Residents
You live in a Bluebell home. What do you need?
Everything on this page is something you can do now. If someone is in danger, call 999.
If it is an emergency
Immediate action required. Someone is in danger
999Call 999 if there is a fire, if someone is badly hurt or very unwell, or if someone is in danger right now.
Immediate action required. You can smell gas
0800 111 999The National Gas Emergency Service, day and night. Open the windows, leave the lights and switches alone, and go outside to make the call.
Urgent. An emergency repair, out of hours
There is no out-of-hours repairs number yet. If anyone is in danger, call 999. If you can smell gas, call the number beside this one. Otherwise report the repair here and it is picked up when the office opens.
Report a repair
Do not use a form to tell us about an emergency. A form is not read straight away. An emergency cannot wait for that.
Repairs
Report a repair
Tell us as soon as you notice it. Reporting something early is never a nuisance, and it is never held against you.
Emergency
It is dangerous now
A gas leak, a fire, a burst pipe or a flood, no electricity at all, a door or window that will not lock, or anything that could hurt someone. Do not wait, and do not use a form. Use the emergency routes at the top of this page.
Urgent
The home is hard to live in
No heating, no hot water, no working toilet, water coming in, a blocked drain, a broken lock on an inside door, or damp and mould. You can stay in the home, but not properly, and it should not wait.
Routine
It needs fixing, but it can wait
A dripping tap, a broken cupboard door, a cracked tile, a fence panel down. Tell us anyway. Small things left alone are how urgent ones start.
How to tell us
Say what is wrong, which room it is in, and how we can reach you. If you are not sure which of the three it is, say what is happening and we will decide — that is our job, not yours.
The form does not take photographs or documents. Describe what you can see; we will ask for anything else.
- What is wrong, in your own words.
- Which room, and which wall, ceiling, window or appliance.
- When it started, and whether you have told us before.
- Whether anyone in the home is at risk because of it.
- How to reach you, and when it suits you to be in.
Repairs, damp and mould policy
Not settled yetWe have not published how long each kind of repair takes. When we do, it will be a time we can keep, and it will be in the repairs, damp and mould policy — not a number chosen because it reads well.
Damp and mould
Damp and mould
If there is damp or mould in your home, tell us. Finding out why it is there is our job, not yours.
You will not be blamed for reporting it. Damp and mould are usually caused by something about the building — a leak, a fan that does not work, cold walls, no insulation — and not by how you live or how you dry your washing.
Tell us even if the patch is small. Tell us again if it comes back after it has been cleaned off: mould that is wiped away or painted over without finding the cause always comes back.
If you live here under a tenancy, your home has to be fit to live in when you move in and for as long as you stay. That is the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, and you can take it to the county court yourself. Damp and mould is also one of the hazards your council can inspect and act on under Part 1 of the Housing Act 2004, whoever the landlord is.
Awaab’s Law — the Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 — sets fixed deadlines for looking into damp and mould and putting it right. It applies to registered providers of social housing, and only to homes let under a tenancy. Bluebell is not a registered provider, so it does not apply to us today. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 makes room for it to be extended to private landlords, and no date has been set.
Whatever the law says about us, this is what we do. We treat damp as something to investigate, not something to wipe off. We look for the cause. We tell you what we found. What is not settled is how long each step takes, or whether we take on those deadlines ourselves — the repairs section above says the same thing.
Repairs, damp and mould policy
Not sure whether it is damp or condensation, or what has to happen once you report it? Damp, mould and condensation: telling them apart, and what has to happen when you report it
- Which room it is in, and which wall, ceiling or window.
- How long it has been there, and whether anyone has treated it before.
- Whether anything is leaking, and whether the heating and the extractor fan work.
- Whether anyone living there has a breathing problem or another condition that damp could make worse. Say so even if it feels private — it changes how quickly this is treated.
What happens to anything you tell us is set out in the privacy policy.
Your agreement
Your home and your agreement
Your agreement says who looks after what. Here it is in plain words. Where the two differ, your agreement is the one that counts.
- The structure and the outside: the roof, the walls, the windows and the doors.
- The heating and the hot water — the boiler, the radiators and the pipes.
- The drains, the sinks, the bath, the shower and the toilet.
- The electrical wiring, the sockets and the light fittings that came with the home.
- The shared parts: hallways, stairs, shared kitchens and bathrooms, and the doors that keep them safe.
- The safety checks further down this page, and keeping the records of them.
- Keeping the home reasonably clean, and not damaging it.
- Telling us as soon as something breaks, leaks or stops working.
- Letting us and our engineers in for a repair or a safety check we have arranged. If the time does not suit you, say so and we will arrange another.
- Your own belongings and furniture. A landlord’s insurance covers the building, not what is inside your room — contents insurance is yours to arrange if you want it.
- Paying the rent and any charge set out in your agreement.
- Not putting anyone at risk: no alarm disabled, no fire door propped open, no hallway blocked.
What your support is, and what it is not
Housing-related support is help to keep your home and to live the way you want to. It can mean help with benefits, rent and letters, help to get to appointments, help to sort something out with a neighbour, and help to reach the health services you need.
