Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

Advice on carrying out home repairs

The Council realises that "cowboy builders" operate in the area and is keen to protect residents from shoddy workmanship and excessive charging.

The Government is also concerned about this problem and in response to this has launched the Consumer Direct service. Consumer Direct is an online and telephone consumer advice service to provide impartial advice on problems and disagreements with suppliers of goods and services. Consumer Direct can be contacted on 08454 04 05 06 or you can visit the Consumer Direct website.

The Government is also promoting the national Trust Mark scheme in Oxfordshire in partnership with Oxfordshire Trading Standards. The Council welcomes this initiative and building contractors are encouraged to join the scheme.

Homeowners intending to carry out home repairs should obtain independent advice before proceeding with building works. Recommendations from trusted friends and family can be a good source and professional agents (such as architects) may also be able to give advice; however, you must bear in mind that such agents may make a charge for advice given. 

When looking for a professional tradesman, it is recommended that you obtain more than one written quote for the works. You can also check whether your chosen firm/tradesman belongs to a professional trade association, although this does not guarantee the work will be of a high standard.    

Anchor Staying Put home improvement agency also provides a service for organising and monitoring building works for a fee. Those residents on income related benefits may be eligible for financial assistance, in the form of grants from the Council for carrying out home repairs. For more information see our page on Anchor Staying Put and for details of all the grants available see Grants to help you improve your home.

Should you have any queries about the above please feel free to contact the Housing Operations Team using the contact details on the right. You should also keep in mind that your building work may require planning permission or building regulations approval - for more details please see our Planning applications and Building control pages.