings - if required
• store furniture and belongings – if required
• plumb in your washing machine – if required
• pay for the re-direction of your mail
• pay for the transfer of television aerials where the council were the original providers
• pay for your telephone connection costs – if required
• ensure that you are kept informed with regard to the progress of your repair

You will be required to meet any other costs that arise.

For information on decants for other reasons i.e. as a result of fire damage or decants for owner occupiers, please refer to our decant leaflet for further information.