Communal cleaning scheme

A new contractor has been appointed to clean communal areas in the Council’s housing blocks.

AAFD Services, based in Coalville, Leicestershire, has been appointed to clean the areas following a procurement and evaluation process involving officers and a tenant member of the Housing Management Advisory Board.

AAFD works with other local authorities on similar contracts.

The contract is based on a specification – a list of things that the contractor must do when cleaning the blocks. The new specification is different from the old one and we have listened to residents’ concerns over some aspects of the service over the past four years. Some of the main changes are:

• All communal windows, inside and out, will now be cleaned every three months;

• Hot water will be used rather than cold;

• All floors will be left dry when the cleaners leave the block.

Residents can view the complete specification below:

Communal cleaning specification

Please see below a list of all blocks that are cleaned, their normal cleaning day and when in the month they are expected to be cleaned.

Communal cleaning schedule

Tenants can contact AAFD Services directly should you have any issues or queries relating to communal cleaning: Email: support@aafd.co.uk or call 03333 350591 – followed by option 1.

With all new contracts, there will be a period of adjustment and establishing the new service. We would ask everyone to be patient while this transition takes place, be polite and courteous to the new contractors and direct any questions to the tenancy and estate management team rather than the contractors themselves.

It is also important to make sure that there are no obstructions in halls, stairways and landings that might stop the contractors from cleaning the block.

Charges

The cost of the cleaning is recovered through a service charge, which is added on to tenants’ weekly rent. From 1 April 2024 this will be either £2.26 per week (charged over 48 weeks) for those receiving a fortnightly clean or £1.04p per week for those opting for a monthly clean. These new charges reflect the cost of the new contract for the year beginning 1 April 2024 and are a small reduction on current charges.

If you get housing benefit or universal credit you must inform the council or the DWP of this  charge since it will be eligible for both housing benefit and universal credit. 

Background

There are over 260 blocks in the borough that have communal entrances, stairs and landings. Some of those have internal bin stores as well.

Over 1,300 tenants and 200 leaseholders are now having their blocks cleaned either monthly or fortnightly.

Although the tenancy agreement is clear that tenants are responsible for keeping these areas clean, only a small minority actual did so. In 2019 a cleaning service was introduced, paid for by tenants and leaseholders through a service charge. This approach was agreed by tenants groups and our tenant-led Housing Management Advisory Board.