Leaseholder handbook - cleaning of shared areas

Responsibility for cleaning shared areas

If your property has shared areas - such as landings and corridors, stairs and lifts, bin stores, entrance areas, drying areas and shed areas - our Cleaning team is responsible for keeping them clean. You will receive a service charge for this service every six months.

Cleaning schedule

We no longer follow fixed cleaning schedules. Instead, cleaners now focus on what needs attention the most.

• If there are internal communal hallways and stairs in your block, we will clean these regularly, up to 48 weeks a year.
• If there are no internal shared areas, the cleaners will clean the paths and walkways of your block every six to eight weeks. They may also pick up any litter and report any fly-tipping while on site.
• If there are communal windows, we will clean these around twice per year.

Cleaning charges

The cleaning charges are calculated by multiplying the cost of providing a cleaner per hour (including wages, vehicle costs, and cleaning materials) by the length of time the cleaners are at your block. This is then divided by the number of flats in the block.

There is a separate charge for the cleaning of communal windows, also divided by the number of flats. Your lease does not specify how often cleaning should happen, but we are required to keep internal and external communal areas in good condition.

Reporting a cleaning issue

If you feel the cleaning is not up to standard, please report it to our Cleaning team. They will assess and arrange additional cleaning if needed.

We appreciate your feedback, but please keep in mind the level of service we can provide, while at the same time keeping service charges reasonable.

• Email: housingcleaning@dacorum.gov.uk
• Telephone: 01442 228000 and ask for “Cleaning”.