Get ready for winter

Published: Monday 9 October 2023

Last year, as a result of the extremely cold weather, hundreds of council houses suffered burst pipes.

This caused damage to the fabric of buildings and damaged tenants’ furniture and personal belongings. The damage was so severe that many tenants had to be moved out of their homes into another council property whilst repairs were carried out.

This year, to try and prevent this happening again and to help tenants prepare for winter, we have the following advice and guidance on how to prevent burst pipes:

Know where your stopcock is and make sure you can turn it off and on
Turn off the water mains at the stopcock if you are going away in the winter
Alternatively, keep the heating on at a minimum temperature of 13°C when you are away, as this will prevent temperatures dropping below freezing in any areas of the property where water pipes are located
Leave cupboard doors under the kitchen sink and bathroom cabinets open to allow warm air to circulate
If pipes freeze, thaw them out slowly using a hot water bottle – never use a blow lamp
Contact the council immediately on 0303 123 1010 or out of hours 0800 242 024, if you spot any issues such as a leak or a blocked toilet

We would also encourage you to arrange home contents insurance, which would mean your personal belongings are insured if this kind of situation was to happen. Last year, many tenants didn’t have any cover and faced the cost of replacing all of their damaged belongings.

The council operates a tenant’s home contents insurance scheme with Aviva Insurance, with cover starting from as little as £12* per year, or 25p per week, for £4000 cover, which you can pay as a premium along with your rent.

*Price includes Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) charged at the appropriate rate. Terms and conditions apply.

For more advice and information please visit the council’s website.