Housing Repairs
Case reference FOI2026/02024
Received 22 September 2026
Published 20 October 2026
Request
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, could you please provide the following information:
Council-owned housing
1. What is the local authority's target timescale for completing repair requests for council tenants for i) emergency repairs, ii) urgent repairs, iii) routine repairs?
Please use your own definitions for emergency, urgent or routine repairs.
2. What was the average time taken (in working days) from a council tenant reporting a repair, to that repair being completed, during the following periods?
Please provide a breakdown of the average time taken to complete
i) emergency repairs,
ii) urgent repairs, and
iii) routine repairs, using your own definitions.
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
3. Of the total repairs reported by council tenants for these time periods, what proportion were completed in a timescale that exceeded the local authority's target timescale for this cohort?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
4. Does your housing system enable you to identify when a council tenant has a terminal illness or life-limiting conditions?
5. How many repair requests were received by the local authority relating to council tenants with a terminal illness or life-limiting condition during the following periods, and what proportion of all repair requests received from council tenants was this?
Please provide breakdowns according to whether these were
i) emergency repairs,
ii) urgent repairs,
iii) routine repairs
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
6. Does having a terminal illness or a life-limiting condition affect repair priority or target timescales for council tenants?
a. If yes, what are the eligibility criteria to being deemed terminally ill or having a life-limiting condition? What evidence (if any) is required?
b. If yes, is this explicitly stated on your website?
c. If yes, what is the local authority's target timescale for completing repair requests for council tenants with a terminal illness or a life-limiting condition?
7. Where recorded, what was the average time taken (in working days) from a council tenant who is terminally ill or has a life-limiting condition reporting a repair, to that repair being completed, during the following periods?
Please provide a breakdown of the average time taken to complete
i) emergency repairs,
ii) urgent repairs, and
iii) routine repairs, using your own definitions.
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
8. Of the total repairs reported by council tenants with a terminal illness or a life-limiting condition for these time periods, what proportion were completed in a timescale that exceeded the local authority's target timescale for this cohort?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
9. Does your housing/repairs system enable you to identify when a council tenant has died while an outstanding repair remains open?
10. How many council tenants died following first contact about a repair and prior to the repair being completed during the following periods?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
Private rented housing
11. Following a complaint from a private rented tenant to the local authority about their landlord not completing repairs, what is the local authority's target timescale for a) completing an inspection, and b) taking enforcement action after an inspection?
12. What was the average time taken (in working days) from i) receipt of a complaint from a private rented tenant about incomplete repairs to the completion of inspection, and ii) from completion of an inspection to enforcement action or other formal intervention during the following periods?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
13. Of the total complaints from private rented tenants about landlords not completing repairs, what proportion of the local authority's i) inspections and ii) enforcements action exceeded the relevant target timescale during the following periods?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
14. Does your housing system enable you to identify when a private rented tenant has a terminal illness or life-limiting conditions?
15. How many complaints about landlords not completing repairs were received by the local authority relating to private rented tenants with a terminal illness or life-limiting condition during the following periods, and what proportion of all complaints received from private rented tenants was this?
Please provide breakdowns according to whether these were
i) emergency repairs,
ii) urgent repairs,
iii) routine repairs
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
16. Does the local authority have a process for prioritising an inspection, enforcement action or other intervention of a private landlord who's not completed a repair, where the private rented tenant has a terminal illness or life-limiting condition?
a. If yes, what are the eligibility criteria to being deemed terminally ill or having a life-limiting condition? What evidence (if any) is required?
b. If yes, is this explicitly stated on your website?
c. If yes, what is the local authority's target timescale for completing an inspection, enforcement action or other intervention of a private landlord for private rented tenants with a terminal illness or a life-limiting condition?
17. Where recorded, what was the average time taken (in working days) from
i) receipt of a complaint from a private rented tenant with a terminal illness or life-limiting condition about incomplete repairs to the completion of inspection, and
ii) from completion of an inspection to enforcement action or other formal intervention during the following periods?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
18. Where recorded, of the total complaints from private rented tenants with a terminal illness or life-limiting condition about landlords not completing repairs, what proportion of the local authority's i) inspections and ii) enforcements action exceeded the relevant target timescale during the following periods?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
19. Does your housing/repairs system enable you to identify when a private rented tenant has died while an outstanding repair complaint remains open?
