Welcome to your latest update on our communal grounds maintenance service!
We’re continuing to work with Groundscapes to ensure they meet our service standards and that any work which has been missed due to schedule changes is completed. If Groundscapes are unable to complete a scheduled visit because of weather conditions, they will return to complete the visit within 48 hours, weather permitting.
Progress is being monitored through regular site visits by our Estates Team. You can read more about the steps we’re taking to ensure a good service below. You can also share feedback about your grounds maintenance service at any time. If you have any concerns about the service or missed site visits, please contact us.
Groundscapes are currently focussing on making sure pathways and communal areas are kept clear of moss and litter. Although we don’t grit any surfaces, Groundscapes may use gritting salt to help clear moss from hard surfaces to ensure communal areas are safe.
Groundscapes have also now carried out all tree surveys and shared their findings with us. We’re in the process of scheduling any necessary work, and we’ll share more details once available.
For more information about what work Groundscapes is doing when, please refer to the below timetable.
Please note that gritting surfaces is the responsibility of your local council. Whilst we are not responsible for this, we do share safety advice regularly on Facebook. This is also available on our website. If you have any questions or concerns about gritting surfaces near your home, please contact your local council directly.
Find your local council: www.gov.uk/find-local-council
Find out which roads your council will grit: www.gov.uk/roads-council-will-grit
How to clear snow from a road, path or cycleway: www.gov.uk/clear-snow-road-path-cycleway
It’s important that communal areas are kept free of personal items to ensure all fire escapes and routes remain clear. This applies to both internal shared spaces and the external grounds. Keeping these areas clear of items helps protect you and your neighbours. It also allows Groundscapes to properly maintain communal spaces.
If you’re aware of any fly tipping, please report this to us as soon as possible. It's helpful to know what items have been dumped, if there is a certain day or time you are noticing this happening and if you have any idea who may be responsible.
By sharing this information with us, we can take steps to preventing it happening again which keeps service charges down. We’re continuing to work with the local authority to tackle this, who can take further action against individuals for fly tipping.
We are happy for customers to join us on site visits where we can. This way, we can address your concerns whilst we’re on site. If you’d like to join one of the team on their visit, simply let us know and we’ll let you know when we’re popping by.
We have recently completed our first round of visits with representatives and contractors to understand priorities for blocks, and we’re pleased to share that initial feedback has been positive. To ensure ongoing collaboration and a continued focus on the needs of each block, we arrange joint inspections every 3 months with our second round of visits taking place in February.
If you would like to become a block representative, simply contact us! As a block rep, you’ll join our team on inspections to report back on things like the quality of cleaning and grounds maintenance and any issues within communal areas around your home. For more information email: enquiries@thrivehomes.org.uk or call us on 0800 917 6077.
We are in the process of reviewing our Communal Area Standard to make sure it’s clear what our new providers are responsible for and to give clear examples of our standards. The updated standards will be shared as soon as they are available.
In 2025, we asked customers to share their thoughts on our grounds maintenance service when Groundsacapes took over as our new contractor. Listening to your feedback, we implemented the following actions to make sure we meet service standards:
- Have regular meetings with the contractor so we can tackle any emerging issues and keep you informed early on.
- Monitoring visits, including carrying out spot checks and assurance checks.
- Checking that contractors tidy up behind themselves, hedges are cut and that plants are not destroyed as part of grass cutting.
- Carrying out an estate inspection of each block every three months. Where there are problem sites, we increase these inspections to monthly or weekly where necessary.
We’ll soon be sharing another survey with customers to hear your feedback about our cleaning services over the last year. Want to let us know how it’s going? Become a Thrive Customer Voice member to get involved!
You can now view your grounds maintenance schedule on the Groundscapes website at: groundscapes.co.uk/service-provision
Simply enter your postcode to see when your last visit was and when you next visit will be.
We're always happy to hear from you, so if you have feedback to share with us about the service in general or if there is anything you’d like to hear about in my updates, visit: thrivehomes.org.uk/feedback
Adrian Anstee | Estates Team Leader