Investing in your homes

Find out more about our investment priorities and stock condition surveys

We invest in our homes to make sure they are safe, comfortable, energy efficient and fit for modern living. Whether we're replacing your heating system, kitchen, bathroom or roof, our improvements are designed to make your home better for you. 

To help us decide where investment is needed most, we regularly inspect all our homes. This helps us understand which improvements are needed when and what will make the biggest difference for customers.

One Manchester Development

This year's investment priorities

  • Over £1 million in our roofing programme 
  • £1.8 million on boiler upgrades 
  • £6 million on new kitchens and bathrooms 
  • £6 million on fire safety improvements 
  • £500,000 on communal door replacements 
  • £500,000 on communal area improvements 
  • Continuing our stock condition survey programme 

If we're planning work to your home or building, we'll contact you directly to talk you through the process and make sure you know what will be happening and when. 

Stock condition surveys

To help us plan future improvements, we carry out regular stock condition surveys of our homes and buildings. 

These surveys give us detailed information about the condition, safety and energy efficiency of our homes so we can plan future investment and make sure your home remains safe and comfortable. 

This year, surveys are being carried out by our own team, supported by Savills. They’ll write to you when they are working in your area and explain how to arrange an appointment. 

We’ll contact you by letter when your survey is due and arrange an appointment at a convenient time for you. If you're contacted about a survey, it's important that you allow access to your home. The information we collect helps us identify when repairs or improvements may be needed in the future. For example, a survey might show that your kitchen or bathroom will need replacing within the next five years, which will allow us to plan this in. These surveys also help us make sure your home meets the Government’s Decent Homes Standard.

The survey usually takes around 45 minutes and won't cause any mess or disruption to your home.

Timeframes

Every home is different, which means there is now clear lifescycle for different elements of your homes. So homes may need a new bathroom or kitchen sooner than others. That’s why we usually base our replacement programmes timescales on the findings of our surveys.

The table below shows the typical lifespan of some of the main features in your home.

Element Typical replacement timeframe
Kitchen 20 years
Bathroom 30 years
Roof 70 years
Windows 30 years
Doors 25 years
Boiler 15 years

If work is planned for your home

If our surveys show that your home is due for improvements, we'll keep you informed throughout the process. 

We promise to: 

Two One Manchester repair operatives, stood outside a property in the Manchester area discussing a repair they are currently working on.
  • Keep you updated – we'll contact you to explain what work is planned and when and arrange a convenient appointment. 
  • Make it easy to change appointments – if the date doesn't work for you, just get in touch and we'll arrange a new one. 
  • Give you choices where possible – for example, if we're replacing your kitchen, you'll be able to choose from available options such as cupboard doors and flooring. 
  • Explain what will happen – we'll make sure you know what work is being carried out and what to expect. 
  • Treat your home with respect – we'll take care of your property and belongings and leave things tidy when we finish. 
  • Keep you informed throughout the work – so you always know what's happening and when. 
  • Complete the work as quickly as possible – while keeping disruption to a minimum. 
One Manchester colleagues walking towards a repair they're about to complete.

What to expect during the work

If improvement work is taking place in your home, you'll be assigned a dedicated Customer Liaison Coordinator. They'll be your main point of contact throughout the project and will be there to answer any questions or concerns you may have. 

Your Customer Liaison Coordinator will: 

  • Arrange appointments and keep you updated 
  • Let you know what to expect before and during the work 
  • Work closely with the contractor carrying out the improvements 
  • Monitor progress and check that work meets our standards 

How long will the work take?

The time needed to complete work can vary depending on factors such as: 

  • The age and condition of your home 
  • Existing utilities and fixtures 
  • How quickly access can be arranged 
  • Any unexpected issues we discover 
  • Weather conditions for external work

Your Customer Liaison Coordinator will keep you updated throughout the project and let you know if timescales change. 

As a guide, we aim to complete works within the following timescales: 

Work type Typical timescale
Kitchen replacement 10 working days
Bathroom replacement 7 working days
Boiler replacement 2 working days
Roof replacement 15 working days (including scaffolding)
Windows and doors 3 working days

Once the work is complete

Your safety and satisfaction are important to us. Once the work has been completed, a member of our team will inspect it to make sure it meets our quality standards. If anything isn't right, we'll arrange for it to be put right as quickly as possible. 

When we're satisfied that everything has been completed correctly, we'll ask you to sign a Customer Quality Document to confirm that you're happy with the work too. 

Our aim is to make sure your home improvements are completed to a high standard and that you're pleased with the result.

Stock numbers

The table below shows how many low cost rental properties we own:

  Low cost rental accommodation owned and managed directly by One Manchester Low cost rental accommodation owned by One Manchester but managed by other organizations Low cost rental accommodation managed by One Manchester for other organizations
General needs 10,637 3 0
Supported housing 25 0 0
Housing for older people 229 0 0
Intermediate rent 341 0 0
Affordable Rent general needs* 313 0 0
Affordable Rent supported housing/housing for older people** 18 0 0
Care homes 0 0 0
Total 11,563 3 0

Actual LCHO stock:

  Accommodation owned and directly managed by One Manchester Accommodation owned by One Manchester but managed by other organizations Accomodation managed by One Manchester for other organizations
LCHO units where the purchaser has not acquired 100% of the equity 164 0 0

Number of leasehold housing units owned or managed for rent:

  Accommodation owned and managed directly by One Manchester Accommodation owned by One Manchester but managed by other organisations Accommodation managed by One Manchester for other organisations
Total social leasehold housing 0 0 0
Total non-social leasehold housing 753 0 0
Total leasehold housing 0 0 0

Number of non-social housing units owned or managed for rent:

  Accommodation owned and directly managed by One Manchester Accommodation owned by One Manchester but managed by other organisations Accommodation managed by One Manchester for other organisations
Total non-social rental housing 310 0 63