The majority of repairs that are Opendoor Homes’ responsibility are completed by our in-house repairs service, and appointments for these will, wherever possible, be booked at the time of reporting. We aim to agree a convenient appointment time with tenants. You can read Opendoor Homes’ full repairs policy here or the repairs policy quick guide.
Appointments are only necessary for communal repairs where access is required from tenants or the repair will be unduly disruptive. We aim to undertake the communal repair within our priority timescales but may not arrange a fixed appointment slot in such circumstances.
For some repairs that are of a specialist nature (e.g., roofing in buildings over two storeys or with a larger square footage, replacing window glazing units and broken glass, certain types of flooring, larger garden paving, boundary fences, gates, and aerials) we will use an approved Subcontractor to complete the repair on our behalf. We expect Subcontractors to ensure they deliver the same standard of service we expect from our in-house operatives. If a repair needs to be completed by a specialist Subcontractor, once the repair has been referred to them the Subcontractor will contact the tenant (usually within 48 hours) to book an appointment with them.
We do everything possible to keep appointments. Please make sure you home to allow an Operative/ Subcontractor access at the agreed timeslot. If you cannot make the appointment for any reason, please to cancel or rearrange your appointment.
Access for appointments
- As set out in your tenancy agreement and in our No Access Policy, tenants have a responsibility to allow access and let us into your home to inspect or carry out repairs. We will usually give you at least 48 hours’ notice if we want to enter your home; however, this will not be possible if there is an emergency.
- For emergency repairs (P1 and P2), it is essential that tenants stay home to allow our operatives or subcontractors access. We aim to give a rough arrival time of the operative, but it is vital that you remain home and allow access at the first attempt for the safety of your household and maintaining the fabric of the building.
- In an emergency (for example where there is a serious health and safety risk, water leaks, gas leaks, electrical problems, a genuine and immediate concern for a tenant’s wellbeing, or further damage may be caused to the fabric of the building if not resolved), Opendoor Homes may need to enter a home without the tenant’s prior consent. This will only be considered as a last resort and when all other means of access have been considered.
- If an Operative or Subcontractor attends a scheduled repair appointment and cannot gain access, they will leave a ‘missed appointment’ calling card. A new appointment will then be arranged and a second attempt to access your home will be made.
- If access is not granted for the second appointment, the repair will be cancelled and the tenant will need to contact our Customer Contact Team to have it rescheduled. For some types of repairs e.g. an uncontainable leak or if the tenant is known to us as being vulnerable we would not cancel a repair after two access attempts have been made and will instead pursue other options.
Missed repair appointments
- Missed appointments occur if one of Opendoor Homes’ Operatives or a Subcontractor fails to attend an agreed repair appointment. Avoiding missed appointments is essential to providing an effective and efficient repairs service. We recognise the disruption and inconvenience caused when appointments are missed, and we will be proactive in minimising and avoiding missed appointments.
- Tenants may be eligible for compensation in some circumstances if we are unreasonably late for an appointment (more than one hour) or do not give adequate notice (24 hours) of a cancellation, where short notice cancellation is avoidable. Whilst we try to minimise cancellations at short notice, they can sometimes be unavoidable.
Our approach to managing missed appointments where Opendoor Homes fails to attend without reasonable notice or is unreasonably late for an appointment is outlined in our Compensation, Financial Loss, and Remedies Policy.