Contact information for tenants | Berneslai Homes

Article: Contact information for tenants

 Our customers are very important to us, especially our tenants. We want to give you excellent support and help when you need it. If you do not know who to contact about your enquiry the following pages will help you.

 Who do I contact about rent, housing benefit or insurance?

Phone general enquires on 01226 775555 or visit your local Barnsley Connects Office if your enquiry is about:

• the rent for your home;
• service charges;
• the rent for your garage site;
• household contents insurance (for an application form);
• different ways to pay your rent;
• rent arrears, either from your current tenancy or a previous one; or
• housing benefit enquiries.

Who do I contact about repairs?

Phone the repairs hotline on 01226 787878 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) if your enquiry is about:

• ordering a day-to-day repair;
• cancelling a repair;
• a repair that you have ordered but which has not been completed;
• making or changing an appointment for a repair; or
• the quality of a repair, which has been done.

See the Reporting a repair section for further information.

You can also report, or ask about repairs at your local Barnsley Connects Office.

Who do I contact about servicing my gas or solid fuel heating system?

Solid-fuel heating systems
Please ring Building Works on (01226) 773731.

Gas heating systems
If you live in Royston, Athersley, Barnsley town centre, Stairfoot or Worsbrough, please phone Construction Services on (01226) 773731.If you live in Cudworth, Dearne, Hoyland, Darton or Penistone, please ring Kier on (01226) 361366.

What about emergency repairs when the office is closed?

If you have an emergency when our offices are closed, please phone (01226) 730798.

Who do I contact about improvement works to my home or your Barnsley Homes Standard programme?

If we are improving your home, we will always contact you to tell you:

• what work we are doing;
• when we will be doing the work; and
• who to contact if you have any questions.

See the Barnsley Homes Standard section for further information.

If you have any general questions, contact the Stock Maintenance Team on 01226 772748

Who do I contact about adaptations to my home?

Please contact the Primary Care Trust Equipment and Adaptations team on 01226 775800 if:

• you have a disability and you want us to consider adapting your home; or
• have asked us to consider adapting your home, but we have not yet told you our decision.

Please contact the Stock Maintenance Team on 01226 772793 if:

• we have told you that we will adapt your home and you want to know when the work will start;
• something happens and you no longer need the work doing; or
• you have any problems while we are doing the work.

Who do I contact if I am having problems on my estate?

Contact your Housing Management Team if: 

• you are having a problem with your neighbour and you cannot settle the problem yourself;
• your estate has been vandalised or someone has dumped rubbish on it;
• you are suffering from, or have witnessed, antisocial behaviour; or
• you know that someone is breaking the conditions of their tenancy.

Depending on the circumstances, you may also need to contact the Police. The phone number is 101.

Who do I contact if I see someone vandalising an empty property?

Contact the police or your Housing Management Team. 

Who do I contact if I have a question about my tenancy?

Contact your Housing Management Team if you want any information about your tenancy agreement or your rights as a tenant, or if you are not sure whether you need permission to do something, for example, if you want to:

• improve your home;
• run a business from your home;
• know who can live at your home;
• pass your tenancy to someone else;
• make a new partner a joint tenant; or
• know when you introductory tenancy will become secure.

Who do I contact if I want to end my tenancy?

Contact your local Barnsley Connects Office.  For further information see Ending your tenancy.

Who do I contact if I want to apply to transfer or be re-housed?

You can get an application form from your local Barnsley Connects Office.  Staff can also answer any general questions about our housing register or if you:

• need help filling in the application form;
• want to know if we have added your application to the register;
• want to know what priority you have on the register;
• have a change in your circumstances;
• want to change the areas you want to move to; or
• want to cancel your application.

Who do I contact if I am interested in an empty property or want to know which properties are empty?

Contact your local Barnsley Connects Office if you want to:

• know where you are on the register;
• tell us you are interested in an empty property;
• if you want to be re-housed quickly and are interested in a Home Choice(this is a property that we let on a first come, first served basis);
• make some minor changes to your application; or
• know which properties are empty.

Who do I contact if I want a mutual exchange?

A mutual exchange is when two tenants exchange properties with each other. Contact Barnsley Connects Office if you:

• want to join the mutual exchange register;
• have found someone to swap with; or
• want to see the register.

Who do I contact if I want some rubbish removing from my home or garden?

You can contact the Council's Cleansing Section on (01226) 774152. You will have to pay for this service.

Who do I contact if I am homeless or may become homeless?

You can contact the Homelessness and Housing Advice Team on (01226) 773870.

Who do I contact if I want to buy my council home?

You can contact the Right to Buy team on 01226 772436.

Who do I contact if I want to rent a garage or a garage plot?

Contact the area lettings team.

Who do I contact if I have a complaint, comment or compliment?

If you want to make a comment, a complaint or a compliment about our service, the best thing for you to do is contact the team who you dealt with first of all. If you do not know who to contact, or if you would prefer to speak to someone else, you can contact our Customer Services Team on 01226 772720. Or you can e-mail us at CustomerServices@berneslaihomes.co.uk

Who do I contact for information if I want to join a Tenants and Residents Association?

You can contact our Community Engagement Team on 01226 772727.

Who do I contact about my intercom or warden service?

Please contact your warden or Housing Management Team if you have any questions about:

• the shared areas in your sheltered-housing scheme;
• the intercom in your home; or
• the warden service in general.

If you want to report a fault with your intercom or solo alarm unit, contact Central Call on 01226 775671.

 Helplines

Community Engagement Team (01226) 772727

Customer Services Team (01226) 772720

General Enquiries - Barnsley Connects 01226 775555

Homelessness and Housing Advice Team (01226) 773870

Housing Management Teams

Cudworth Housing Management Team 01226 775256
Lundwood Housing Management Team 01226 775254
Athersley Housing Management Team 01226 775227
Town Housing Management Team 01226 775227
West Housing Management Team 01226 775256
Dearne Housing Management Team 01226 775475
Wombwell Housing Management Team 01226 775475
Kendray Housing Management Team 01226 775475
Worsborough Housing Management Team 01226 775475
Hoyland Housing Management Team 01226 775475

Lettings

North Area Lettings Team (01226) 775224
South Area Lettings Team (01226) 774901

Repairs Hotline (01226) 787878

Repairs Emergency (out of hours) (01226) 730798

Right to Buy Team (01226) 772436

Social Service Equipment and Adaptations Team (01226) 775800

Stock Maintenance Team (01226) 772785

Opening Times/Locations

Barnsley Connects Offices are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

Barnsley Connects General Enquiries phoneline 01226 775555 is open Monday - Friday 8am - 8pm and Saturday 8am - 1pm.

Repairs Hotline 01226 787878 is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Forms and leaflets

Visit our Publications section.

 Legislation

Secure tenancies are covered by the Housing Act 1985
Our lettings policy meets the requirements on the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Act 2002.

 Useful websites 

• Office of Deputy Prime Minister

 Response Times/Next Steps

If you write to us or e-mail us we will acknowledge your enquiry within 2 working days.

We will register an application to be rehoused within 10 working days.

For more information about other response times please visit the relevant section of the website.

Out of Hours Procedure

The only out of hours service that we provide is for emergency repairs. The phone number is 01226 730798.