Milton Keynes City Council announced on 20 March 2026 that 98 per cent of eligible council home repairs are now being finished in a single visit following a new agreement with Mears in Buckinghamshire.
The five-year contract with Mears began on 4 August 2025 and covers roughly 11,000 homes across the city. This 230 million pound project was created using direct feedback from thousands of residents who asked for faster fixes and clearer communication.
New features in the service include evening repair slots on Wednesdays and a 14-day priority service for problems that happen more than once. The council also set up a resident group called My Repairs to help check that the work stays at a high standard.
These changes follow a 2023 report from the Housing Ombudsman Service which found serious failings in the previous repair system that left some issues outstanding for years. Since the new contract started, 32,000 repairs have been completed with many tenants giving the service a five-star rating.
According to Councillor Ed Hume, involving tenants in the design of the service has helped the council give people more of what they want. Data from January 2026 shows that 89 per cent of residents were satisfied with the help they received from the repair teams.
About this article: This story was put together with the help of AI tools and checked by a real person on our team. We're a small crew trying to cover as much of the UK as we can on a limited budget. We're getting better every day - but we're not perfect yet. If something looks off, let us know. You're part of the process.