Bluebell does not provide personal care. We do not help anyone to wash, dress, eat or use the toilet, and we do not give out or look after medicines. If you need that kind of help it comes from a care provider arranged separately, and we work alongside them rather than in place of them.
What your support covers is agreed with you and written down. If you do not have a copy, ask your support worker for one.
Want the longer version of what supported housing is, and where it stops? What supported housing actually is, and what it is not
Safety
Safety in your home
These checks are the law and they are ours to arrange. Letting the engineer in is the part that is yours.
Gas
Checked every year
Each gas appliance and flue must be checked for safety every 12 months by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and kept in a safe condition. You must be given a copy of the record: within 28 days if you already live here, or before you move in if you are moving. That is regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
Electrics
Checked every five years
The fixed electrical installation must be inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified person, and you must be given a copy of the report within 28 days. Anything the report says needs putting right must be done within 28 days, or sooner if the report says so. That is the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, and it covers you whether you live here under a tenancy or a licence.
Alarms
Smoke and carbon monoxide
There must be at least one smoke alarm on every storey you live on, and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room you live in that has a fixed appliance burning fuel — a boiler or a gas fire, but not a gas cooker. Test them. If you tell us one may not be working and it turns out not to be, we must repair or replace it. That is the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022.
Fire
Doors and escape routes
A fire door holds smoke back long enough for people to get out, which is why one is never propped open. Keep hallways and stairs clear: a bag of rubbish in a corridor is what stops people getting out in the dark. If you live in a building with more than one home in it, you must be given fire safety instructions and information about the fire doors — that is the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. Ask us if you have not had them.
If an alarm sounds
- A smoke alarm: get everyone out if you can do it safely, close doors behind you, do not stop for belongings, do not use a lift, and call 999 from outside.
- A carbon monoxide alarm: open the windows, turn the appliance off, go outside, and call the gas emergency line on 0800 111 999. Get medical advice if anyone feels sick, dizzy or has a headache.
- Buildings differ. If your building has its own fire plan — some say leave, some say stay put — follow that plan. You are entitled to those instructions in writing if more than one home shares the building; ask us if you have not had them.
What we need from you
- Let the engineer in when a check is due. We will tell you when it is coming; if the time does not work, tell us and we will arrange another.
- Never take the battery out of an alarm, and never cover one up.
- Never prop a fire door open, and keep hallways and stairs clear.
- Tell us straight away if you smell gas, see a scorch mark on a socket, or an alarm keeps sounding for no reason.
- Tell us if a check has not happened when it should have. That is not a complaint about you.
Want to know what each check involves, and why somebody has to come in? The safety checks in your home, and why someone needs to come in
Complaints
If we get it wrong
Complaining will not put your home at risk. It is not held against you, and it does not change your agreement or your support.
A complaint is not the same as reporting a repair. Report the repair first. Complain if it was not put right, if it took too long, or if you were treated badly.
There are two stages. At stage one somebody looks at what happened and writes back to you with an answer. If that answer does not settle it, you ask for stage two, and somebody who was not involved the first time looks at the whole thing again.
The two stages are not our idea. They come from the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, which has been statutory for social landlords since 1 April 2024. A private landlord takes it on by joining the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. We follow its structure, and the complaints policy sets out the time limit for each stage.
You do not have to make the complaint yourself. A friend, a relative, a support worker, an advocate or your MP can do it for you, with your say-so.
If you think you were treated worse because of who you are — your race, your religion, your age, your sex, being pregnant, being disabled — say so in the complaint. The Equality Act 2010 covers how a landlord treats you, and so does our equality and diversity policy.
Want to see what happens at each stage before you start? How to complain about your landlord, and what has to happen next
If you are still not happy
After stage two you can ask the Housing Ombudsman Service to look at your complaint. It can only investigate a landlord that belongs to its scheme — compulsory for social landlords, voluntary for private ones. A separate ombudsman for private landlords is being set up under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and is not operating yet.
Not settled yetWe have not yet confirmed whether Bluebell belongs to the scheme. It will be published here, with the membership details, rather than left for you to find out at the end of a complaint.
Other people
Neighbours, and people who make you feel unsafe
Two different things, reported two different ways. If you are frightened right now, call 999 first and tell us afterwards.
Anti-social behaviour
Noise that does not stop, threats, drug use in the building, damage, harassment. Tell us what happened, when it happened, and who was there.
Keep a note of the dates if you can. A list of dates is what turns a report into something that can be acted on.
Safeguarding
If someone is being hurt, frightened, controlled, neglected or taken advantage of — you, or anyone else in the building — that is a safeguarding concern.
You do not have to be sure, and you do not have to prove it. Tell us, or tell your council’s adult safeguarding team directly; every council publishes the number for its own team. Never report it through a form and never wait.
If it is none of these, ask anyway
You do not need to know which box your problem goes in. Tell us what is happening and we will get it to the person who deals with it.
Also here
Everything else we publish
Every policy on this page, and the rest of them, each on its own page with the law it is written against.
Policies and legal