Dear resident
Happy new year and welcome to our third edition of Highrise Highlights – an update for residents living in high rise homes. If you have ideas for content that you would like to see, please email housingenquiries@leeds.gov.uk
Inside this email…
- New safety checks to your flat entrance door
- Acting on your feedback
- Fire safety reminders
- Investing in blocks to help reduce energy bills
- How to contact us
Flat entrance fire doors
All residents have a fire-resistant fire door fitted to their flat entrance. We’d like everyone to know how your fire door helps keep you and your building safe.
A fire-resistant fire door to your flat entrance is required by law and will have:
- A self-closer
- A fire-resistant door viewer
- If glazing is fitted within the door, it will be fire resistant
- A fire-resistant letter box assembly
- ‘Intumescent’ seals to the door frame (seals that swell if heated to stop fire spreading)
- Smoke seals to the door frame
- Fire resistant hardware including hinges and handles
- A thumb turn lock
You must never tamper with or alter any of the fittings. These doors are there to protect you, and other residents within the block.
If any fault or damage occurs to your door, you must report this on 0800 188 4000 and ask for an emergency repair. If you live in a PFI area, call your repair contractor directly.
From January 2023 onwards, when our Fire Safety Team carry out the fire risk assessment in your block, they will inspect your flat entrance fire door from both sides, inside and outside your home. We’ll let you know when we will carry out these inspections in advance. Please make every effort to allow us access to your home to carry out this inspection.
These door inspections are a requirement of new laws and are for your safety.
Under the new regulations, all residents, including leaseholders and their tenants, must comply and allow access for door checks to be carried out.
Acting on your feedback
A number of residents have fed back that sometimes our contractors are propping open communal entrance doors whilst they were working in blocks. We’ve now reminded our contractors that they are not to do this so we can keep the blocks secure – thank you for letting us know.
Fire safety – simple steps to help keep you safe
To help you, your family, and neighbours stay safe, there are some simple fire safety steps all residents can take.
Communal areas, landings, and balconies
- Don’t keep combustible items such as artificial flowers, furniture, rubbish bins or books in balconies or communal areas, including landings and lobbies
- Barbecues, wood burners and candles are not permitted on balconies
- Do not drop cigarettes over balconies
- Any combustible items found in the communal areas will be removed and disposed of.
Rubbish chutes and waste
We know that sometimes chutes get blocked, and rubbish gets left in areas where it shouldn’t be. Thank you to residents who use the chutes correctly and dispose of their waste in the correct way. It’s important that all residents dispose of waste correctly to help keep our buildings safe. Fires caused by rubbish or waste which has been incorrectly disposed of are common. To prevent fires, please remember to:
- Put waste in small bags and put the bags down the chute
- Don’t put loose boxes down the chute
- Don’t force bags down the chute
- Don’t leave bulky furniture on the landings
- Don’t leave any waste on the ground floor or in or around the lifts
Sprinklers
We’ve fitted sprinklers to 47 of our high-rise blocks, with 27 more blocks having sprinklers fitted by the end of 2025. If you have sprinklers in your home, please see the reminder below
 What to do if a fire starts
You should:
- Alert any other people in the flat
- Leave the flat and close the door after the last person
- Follow the escape route
- Never use the lift
- Not go back to your flat until you have been told it is safe to do so
If the fire is in someone else's flat, you can stay in your flat if you consider it safe to do so
Damp and mould advice
Thank you to everyone who has reported damp and mould issues directly to our new Damp and Mould team. As a council we are committed to making sure that our homes are safe and free from damp and mould. Contacting the team directly is the quickest way for these issues to be assessed and prioritised. Sending photographs to the team is a perfect way to show us what problems you are experiencing. Visit our website for guidance on reporting damp and mould issues.
Further advice is available from Shelter and in our damp and mould advice leaflet.
Helping residents reduce energy bills
Work is ongoing at Moor Grange Court and our three Lovell blocks as part of our investment programme to high rise blocks across the city. All four blocks will benefit from external wall insulation, helping reduce the amount of heat loss from the building, lowering our tenant’s energy bills. Work is due to be completed by the end of the year.
Contacting us:
To request a repair:
- Call 0800 188 4000
- Outside of office hours we will only take calls for emergency repairs.
Report block chutes on 0800 188 4000
Visit our website for fire safety information
Report concerns or compliments about cleaning standards on 0113 378 2338
Stuck in the lift? Press the alarm button or call 0113 273 5115
To make a rent payment: go to Housing Rent Payments or call 0300 456 0484. You can also call your local housing office to make a payment
For all general enquiries: Call 0800 188 4000 (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, 9am to 5pm; Wednesday 10am to 5pm). This number is free from a mobile and a landline. For all ongoing tenancy matters please contact your local housing office
Keep up to date with services available at the Hubs
If you live in a PFI area, contact your PFI contractor for all repairs and cleaning queries
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Swarcliffe PFI areas call 0345 366 4403
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Little London, Beeston Hill & Holbeck PFI areas call 0333 121 0074
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