Housing

Caretaking

We aim to provide you with a high-quality service. We are proud to put you, the customer, first.

We aim to be easy to contact and efficient when dealing with your enquiries, whether they are complaints or requests for general information. We want to listen to your views about the services we provide and, where we can, make the changes you want to see.

About us

We are committed to providing a safe, clean and attractive environment for you to live in and enjoy. That is why we have a caretaking service which cleans the shared areas on our estates.

We know that our tenants and leaseholders who live in high and low-rise flats have different needs to people living in houses.

Our caretaking service has the following 3 main priorities:

To maintain and improve the look and cleanliness of the shared areas in and around your home
To help us tackle antisocial behaviour and environmental crime such as graffiti
To provide a minor repairs and maintenance service for shared areas

Caretakers are an important part of the community. They act as our eyes and ears on our estates.

On this web page you will find a full list of the duties our caretaking staff carry out, and the timescales and standards they work within.

Their main duties include the following:

Cleaning the shared hallways, stairs, landings, window ledges and light fittings
Checking the rubbish chutes and bin areas for blockages and too much rubbish
Sweeping and disinfecting the bin rooms and chute rooms
Checking and cleaning the lift (if there is one)
Removing graffiti
Removing litter from all areas of the estate we own, including grassed areas and pathways
Giving tenants and residents advice on matters about their estate (such as when rubbish is collected and car parking)
Reporting repairs needed to shared areas
Removing health hazards such as syringes

Caretakers will also carry out minor repairs and maintenance such as:

Unblocking rubbish chutes
Replacing light bulbs in shared areas
Making broken windows safe by using safety film
Fixing broken door handles when possible; and
Adjusting door closers

The caretakers normally work Monday to Friday between 7.30am - 4pm and do the main part of their cleaning duties during this time.

High-rise blocks with lifts also receive a weekend service which includes cleaning the lifts and lobbies, clearing any large items of rubbish and checking to make sure that the rubbish chutes are clear.

Estates area cleaning Schedules

There are 6 area schedules to tell you when cleaning works will be done to estates across the borough.

Work plans for your area:

Community Housing Partnership 1 (Heath, Alibon and Eastbrook) PDF 45K

Community Housing Partnership 2 (Abbey, Gascoigne and Thames) PDF 33K

Community Housing Partnership 3 (Wellgate) PDF 40K

Community Housing Partnership 4 (Eastbury, Longbridge and Mayesbrook) PDF 45K

Community Housing Partnership 5 (Parsloes, Becontree and Valence) PDF 33K

Community Housing Partnership 6 (River, Village and Goresbrook) PDF 41K

To view PDF files requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.

Your responsibilities

So that we can provide a clean, safe and secure place for you and your neighbours to live, we need your help with the following:

Making sure you use a rubbish chute (if provided) to get rid of your household rubbish. However, please put your rubbish in a carrier bag. Do not use a black bag as these can get stuck
Getting rid of larger items by placing them in a black bag and putting them in the bin
Reporting any repairs within your building to your caretaker or by phoning Enterprise on 020 8592 7388
Reporting any antisocial behaviour to your caretaker or by phoning Barking and Dagenham Direct on 020 8215 3010
Not leaving things in the shared areas. These can cause an obstruction to others and could be a fire hazard
Getting rid of all bulky items such as furniture, fridges, freezers and televisions in the correct way. (Ask your caretaker or telephone Barking and Dagenham Direct on 020 8215 3000)

Remember, although we work hard to keep your building and the surrounding area clean and safe, we also need you to look after and respect your building too.

How we agreed on our caretaking standards

A group of tenants met and visited various estates in the borough. The group then looked at the level of service currently received by the residents and tenants of flats.

We then rewrote the standards to make sure that all tenants and residents received a high-quality caretaking service.

Caretaking Standards|

How do we monitor the standards

Each of our estates has a standard of cleanliness that you can expect. It is this that you pay for, rather than the number of caretakers that visit each site.

If you would like a copy of the cleaning timetable for your block or estate, ask your caretaker or local housing office.

Your local Estate Officer, and sometimes the Caretaking Coordinator, visits your estate every month to make sure the service standards are being met. If you would like to see the recent inspection reports for your area, please ask your local housing office.

Graffiti

The graffiti team

We set up the graffiti team in 2003 to get rid of graffiti in the borough. Each month the graffiti team remove around 3,000 square metres of graffiti from a range of surfaces.

What graffiti is and why we remove it

Graffiti is illegal. It is criminal damage that gives a bad impression of an area and can contribute to people's fear of crime
Graffiti is the most common type of vandalism
Graffiti lowers the tone of an area. If graffiti is not removed, others will feel free to add to it

What you can do to help prevent graffiti

Where possible, remove graffiti as quickly as you can
Plant shrubs or ivy to act as a deterrent
Using pastel shades on walls, rather than very light or dark colours, reduces graffiti
Report graffiti to us on 020 8215 3010 as quickly as possible

How to report graffiti

It's important that you report graffiti to us as soon as possible so that we know it's there and can get it removed. You can report graffiti by:

Telephoning Barking and Dagenham Direct on 020 8215 3010
Visiting the reporting graffiti web page
Sending an email to 3000direct@lbbd.gov.uk

It would help us if you could tell us the exact location of the graffiti, what surface the graffiti is on, how much there is, and what type of graffiti it is (for example, if it is racist).

Complaints

If you have a complaint about the caretaking service, contact the local housing office. They will do their best to solve the problem.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of the complaint, you can take it through our formal complaints procedure. You can get details of this from your local housing office or by calling Barking and Dagenham Direct on 020 8215 3011.