The main points
- If something in your home is broken, tell us. We will fix it.
- Tell your support worker about a repair. They will report it to us. You can also report it yourself on Fixflo.
- If it is an emergency, telephone us straight away. The number works at any time, day or night.
- Please tell us about a repair early. A small problem is easier to put right.
- We will tell you what we are going to do and when.
Telling us about a repair
If something in your home is broken or not working, please tell us. It does not matter how small it seems.
Please tell us early. A small problem is easier to put right than a big one.
How to report a repair
There are three ways to tell us about a repair.
1. Tell your support worker. This is the best way to report a repair.
Your support worker may check simple things first. For example, they may check that power is going to an appliance, or that there is credit on your meter. Sometimes this solves the problem.
If it does not, your support worker will report the repair to us. This is a proper report. It counts the same as if you told us yourself.
If the problem is damp, mould, a leak, no heating, no hot water or an electrical problem, your support worker will report it to us straight away.
2. Use Fixflo. You can also report a repair yourself. Fixflo is our online repairs system. You can use it on a computer, a tablet or a phone. You can find it at harbourlight.fixflo.com.
3. Telephone us in an emergency. For an emergency, telephone 0151 909 5919. This number works at any time, day or night.
When you tell us about a repair, it helps if you can say:
- your name and your address
- what is broken
- when we can come to your home
If something about you means the repair is more urgent, please tell us that too. For example, if a broken thing is making you very upset or is not safe for you. We will take that into account.
What happens when it is an emergency
An emergency is something that is dangerous, or that could badly damage your home. For example, a gas leak, a serious water leak, or no electricity.
If you telephone us at night or at the weekend, you will speak to a maintenance worker. They will ask you about the problem. They will decide how quickly someone needs to come.
They will either come out to you, or tell you when someone will come. They will tell you what to do in the meantime.
If you smell gas
If you smell gas, this is an emergency. Do this straight away:
- Open the doors and windows.
- Do not turn any light switches on or off.
- Turn off the gas at the gas tap by the meter, if you can do this safely.
- Go outside.
- Telephone the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. This is free and works at any time.
- Then telephone Harbour Light on 0151 909 5919.
Your support worker can do these things with you or for you.
How quickly we will come
How quickly we come depends on how serious the repair is.
When you report a repair, we decide how serious it is. We will tell you which kind of repair it is and when we will come.
| How serious | What this means | What we will do |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency | Something that is dangerous now. For example, a serious water leak, no electricity at all, or an outside door that will not lock. | Make it safe as soon as we can, and always within 24 hours. We may need to come back later to finish the repair. |
| Very urgent | A serious problem that is not an emergency, but must be dealt with very quickly. | Within 48 hours |
| Urgent | An important repair. It may be a risk, it may make your home hard to live in, or it may get worse if it is left. | Within 7 working days |
| Non-urgent | Something does not work properly, and this makes a real difference to using your home. | Within 14 working days |
| Minor | Something is harder to use, but you can still use it, or there is another way to do the job. | Within 21 working days |
| Small | Something that looks untidy but still works properly. For example, a mark on a wall. | Within 28 working days |
Working days are Monday to Friday. They do not include weekends or bank holidays.
If something about you or your home makes a repair more serious, we may treat it as more urgent. Please tell us, or ask your support worker to tell us.
Some jobs are not repairs. For example, a new kitchen or new windows. This is planned work. If you ask for something that is planned work, we will tell you, and we will tell you what will happen next.
If your home has damp or mould, there are special rules about how quickly we must act. Section 8 explains these.
We will tell you when we are coming. If we cannot come when we said, we will tell you why and give you a new date.
What we will do when we visit
When we come to your home, we will:
- tell you who we are and why we have come
- treat you and your home with respect
- take care with your things
- tell you if we are going to make a noise
- clear up after ourselves
- tell you what we have done, and what happens next
If you are not sure that someone is from Harbour Light, do not let them in. Ask your support worker, or telephone us on 0151 909 5919 to check.
If you are not at home when we come, we will contact you or your support worker to arrange another time.
What we look after, and what you look after
Harbour Light looks after:
- the building, the roof, the walls, the windows and the doors
- water pipes, drains, baths, sinks and toilets
- the heating and hot water
- electrical wiring and sockets
- gas appliances we have put in
- white goods we have provided: the washing machine and tumble dryer (or washer-dryer), the fridge freezer, and the oven and hob
- furniture we have provided: in bedrooms, the bed, mattress and headboard, wardrobe, bedside cabinet and chest of drawers; in living areas, the sofa or armchair, coffee table, and dining table and chairs
- smoke alarms and fire equipment we have put in
- dealing with pests, like mice, rats or insects, in your home or in the building
You look after:
- keeping your home reasonably clean and tidy
- your own belongings and your own furniture
- light bulbs, with help from your support worker if you need it
- telling us when something needs repairing
Your support worker can help you with any of these things. If you are not sure who looks after something, just ask us.
If something is damaged
We repair things that wear out or break through normal use. You do not pay for this.
If something is damaged on purpose, or because it has been misused, we may ask you to pay towards the cost of putting it right. We treat everyone in the same way.
Before we ask you to pay, we will talk to you and your support worker. We will think about your health and any disability, and whether these were part of what happened.
