Communal cleaning in blocks of flats

We have over 1,500 residents living in over 260 blocks of flats with shared entrances, stairways and landings.

Although it is residents’ responsibility to keep these areas clean, in practice only a small minority of residents do so.  While residents in these small numbers of blocks keep them beautifully clean, the majority are not.

Satisfaction surveys carried out in 2016 and again in 2018 showed large amounts of dissatisfaction with the condition of these communal areas. While overall satisfaction rates remain high at over 80%, satisfaction with the cleanliness of these communal areas was much lower at around 50%.

In order to bring all blocks up to an acceptable standard, we have decided to introduce a communal cleaning service to the 68 schemes served by all these communal areas. The service will be carried out by a contractor called Spotlight Cleaning Services and will be paid for only by those residents who live in these schemes.

Earlier this year we consulted all affected residents on how often they would like the service to be carried out – weekly, fortnightly, three or four-weekly or calendar monthly. The vast majority of residents opted to have either a fortnightly or a monthly clean. We also consulted them on their opinions on the cleaning generally; and their responses were very similar to those in the 2016 and 2018 satisfaction surveys.

The table below indicates which scheme opted for which frequency of cleaning:

Fortnightly clean

Location

Chapman Street, Loughborough

Cordell Road, Loughborough

Freehold Street, Loughborough

King Street, Loughborough

Ling Road, Loughborough

Moira Street, Loughborough

Moor Lane, Loughborough

Peel Drive, Loughborough

Russell Street, Loughborough

Rutland Street, Loughborough

Selbourne Street, Loughborough

Trinity Street, Loughborough

Warwick Court, Loughborough

Waterside Close, Loughborough

Leicester Road, Mountsorrel

Queen Street, Shepshed

Monthly clean

Location

Church Lane, Anstey

Edward Street, Anstey

Paper Mill Close, Anstey

North Street, Barrow-Upon-Soar

Fleury Court, East Goscote

Dormer Court, Hathern

Barrow Street, Loughborough

Bottleacre Lane, Loughborough

Bowler Court, Loughborough

Derby Road, Loughborough

Durham Road, Loughborough

Factory Street, Loughborough

George Deacon Court, Loughborough

Granger Court, Loughborough

Great Central Road, Loughborough

Harlech Close, Loughborough

Hermitage Road, Loughborough

Hume Street, Loughborough

King Edward Road, Loughborough

Milton Street, Loughborough

Oakham Close, Loughborough

Park Court, Loughborough

Park Road, Loughborough

Pevensey Road, Loughborough

Pinfold Gardens, Loughborough

Rockingham Road, Loughborough

Selbourne Court, Loughborough

Sharpley Road, Loughborough

Staveley Court, Loughborough

Toothill Road, Loughborough

Tuckers Close, Loughborough

Tuckers Road, Loughborough

Val Wilson Court, Loughborough

Victoria Street, Loughborough

Walter Hull Court, Loughborough

Warwick Way, Loughborough

William Street, Loughborough

Wordsworth Road, Loughborough

Chestnut Court, Mountsorrel

Castledine Street, Quorn

Sarsen Street, Quorn

The Mills, Quorn

Brook Street, Shepshed

Chapel Street, Shepshed

Lacey Court, Shepshed

Longcliffe Road, Shepshed

Albion Street, Syston

George Toon Court, Syston

Oxford Court, Syston

School Street, Syston

Walkers Way, Syston

Offranville Close, Thurmaston

If you get housing benefit or universal credit you must inform the council or DWP of this additional charge since it will be eligible for both housing benefit and universal credit. The cost of the cleaning will be recovered through a service charge which will be added on to tenants’ weekly rent. This will be either £1.59 per week (charged over 48 weeks) for those opting for a fortnightly clean or £0.76p per week for those opting for a monthly clean.

We are in the final stages of introducing the service. When we have a date for the start of the service we will write to all affected tenants, giving four weeks’ notice of the additional charge on their rent.

Finally, we want to make sure that you are all getting value for money from this service and would welcome tenants who would like to work with us to ensure that the standard of cleaning set out in the contract is adheredw to. If you are interested in becoming a tenant inspector, please contact the customer engagement team on (01509) 634666 or e-mail involvement@charnwood.gov.uk.