Decent homes and planned upgrades programme
We’re committed to investing in the quality and safety of your home.
As assets (houses and flats) or components (kitchens, bathrooms, roofs etc) get older we need to replace them, not just try and repair or fix them. We do this through our planned upgrades programme.
The programme, which is a plan of what needs to be replaced and when, is made using a combination of component age and condition.
We assess component condition by getting our surveyors to inspect every one of our homes a minimum of once every five years. Our surveyors provide a detailed report on all major parts of your home from the kitchen and bathroom to the front door, windows and boiler.
You’ll get a letter from us well in advance of when the survey of your home is due and we’ll follow that up with emails, texts and calls so we can agree a date and time that works for you.
Those reports add to what we already know about the age of all components, which means we can:
• Provide reports to the regulator to meet some of our regulatory obligations, like those for the Decent Homes standard;
• Finalise what planned upgrades are needed in the current year.
When are planned upgrades due?
We hold information on each major component’s age and this informs our plan for when each should be replaced. It allows us to plan our major upgrading programme so our repairs team can organise their work schedules. We have a 30-year business plan, with a total budget of over £600m, to spend on major upgrades.
Each major part, as listed below, has a lifespan which helps us to work out when it will need upgrading – although these are only guidelines and are flexible depending on the actual condition.
| Part | Lifespan |
|---|---|
| Kitchen | 30 years |
| Bathroom | 40 years |
| Boiler | 15 years |
| Windows | 40 years |
| External doors | 40 years |
| Roof | 60 years |
| Electrics | 30 years |
If you’d like to arrange a survey to check the expected lifespan of the major parts in your home or would like to find out how old they are, please make a request through your MyRaven online account.
We’re also committed to improving the energy and carbon performance of your home, therefore improving its affordability and lessening its environmental impact.