Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) staff have been praised by Housing and Communities Minister Alex Neil after working round the clock to keep disruption to tenants to a minimum during the Arctic weather.

Staff at GHA’s Customer Service Centre (CSC), which is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, have dealt with hundreds of calls from tenants reporting problems due to the bad weather.

In one two-day period when the snow and ice were at their most severe, CSC staff took 329 calls about frozen pipes, 291 about burst pipes and 691 calls about gas maintenance from GHA tenants.

GHA - one of the biggest social landlords in the UK with 54,000 tenants - and its partner City Building have been pulling out all the stops to make sure the bad weather doesn’t spoil Christmas for its tenants.

Staff spent days checking on vulnerable tenants, contacting family members on their behalf and helping with the aftermath of the big freeze.

Concierges and housing officers helped out colleagues by working wherever they were needed in GHA local offices across Glasgow.

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City Building staff arranged for dehumidifiers to dry out homes affected by flooding, delivered drinking water to homes which have had their supply affected and checked electrics. City Building staff even did the removals for one GHA tenant who had to be temporarily re-housed.

Housing and Communities Minister Alex Neil said: "With Scotland experiencing the most significant snowfall at this time of year since 1965, it is heartening to hear about the tremendous efforts by GHA and City Building staff to help tenants across the city.

“These snow heroes are delivering a first rate service in the most trying conditions.

“Their dedication is mirrored across the country. Other publicly funded and voluntary bodies are also rolling up their sleeves and working hard to keep Scotland moving.”

GHA and City Building staff have also been clearing snow and gritting GHA sites and helping Glasgow City Council staff with gritting across the city.

GHA Area Director Mags Lightbody, who is in charge of the repairs service, said: “Our staff have dealt with a higher number of calls than usual over the past few weeks and tenants who phone in with an emergency in their home are our top priority.

“With our partners City Building, we’ve been doing everything we can to help tenants affected by the severe weather. The impact of the freeze has been minimised for our customers thanks to our huge investment programme which has provided new heating and energy-efficient overcladding to the majority of our homes. This has helped keep homes and families warm in these freezing temperatures.”

If tenants need to report a repair or frozen or burst pipes or a gas breakdown they should call the GHA Customer Service Centre on 0800 479 7979.

Staff will be able to give advice on what to do next and arrange a visit from our repairs team if necessary.

GHA’s Customer Service Centre is open 24 hours a day, every day.

(GK)