20. How many private rented tenants died following a complaint about a landlord not completing a repair and prior to the local authority completing an inspection, enforcement action or other intervention during the following periods?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
Owner occupier housing
21. Does the local authority provide any support, grants, loans or other assistance when somebody with a terminal illness or life-limiting condition owns their home but cannot afford essential repairs?
If so, please outline what provision(s) is in place, including the value of the support available.
a. Does having a terminal illness or life-limiting condition affect somebody's eligibility or prioritisation for any support, grant, loan or assistance?
Response
FOI 2024 Housing Repairs for terminally ill tenants (Marie Curie)
Thank you for your recent request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Please find the answers to your queries below:
Council-owned housing
1. What is the local authority's target timescale for completing repair requests for council tenants for i) emergency repairs, ii) urgent repairs, iii) routine repairs?
Please use your own definitions for emergency, urgent or routine repairs.
This information can be found within our Housing Services Repairs policy, which is publicly available and can be found via the following link:
As such, the information you require can be found from publicly available sources and consequentially under Section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible.
2. What was the average time taken (in working days) from a council tenant reporting a repair, to that repair being completed, during the following periods?
Please provide a breakdown of the average time taken to complete
i) emergency repairs,
ii) urgent repairs, and
iii) routine repairs, using your own definitions.
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
Please note that our Housing Operations Board meets regularly to discuss our housing stock and statistics on repairs. Further information can be found within their meeting ‘agenda report packs’, via the following website:
https://democracy.guildford.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=1376
As such, the information you require can be found from publicly available sources and consequentially under Section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible.
Please note that detailed records first started to be kept from April 2025 (please see the Housing Operations Board meeting dated Wednesday 9th July 2025) and prior to this records were not kept. As such, we do not hold this information for 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025.
3. Of the total repairs reported by council tenants for these time periods, what proportion were completed in a timescale that exceeded the local authority's target timescale for this cohort?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
Please note that our Housing Operations Board meets regularly to discuss our housing stock and statistics on repairs. Further information can be found within their meeting ‘agenda report packs’, via the following website:
https://democracy.guildford.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=1376
Additionally, you can also find our KPI statistics on Housing Repair via our latest performance monitoring report, which is available at the following link:
As such, the information you require can be found from publicly available sources and consequentially under Section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible.
Please note that detailed records first started to be kept from April 2025 (please see the Housing Operations Board meeting dated Wednesday 9th July 2025) and prior to this records were not kept. As such, we do not hold this information for 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025.
4. Does your housing system enable you to identify when a council tenant has a terminal illness or life-limiting conditions?
Yes.
The Housing Register application includes a section where applicants can declare any medical conditions and explain how their accommodation impacts on their health.
Information about an applicant's current housing circumstances, including tenure type, is also recorded as part of the application process.
5. How many repair requests were received by the local authority relating to council tenants with a terminal illness or life-limiting condition during the following periods, and what proportion of all repair requests received from council tenants was this?
Please provide breakdowns according to whether these were
i) emergency repairs,
ii) urgent repairs,
iii) routine repairs
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
No – our housing repair system does not allow us to record this data, therefore we do not hold this information.
6. Does having a terminal illness or a life-limiting condition affect repair priority or target timescales for council tenants?
We do not hold a specific policy on this.
a. If yes, what are the eligibility criteria to being deemed terminally ill or having a life-limiting condition? What evidence (if any) is required?
b. If yes, is this explicitly stated on your website?
c. If yes, what is the local authority's target timescale for completing repair requests for council tenants with a terminal illness or a life-limiting condition?
N/A.
7. Where recorded, what was the average time taken (in working days) from a council tenant who is terminally ill or has a life-limiting condition reporting a repair, to that repair being completed, during the following periods?
Please provide a breakdown of the average time taken to complete
i) emergency repairs,
ii) urgent repairs, and
iii) routine repairs, using your own definitions.
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
This is not data we record separately, therefore we hold no information on this.
