Coastline Housing has entered the top 2 per cent of housing associations in the Country for carrying out rigorous gas safety checks in residents' homes.
The Company has recently become 100% compliant for carrying out gas servicing across the Kerrier district and is determined to maintain this high level of safety checks.
Under gas safety regulations, landlords must ensure that gas appliances are serviced annually and that the appliances are safe to use. Blue Flame, based in Penryn, are contracted by Coastline Housing to provide an annual service and ongoing maintenance at no charge to the customer to some 2,500 homes within Kerrier that have either gas or solid fuel heating.
The challenge for landlords however, is gaining access to properties when needed. Mark England, Head of Technical Services at Coastline, explains: "If customers are unwilling to let us access their properties, sometimes we have to go through the Courts to legally gain the right to access the property which is obviously a timely process and means that some customers miss the date on which their annual safety check is due. Customers are also then liable to pay any legal and court costs."
Coastline has been working hard however, to promote the importance for gas servicing to be carried out on a regular basis. Working with Blue Flame, the Company has introduced a text messaging service to remind customers that they have an appointment the following day. All customers who keep their first appointment are also entered into a monthly prize draw run by Blue Flame for a £25 hamper and a bumper £200 prize at Christmas.
Derek Chapman said: "It takes a great deal of effort and dogged determination to gain access to every single property, but the team has persevered and achieved excellent results for our residents.
"Not everybody realises that gas appliances must be serviced every 12 months and it is this lack of knowledge that can result in boilers being left working in a dangerous state.
"Keeping warm is vital. Unfortunately, heating appliances are one of the most common causes of injury and death in the home and need to be regularly serviced in order to ensure that they are safe for use. Carbon Monoxide is a poisonous gas that is odourless, colourless and tasteless, which makes it difficult to detect. The regular servicing and maintenance of boilers and heating systems is one of the major preventative weapons in the fight against carbon monoxide poisoning and is therefore not something that should ever be taken lightly."
