Your Parsonage House

Repairs Guidance, including emergencies

Emergency repairs are those which need dealing with either immediately (e.g. gas escapes or serious water leaks) or within 48 hours, such as blocked drains and boiler failure. During office hours please contact the Property Team for advice before any work is carried out:

Office Hours Contact:  Property Team or 01727 615623

Out of Office Hours Contact: Please contact a local contractor directly to ensure that the problem is quickly resolved, reducing risk to people and property. If possible contact a contractor known to the parish, or alternatively use a Check-A-Trade approved contractor to ensure reputability. Please be aware of the risk of being over-charged by emergency contractors sourced from online searches.

Please also log the issue on Fixflo so that we are aware.

Our approved contractors for common problems are:

All emails concerning repairs must have the benefice name, your name, and the problem in the subject line please.

For routine repairs please use Fixflo to report all issues.

For routine repairs please use Fixflo to report all issues.

Property Team or 01727 615623

The Property Committee is grateful for any minor repairs which an occupant can carry out on a DIY basis and the cost of materials will be reimbursed if necessary. Otherwise the Property Team will arrange for the repair to be carried out or, on occasion, authorise an occupant to use a local contractor. Unless these procedures are followed, the Property Committee cannot guarantee that the expenditure will be reimbursed.

Please read the advice leaflet for information on condensation, penetrating damp or rising damp. This provides practical actions you can take to reduce these as well as advice on treatment.

A comprehensive source of information is the Clergy Housing Handbook .

Council Tax is paid by the St Albans Diocesan Board of Finance for stipendiary clergy and House for Duty clergy living in clergy houses; arrangements are different for clergy living in their own houses. The Property Team needs to know the dates of movements into clergy houses and also the dates of moving out for outgoing clergy; please email the  Property Team with details.

There is a 25% Council Tax discount for houses occupied by a single adult, so it is important that the Property Team is told how many adults (companions or relatives over the age of 18 if any) are living in a house in addition to the clergy person.

If the clergy person has a lodger the Parsonage Estates Manager should also be informed and it is essential that the Property Team is notified of any changes in occupation. Councils occasionally ask for confirmation that houses still have only one adult occupant where the discount applies. If the occupant does not respond the discount is removed, so it is important to reply.

The Diocese insures the buildings as part of a block insurance policy. Clergy are responsible for the insurance of the contents.

Although the responsibility for internal decorations rests with the occupants, we recognise that it can be quite expensive to decorate even one or two rooms per year on a rolling basis. For this reason the Diocesan Board of Finance has agreed to provide grants towards the cost of decorating materials for internal decorations, up to a maximum of £250 for work done in a year.

Please email the Property Team for details of this year’s scheme and the Internal Decorations Grant Form, to give us details of the internal decorations you are proposing to carry out, together with an approximate estimate of the cost of materials.

If approved, costs of materials will be reimbursed on production of appropriate receipts/invoices.

The Diocesan Board of Finance’s current policy is to carry out a full electrical test of the fixed wiring every ten years, which often coincides with alternate quinquennial inspections. This may sometimes be brought forward, for instance if other major work is being carried out which requires electrical alterations.

The appointed electrician will phone to arrange a convenient appointment for the inspection and test at the house. Their time on site will vary depending how many circuits there are to test, but for a typical parsonage this is likely to take up to half a day.

The electrician will need access to all rooms, as well as the loft and garage. Clear access will be needed to the consumer unit (fuse board) and to every power point. If there are additional power points hidden behind heavy furniture or appliances which cannot readily be moved, their presence should be brought to the electrician’s notice. A representative sample number of socket outlet face plates and light switch face plates will be taken off and re-fitted.

Following the inspection the electrician will produce a Domestic Electrical Installation Inspection Report which is sent to the Property Team. This records the electrician’s test results and observations. It will classify each observation either ‘Code 1 – Danger Present’, ‘Code 2 – Potentially dangerous’, ‘FI – Further Investigation Required’ or ‘Code 3 – Improvement recommended’. Code 1 and code 2 items will need addressing to achieve a clean bill of health and will require a follow-up visit by the electrician. Code 3 items are not necessarily dangerous but are best practice improvements to bring the installation in line with the latest wiring standards, which are frequently updated.

The Diocese is required by law to service gas boilers and other gas appliances in parsonage houses. We have a contract which provides for this work to be undertaken and a gas safety certificate issued annually. The contractor is Safesure and they will make contact when the annual check is due, to arrange a time to carry out this work. Occupants are obliged to allow access to enable this and the regular scheduled inspections of the property to take place.

Water bills for incumbents are paid for and dealt with by the Finance Department  of St Albans Diocesan Board of Finance. We advise clergy not to have a meter installed where there isn’t one in place already. Water rates for curates are paid by their parishes.

The Diocese is charged with having all parsonages inspected every five years. The inspection is carried out during office hours by the Diocesan Surveyor. Following the inspection, all repairs found necessary will be carried out at Diocesan expense.

The priority of the Property Committee is the safety, security and welfare of those living in the clergy housing. It will maintain the structure and exterior of the parsonage house including doors, windows, drains, gutters and external pipes, and keep in repair all walls, fences, gates, drives and drains. It will keep in repair and proper working order the supply of water, gas and electricity and also basins, sinks, baths, toilets and heating.

Following the inspection, the surveyor will issue a written report and schedule of repairs. Quotes will be obtained and the occupants’ co-operation in allowing the surveyor and contractors into the house is required. Only work authorised on the schedule will be carried out. Should any additional work be found necessary, this must be discussed and authorised by the Parsonage Estates Manager or Property Committee.

Work may be requested that is considered to be an improvement. Improvement work is subject to the availability of funds and the Committee being satisfied that the works are justified. The parish/incumbent is not expected to contribute to the costs of the improvement works. Any improvement put in hand without prior approval of the Committee will not be refunded. Clergy have a duty to take proper care of the house, equivalent to that of a tenant, and to use the premises in a proper manner.

Please read Guidelines on Lodgers for Occupiers of Clergy Housing.