8. Of the total repairs reported by council tenants with a terminal illness or a life-limiting condition for these time periods, what proportion were completed in a timescale that exceeded the local authority's target timescale for this cohort?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
This is not data we record separately, therefore we hold no information on this.
9. Does your housing repairs system enable you to identify when a council tenant has died while an outstanding repair remains open?
No.
10. How many council tenants died following first contact about a repair and prior to the repair being completed during the following periods?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
This is not data we record separately, therefore we hold no information on this.
Private rented housing
11. Following a complaint from a private rented tenant to the local authority about their landlord not completing repairs, what is the local authority's target timescale for a) completing an inspection, and b) taking enforcement action after an inspection?
The Council does not have a specified target timescale for inspections or enforcement action. Cases are risk-assessed and prioritised according to the nature and severity of the reported housing conditions.
12. What was the average time taken (in working days) from i) receipt of a complaint from a private rented tenant about incomplete repairs to the completion of inspection, and ii) from completion of an inspection to enforcement action or other formal intervention during the following periods?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
This information is not held.
13. Of the total complaints from private rented tenants about landlords not completing repairs, what proportion of the local authority's i) inspections and ii) enforcements action exceeded the relevant target timescale during the following periods?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
This information is not held.
14. Does your housing system enable you to identify when a private rented tenant has a terminal illness or life-limiting conditions?
No. Please note that we do not have a housing system for private rented tenants as Guildford Borough Council is not the landlord. We use a system that relates to enforcement complaints but it does not record personal information about the tenants other than that which is necessary for dealing with the specific complaint.
15. How many complaints about landlords not completing repairs were received by the local authority relating to private rented tenants with a terminal illness or life-limiting condition during the following periods, and what proportion of all complaints received from private rented tenants was this?
This information is not recorded.
Please provide breakdowns according to whether these were
i) emergency repairs,
ii) urgent repairs,
iii) routine repairs
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
N/A
16. Does the local authority have a process for prioritising an inspection, enforcement action or other intervention of a private landlord who's not completed a repair, where the private rented tenant has a terminal illness or life-limiting condition?
This is not data we typically record separately, therefore we hold no information on this.
a. If yes, what are the eligibility criteria to being deemed terminally ill or having a life-limiting condition? What evidence (if any) is required?
b. If yes, is this explicitly stated on your website?
c. If yes, what is the local authority's target timescale for completing an inspection, enforcement action or other intervention of a private landlord for private rented tenants with a terminal illness or a life-limiting condition?
N/A
17. Where recorded, what was the average time taken (in working days) from
i) receipt of a complaint from a private rented tenant with a terminal illness or life-limiting condition about incomplete repairs to the completion of inspection, and
ii) from completion of an inspection to enforcement action or other formal intervention during the following periods?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
This is not data we record separately, therefore we hold no information on this.
18. Where recorded, of the total complaints from private rented tenants with a terminal illness or life-limiting condition about landlords not completing repairs, what proportion of the local authority's i) inspections and ii) enforcements action exceeded the relevant target timescale during the following periods?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
This is not data we record separately, therefore we hold no information on this.
19. Does your housing/repairs system enable you to identify when a private rented tenant has died while an outstanding repair complaint remains open?
No.
20. How many private rented tenants died following a complaint about a landlord not completing a repair and prior to the local authority completing an inspection, enforcement action or other intervention during the following periods?
a. 01 April 2024 - 31 March 2025
b. 01 April 2025 - 31 March 2026
We do not record this information.
Owner occupier housing
21. Does the local authority provide any support, grants, loans or other assistance when somebody with a terminal illness or life-limiting condition owns their home but cannot afford essential repairs?
Guildford Council does offer a Home Improvement Grant – further details about this, including the Home Improvement Policy and financial assessment form, are available on our website and can be found via the following link:
https://www.guildford.gov.uk/homeimprovementgrant
As such, the information you require can be found from publicly available sources and consequentially under Section 21 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible.
If so, please outline what provision(s) is in place, including the value of the support available.
Up to £12,000 – please see website for further information.
a. Does having a terminal illness or life-limiting condition affect somebody's eligibility or prioritisation for any support, grant, loan or assistance?
Cases are risk-assessed and prioritised according to the nature and severity of the reported housing conditions and the relevant financial assessment.
Yours sincerely
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
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