Communal services and repairs

The council is responsible for repairs to communal areas to blocks of flats including stairs, door entry systems, communal lighting, landings, communal windows, courtyards and sheds.

Communal services include:

• Caretaking service
• Pest control
• Concierge service
• Estate cleaning and grounds maintenance
• Window cleaning
• Communal lighting
• Communal heating
• Painting the outside of your property

See our repairs page for information on repairs for your home. You can also use our rents and repairs web pages to report repairs online.

Caretaking service

This service operates seven days a week, 365 days a year. A local caretaking service operates directly from your housing office, Monday to Thursday 8am to 5pm Friday 8am to 4pm. The caretaker's job is to:

• give a good service to our customers
• look after our equipment and buildings through regular inspections and maintenance
• deal with emergencies in the local housing area.

Contacting caretakers

To contact your local housing caretaker or concierge operator during normal office hours contact the Lambeth Service Centre (LSC) on 020 7926 6000.

You may be put through to a telephone call-handling service. In that case do not hang up the phone but follow the instructions given. This service will tell you of any major problems in your area and also tell you how long you have to wait for a visit from the emergency caretaker. Or you can send a fax, email or leave a message and the controller will return your call when they can.

The caretakers' duties

The caretakers and concierges are responsible for:

• checking equipment and estate facilities (water tanks, stopcocks, play areas, lifts and so on)
• checking and replacing light bulbs on public staircases, landings and other public areas
• checking the day-to-day running of estate communal boilers and reporting any faults
• going to emergencies, such as burst pipes and floods, that affect tenants' homes
• dealing with blocked drains and contractors
• releasing people trapped in lifts
• dealing with lighting breakdowns
• reporting any faults or repairs in public areas that tenants have told them about, or that they have noted on their estate inspection.

Pest control

This service is provided free of charge for the treatment of rats, mice, tropical ants, cockroaches, bedbugs, fleas, beetles, brown tail moths and pigeon infestation. If you think you are infested with these pests, or would like advice about dealing with them, contact the Lambeth Service Centre. If required they will arrange for our pest control contractor to visit you. We will carry out but charge you for the treatment of garden ants, domestic moths and wasps. You will need to arrange privately for the treatment of all other forms of infestation.

Concierge service (reception service in tower blocks)

In some areas of the borough we have brought in a concierge service. This service provides an improved security system for tenants in high rise and medium rise buildings. There are currently 23 tower blocks that have a staffed reception service between 7am and midnight, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

There is 24-hour controlled entry and closed circuit video surveillance. The concierge also provides help to those living in the block, and does the full range of caretaking duties in the block that the scheme covers.

Estate cleaning and grounds maintenance

A cleaning company is employed to carry out the cleaning tasks throughout our housing estates. At present we employ Connaught Environmental Limited. To ensure we maintain value for money, we tender the contracts every four years and we consult both tenants and leaseholders to make sure that you, our customers, have a say in how the contract is re-let.

The contractors work to an agreed specification. Work plans will be available for most blocks. If they are not in the communal area of your block you can request a copy from the contract development and procurement unit in Hambrook House and a copy of the specification can also be requested.

Under the contracts for cleaning, estates must be kept clean at all times. Some of the services included in the contracts are for cleaning of entrance halls, corridors, lifts, balconies and refuse chambers.

Complaints about cleaning

If you feel there is a problem with the cleaning or you would like to register a complaint about the standard of cleaning you should contact us on 020 7926 6000.

Communal cleaning charges

The communal cleaning charges for a building or a group of buildings are worked out by dividing the contract cost by the number of properties that receive the service.

Lambeth is divided into different contract areas for building and window cleaning, and also for grounds maintenance.

Window cleaning

Under the window cleaning contract, the windows in public areas should be cleaned eight times a year.

If you have any questions about the building or window cleaning contracts please speak to your housing officer.

Grounds maintenance

Under the grounds maintenance contract, the grass should be cut and hedges and flower beds should be tidied regularly.

Communal lighting

If you notice a need for repair you should report it to us as soon as possible. Once the work has been completed, the workman will attempt to get one of the tenants in the block to agree that the work has been completed. They may not go back to the original tenant that reported the repair.

Street Care provides a single point of contact for you to report environmental and street issues like faulty lighting on streets or highways.

Communal heating

Depending on the type and location of the accommodation, you may have to pay for your heating, lighting, cooking and hot water with your rent. If the complex has a communal gas and electrical supply, this will be divided by all residents and the proportion added to your rent. You will not then receive a gas or electric bill.

As a tenant you will be informed of any charges when you sign your agreement.

Painting the outside of your property

We try to make sure that we paint the outside of all our properties regularly and in turn. How often we can paint them depends on the money available at the time.

Our "clean and green" service standards

We are committed to keeping your estates clean, green and safe. We maintain the communal gardens, clean away refuse, remove graffiti and generally keep your area looking neat and tidy. See our clean and green service standards (PDF, 121 KB) for more information.