What should a tenant maintenance update say?
A useful maintenance update identifies the job, says what has actually happened, explains what remains and gives the next agreed visit or update. Name the person handling questions. If nothing has progressed, say what is holding the work up and who is dealing with it. Keep the resident's message short and retain the detailed work record internally.
For landlords using its scheme, the Housing Ombudsman recommends clear repair timescales and progress information, agreed appointment contact methods, prompt rescheduling updates and accessible repair records. The copyable sheets below turn those communication tasks into a practical contractor workflow.
Use a stage such as “work under way” or “awaiting a decision” when that describes the facts. Three ticked items out of five do not establish that a repair is 60% complete: the remaining tasks may require most of the work.
Source: Housing Ombudsman: repairs expectations, communication and records
Copy this resident progress-update sheet
Fill the sheet from the latest job record before writing the message. Check the recipient and the contact method agreed for this job.
| Field | Copy and complete |
|---|---|
| Job and update | Reference ___; work described ___; update date/time ___; checked by ___ |
| What happened | Visit made ___; work actually completed ___; area affected ___ |
| What remains | Remaining work ___; current condition/use restrictions confirmed by the responsible worker ___; question still unresolved ___ |
| Dependency | Part, access or decision needed ___; person dealing with it ___ |
| Next contact | Confirmed visit ___ OR proposed visit needing agreement ___; next update due ___; contact for questions ___ |
| Delivery record | Agreed recipient/channel ___; sent at ___; reply or failed delivery ___; next action ___ |
Keep a proposed appointment labelled proposed until it is agreed. If the completion date is not known, give the next update you can commit to rather than inventing a finish date. A sent message and a resident's acknowledgement are separate entries.
Four fictional messages for different stages
These are fictional wording examples, not messages from a customer job. Replace the reference, work, times and contact route with the actual record before using one.
1. Work under way
Update on job EXAMPLE-01: the kitchen cupboard doors have been refitted. One replacement hinge is still needed, so that door remains unfinished. The office is checking the part and will update you by 3pm tomorrow. Please contact the office if you have a question about the visit.
2. Waiting for an agreed decision
Update on job EXAMPLE-01: the additional cupboard-door work is waiting for the person who approves changes to confirm the revised scope. A return visit has not been booked yet. The office will update you by 3pm tomorrow, including whether there is a confirmed visit date.
3. Unable to gain access
We attended for job EXAMPLE-01 during the agreed appointment window today but could not gain access. The planned work has not been completed. Please contact the office to agree access and another appointment. We will confirm the new slot once it is arranged.
4. Ready for handover
The agreed cupboard-door work on job EXAMPLE-01 has been completed. The office has sent the work summary and the relevant photos through your agreed contact route. Please let the office know if you cannot open them or have a question about the work.
Choose the message that matches the record. “Ready for handover” does not settle an outstanding change approval or tell you whether an invoice has been paid.
Keep the room-by-room evidence index internally
The resident update is a summary. Use this separate index to follow the work without losing the detail when different people attend.
| Work item | Record and next action |
|---|---|
| Room/area and item | Room/area ___; item ___; work-order reference/revision ___; actual state ___; checked date/time ___ Assigned person ___; next task ___ |
| Before work | Relevant condition note ___; permitted photo/file reference ___; taken at ___ Recorded by ___; unanswered question ___ |
| During/after work | What changed ___; photo/report reference ___; incomplete or unresolved item ___ Responsible worker ___; follow-up ___ |
| Requested change | Proposed scope ___; variation reference ___; approval status ___ Person authorised to decide ___; decision due ___ |
| Handover | Actual completion evidence ___; documents delivered ___; missing item ___ Recipient ___; acknowledgement or next action ___ |
The existing job sheet can hold the visit/work notes; the variation form records an agreed change. Use the accepted scope of works to decide what belongs in the original work order.
Keep photos and personal details relevant to the task and share them with the people who need them. Avoid copying unrelated resident information or private access details into a general progress message. The ICO's data-minimisation guidance describes keeping personal data adequate, relevant and limited to the purpose.
Source: ICO: data minimisation
Record a no-access visit without guessing why
Record the appointment that was actually agreed, arrival time, the access attempt and the result. “Could not gain access” describes an observation; it does not establish why the resident was unavailable.
- Appointment: job reference ___; agreed date/window ___; confirmed access arrangement ___.
- Visit: arrival ___; agreed contact attempt and result ___; factual access note ___; relevant permitted evidence ___.
- Unfinished work: planned task not completed ___; person handling the access question ___.
- Next action: resident update sent ___; appointment proposed ___; appointment subsequently agreed ___.
Send the factual result to the responsible office or property contact and agree the next step. A contractor's attendance record does not grant permission to enter. The landlord access guide covers the separate access question.
Keep resident feedback and commercial approval separate
A resident may confirm that they received the update or raise a concern about the finish. Record that feedback. Separately record who can approve extra work, who accepts the commercial completion and who pays the invoice. One person's reply does not answer every question.
Use the quote-to-handover record pack for those separate decisions. For an existing HVAC report, use the report-to-job handover index to check the document belongs to this job before sending it.
At the next agreed update, read the work record again, correct anything that has changed and record what was sent. Use the actual work stage and the next agreed action to write the update.