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:

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

Fortnightly Clean

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

Monthly Clean

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.