We are entirely committed to doing our bit to make your community the best possible place to live – and an area to be proud of. We’ve pulled together the guidance below to help you tackle issues involving household waste, abandoned vehicles and fly tipping.
Throughout you’ll find more information on the refuse services we provide, as well as the ways in which you can help out – whether it’s reporting issues to us, your local authority or other organisations responsible for certain areas of waste management.
Getting rid of rubbish
Our communities should be safe, tidy and free from rubbish.
You can help keep your family safe – and the area around your home looking great – by knowing exactly how to manage your own waste, and knowing what to do if you see someone else disposing of theirs illegally.
What is fly tipping?
Fly tipping, the illegal dumping of waste, is a crime. Lots of different waste is fly-tipped including, household appliances like fridges and washing machines, waste from building and demolition work, animal carcasses and vehicle parts like tyres. Even hazardous waste such as oil, asbestos sheeting and chemicals is dumped illegally.
The most common is household waste.
Did you know that illegal fly tipping can result in an on-the-spot fine of £400 or, even worse, a £50,000 fine or prison sentence?
What should I do with my bulky waste?
Your local authority is the best port of call regarding bulky waste as most have their own disposal schemes in place, but you can also contact the Environment Agency for advice.
There is usually a small charge of disposing of bulky items. If you still need further advice on how to responsibly dispose of unwanted bulky waste we’re happy to help, so just contact us.
What should I do if I witness illegal fly tipping?
Your safety is the top priority and some wastes can be hazardous, so it is important to be extremely careful.
Anyone fly-tipping is doing so illegally, so it’s unlikely they will welcome onlookers taking notes or photos. However, if it is safe to do so, take down as much information as you can and report it to us directly via our online form. We will need to know what has been dumped, where is has been dumped, and by whom, if possible.
We can step in to remove and dispose of illegally fly-tipped bulky waste, but there is a cost involved, which is charged back to the building, as a shared cost between all residents, via your service charges.
Household and communal bins
To keep your local area safe and clean, it is vital to remove rubbish and waste from your home for collection by the responsible local authority. Your waste services will vary depending on whether you live in a single dwelling – like a house or bungalow – or a residential block with shared services.
Services for single households
Most waste services are provided by your local council, and you can contact them for more information on:
We look after the communal waste bins in residential blocks where we are responsible for the building, so if you have any issues with the communal bins, you can contact us to let us know.
We will also step in to assist if any illegally fly-tipped bulky waste is getting in the way of routine refuse collections.
Abandoned vehicles
If there is a vehicle, such as a car or van, in your area and you are concerned it may have been abandoned, you can report it to several organisations.
Before you do so, it is worth checking whether the vehicle is:
taxed;
legally parked and on a road with no parking restrictions;
in good condition; and
not causing an obstruction.
If it meets these conditions, it will not be considered abandoned.
If the vehicle does not meet the above conditions and is on a public road or other public space you can report it to your local council.
If the vehicle is parked in a car park or on other land that we manage, we are happy to help. Simply contact us and we’ll investigate it.
Keeping areas clear for fire safety
If fire and rescue services ever need to attend to a fire in your building, they must be able to get to the emergency quickly, without anything preventing them doing so. There also needs to be a clear path to escape in the event of an emergency. For these reasons, the common areas within our estates and buildings, like indoor and outdoor communal areas and escape routes in corridors, lobbies and stairwells, need to be kept clear.
We are absolutely committed to safety, and this includes looking after our buildings in a way that reduces risk – training our employees on fire safety and creating a great place for you to live.
We work in partnership with industry leaders such as West Midlands Fire Service and London Fire Brigade on how best to help keep you safe.
The removal of fly-tipped rubbish, abandoned vehicles and goods in communal areas is paid for through service charges, so if we can eliminate this anti-social behaviour, your service bills may be reduced.
If something doesn’t look right or you have any safety concerns, please tell us so we can investigate and put in place any required measures.
Our Property Managers are working to identify additional locations for customers to store pushchairs, bikes and mobility scooters. Please let us know if you wish to have access to these storage facilities, should we be able to identify additional locations.
