Private Sector Housing
The Council’s Private Sector Housing Team deal with a wide range
of functions which mainly relate to ensuring that housing
conditions are monitored to a decent standard and it provides
advice, assistance and where necessary enforces standards.
A brief description is as follows:
The Council funds Disabled Facilities Grants for adaptations to
make homes accessible and safe for disabled residents. These
are based upon referrals from the Occupational Therapists who
assess individual need. Grants are processed through the
Care and
Repair Worcestershire Agency who can be contacted for more
details on eligibility.
Home Improvement and Repairs
The Council channels some limited discretionary funds into minor
home improvement and repairs for owner-occupiers. These are
in the form of a loan against the property, recovered by the
Council when the property is sold in the future. There are
also a variety of loan schemes called Kickstart to help with works
required. For further information including eligibility
please contact the Care and Repair
Worcestershire Agency.
Care and
Repair Worcestershire telephone 01562 733217
Handyperson Service
A Worcestershire handyperson service has been introduced to help
with very minor repairs and maintenance issues. For further
details please contact Age
Concern who deliver the scheme telephone 01562 827788.
Please note this service is intended for those on low income,
eligibility is not age dependent.
We advise landlords on how to reduce hazards in their properties
and how to meet the required Decent Homes Standard.
The Council aims to reduce the number of empty homes through
advice and support to owners of such properties.
The Council sets and monitor standards for HMOs to ensure the
safety of residents.
The Council sets and monitors standards to ensure the safety of
residents.
We advise and, if necessary, enforce the repair of private
domestic sewers and drains where blockages are causing public
health problems.
Where a person has been unable to maintain their house or
surrounding garden in a reasonable condition, the Private Sector
Team will investigate and commission work to clean up the
property.
We arrange for funerals where there are no relatives or others
who can carry out the arrangements. Where necessary we also
supervise exhumations (moving buried human remains) to ensure
public safety and decency.
We will inspect properties to assess their suitability and to
avoid overcrowding and provide reports to relevant agencies for
immigration purposes.
The Council will advise owners of local watercourses about
problems relating to local flooding and their general
maintenance.