If you think this is unfair, you can complain. Section 14 explains how.
Your own belongings. Harbour Light does not insure your things. If you want your belongings covered, you will need your own contents insurance. Your support worker can help you look into this.
Letting us in
Sometimes we need to come into your home. This might be for a repair, or for a safety check like the yearly gas check.
We will always arrange a time with you first, unless it is an emergency.
Please let us in when we have arranged a time. Safety checks keep you safe, and the law says we must do them. If you are worried about someone coming into your home, tell us or tell your support worker. We can arrange things to make it easier for you.
If a repair is not done properly
If we have not fixed something properly, or we did not come when we said, please tell us.
Tell your support worker, or tell us on Fixflo, or telephone us.
If you are still not happy, you can make a complaint. Section 14 explains how to do this.
Getting help to understand this
If any of this is hard to understand, that is OK. Ask your support worker. You can also ask a relative, a friend or an advocate to help you.
You can ask us for this information on paper, in a bigger size, or in another format. Just ask us or ask your support worker.
More detail
This box is for tenants who want more detail, and for support staff, relatives, advocates and social workers. You do not need to read it to understand the section above.
Repairing obligation. Harbour Light's repairing duty arises under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (structure and exterior; installations for water, gas, electricity, sanitation, space heating and water heating) and under the tenancy agreement. The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 requires the property to be fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy and gives tenants a direct route to the county court.
Awaab's Law. Where a report concerns a prescribed hazard, the statutory timescales under the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 apply and take precedence over Harbour Light's general repair categories. Phase 1 (in force since 27 October 2025) covers damp and mould and all emergency hazards. Phase 2 is intended to commence on 30 November 2026 and to extend the requirements to further hazard categories including excess cold, excess heat, falls, electrical hazards, fire, structural collapse, and domestic hygiene and pests. See Section 8.
Repair response standard. Harbour Light's working model as of 29 September 2026 (may be updated). Timescales for P1 to P5 are completion targets; for P0 the requirement is to investigate and take the action needed to make the situation safe. A default priority is set for each Fixflo fault type, and live triage can raise the priority where the circumstances or the tenant's vulnerability require it.
| Category | Timescale | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| P0 – Emergency | As soon as reasonably practicable and within 24 hours | Immediate or potentially serious danger to people, security or the building. Investigate and take the action needed to make the situation safe. Permanent or preventative follow-on works may continue afterwards under the appropriate repair or hazard process. |
| P1 – Urgent (high) | Within 48 hours | A serious problem affecting safety, security or an essential part of the home which requires very rapid action, but which is not currently an emergency. |
| P2 – Urgent (medium) | Within 7 working days | An important repair where accelerated completion is justified because of risk, essential-service impact, significant inconvenience or likely deterioration if left. Live triage can require a faster response. |
| P3 – Non-urgent (high) | Within 14 working days | A meaningful or material loss of normal function, but no present P0–P2 level safety, habitability or urgency issue. |
| P4 – Non-urgent (medium) | Within 21 working days | A minor functional impairment or meaningful inconvenience. The item remains substantially usable, there is a safe alternative or workaround, and deterioration risk is low. |
| P5 – Non-urgent (low) | Within 28 working days | Function is essentially unaffected. Cosmetic, decorative, finishing-related or otherwise very minor, with no material safety, security, habitability or functional consequence. |
| N/A – Route review | Separate agreed programme; no responsive-repair timescale | Not an ordinary responsive repair. Routed to planned, programmed, cyclical or another non-responsive process. Not treated as a low-priority P5 repair. |
Where a report concerns a prescribed hazard under Awaab's Law, the statutory timescales apply and take precedence (see below and Section 8).
Reports made on a tenant's behalf. A report made by support staff, a relative, an advocate or a social worker is a valid report and starts Harbour Light's response times. The Service Level Agreement requires the support provider to report disrepair where a tenant is unable or unwilling to do so (SLA clause 7.1).
Vulnerability and prioritisation. Harbour Light takes individual circumstances into account when deciding how urgently to respond. A defect that would be routine in one household may present a significantly greater risk to a particular tenant. Tenants, support staff and advocates are encouraged to tell Harbour Light about anything that makes a repair more urgent for that person.
Delegated safety tasks. Under the SLA, support staff carry out weekly testing of smoke, heat and carbon monoxide alarms, weekly water-temperature checks, and periodic flushing of little-used water outlets. These tasks are carried out as Harbour Light's agent and do not discharge Harbour Light's own responsibility (SLA clause 2.7). See Section 2.
Right to Repair. The statutory Right to Repair scheme under the Secure Tenants of Local Authorities (Right to Repair) Regulations 1994 applies to secure tenancies and does not apply to assured shorthold tenancies. Harbour Light's repair response standards are contractual and policy commitments, not that statutory scheme.
Gas and electrical safety. Gas appliances provided by Harbour Light are serviced annually and a Landlord's Gas Safety Record is issued (Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998). Fixed electrical installations are inspected periodically. Access for these checks is a legal requirement and a term of the tenancy; where access is refused, Harbour Light will make reasonable adjustments and seek to resolve the position before considering any legal step. See Section 6.
Contents insurance. Harbour Light insures the building and the furniture, fittings and white goods it provides (SLA clause 11.4). Tenants' own possessions are not covered.