It’s important to us that our grounds and open spaces are attractive and pleasant places to live for our tenants and wider community, however we’re aware that the current standard of grounds maintenance service is below our usual standards and we’re working to resolve this.
Our contractor provides grounds maintenance services on our behalf, covering tasks such as grass cutting, shrub maintenance, and weed control in communal areas. While we expect the highest standards of service, we have identified areas where performance has fallen short of our expectations.
They've admitted that the quality of their service hasn't matched up to what our tenants expect. They say this is due to a few issues.
The constant rain in spring and early summer has caused grass and weeds to grow much faster than usual and the ground has been too wet to use the large mowers, making it harder to keep up. As a result, their staff haven’t been able to maintain the lawns and general grounds as often as needed. They're working on it though, and with the weather improving, you should see their teams out and about on the estates. They’ve also brought in a new Contract Manager to oversee these efforts.
We are working closely with them to implement improvements and ensure the service meets the high standards our tenants deserve. Regular updates will be provided on our grounds maintenance page.
Report an issue
Have you spotted some Red Kite land that needs our attention? Please complete our Grounds Maintenance Report form, or see other ways of contacting us. You can also report fly-tipping to us, which we can arrange to be removed if it’s on our land.
Note: If you're not sure whether the outdoor area, or playground belongs to us or the council, get in touch with us and we'll let you know.
We encourage you to report any issues with grounds maintenance by getting in touch with us. Your feedback is essential in helping us maintain and improve the appearance of our communal spaces.
Please note that due to wildlife protection regulations, hedge and shrub cutting is not carried out between March and September (however, where there is a health and safety concern, we will review to ensure appropriate action is taken). Daffodils and bulbs are also left uncut until they have finished flowering to ensure their return next year. We know this can cause some frustration where hedges or shrubs are overgrown and will manage these as best we can until we can carry out a full cut.
Join us on an estate inspection
If you’re a Red Kite tenant and you'd like to join us for any of our inspections please give us a call on 01494 476100 or email us at contact@redkitehousing.org.uk. Find out more about joining our estate inspections and see when and where we’re going on our events page.