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Cold weather advice

When the weather turns colder, it's important to take the right action to protect and maintain your home.

It's a good idea to locate your stopcock and check it works, so you know where to find it in an emergency - this is usually located under the kitchen sink, or in a storage cupboard, but if you can't find it contact us and we can advise.

We all want to keep energy costs down, but it's also sensible to ensure your heating is set to a minimum of 13°C to reduce the risk of pipes bursting.

Make sure you have home contents insurance in place. While emergencies are quite rare, when they do occur the damage can be great, so the small monthly payments really are worth it.

Frozen pipe

What to do if you find a leak

If you do find a leak, follow these three simple steps to prevent it becoming a major one:

  • Turn off the water supply at the stopcock
  • Open all taps to reduce flooding, turn them off again when all the water has drained from the pipework
  • Soak up/block off escaping water with thick towels.

Remember you can contact us via our out-of-hours number, 01494 476100, if you have an emergency and need assistance.

Gritting and salting

It's important to prepare for icy roads and slippery paths during winter.

Our grit bins are available for you to use whenever the weather gets cold or icy. We check and replenish them every year, usually at the start of winter, so you can use the grit to make paths and driveways safer and easier to walk on.

We work with John O'Conner, our trusted grounds maintenance contractor, to spread grit on the roads and pavements when it's particularly icy. We also keep an eye on the weather forecast during winter to look out for times when this might be needed, so the team can spread grit the night before.

Our contractor prioritises our sheltered schemes where our older tenants live, but they also grit at all our other locations when there is a request to do so. The team doesn't work to a specific schedule, and will grit where necessary as quickly and safely as possible given the weather conditions.

If the paths around your home urgently need gritting, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Damp, mould and condensation

Please make sure you tell us as soon as possible if you're concerned about damp, mould or condensation in your home. You’ll need to provide us with some details and then we’ll get back to you with some next steps. You can complete our online form or alternatively we can take you through the questions over the phone - call 01494 476100. It’s important that we gather all the right information to make sure we can tackle the problem quickly, so please allow 10 minutes or so to complete the form.

Are you struggling to heat your home?

Energy is one of the biggest expenses for many homes, but there are lots of ways we can support you - head over to our Energy saving page for information and advice, and a list of other organisations who can help.