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.
Last updated: Wed 16th February, 2022 @ 15:21