Maintenance with Houst - All You Need To Know

Home maintenance - it ain't glamorous, but someone has to do it. The question is though, if you're halfway round the world on that dream trip, who?

Houst. Here's everything you need to know about maintaining your property whilst you're away.

What happens if something goes wrong?

Whilst we'd love to promise maintenance will never be required, sometimes the unexpected happens. Boilers can break and bulbs blow. What happens next?

1. Your guests - or perhaps our cleaner - will report an issue to Houst HQ either by contacting our 24/7 Guest Support Team or the Housekeeping Team.
2. We'll try to troubleshoot the issue, but if we're unable to solve the problem we'll contact you.
3. We'll ask if you've encountered the issue before - perhaps you know how to fix it. If not, we'll provide you with a quote from our maintenance team.
4. With your permission, we'll then organise to attend the property and resolve the issue at the earliest suitable time.

What if you can't reach me?

Whether it's due to time zone differences, an important meeting, or maybe even a jungle trek we understand that you won't always be easy to get hold of - it's why we're here to help, after all.

We'll wait to hear back from you if the issue is relatively minor (e.g. window cleaning, broken lightbulb). But if your home needs urgent attention (e.g. a leak, broken boiler) then we'll take action quickly to secure the safety of the property and any existing bookings.

We can only spend as much as you have previously authorised. Do please ensure you set up your preferences in the Houst dashboard - there are preset defaults!

Who do you send?

We have a range of in-house handymen who will attend to any minor, non-urgent issues such as changing lightbulbs, fixing TV aerials, and bleeding radiators.

For more complex, urgent matters we partner with a range of professional maintenance companies. We'd be happy to let you know exactly who, but there's too many to list here!

Of course, if you have your own trusted and preferred contact you'd like to use we'd be happy to coordinate with them too.

Any contractor will be able to access your property via a secure lockbox, so there's no need for you to be home.

How do tradespeople enter my property?

Gone are the days of waiting at home (or worse, paying someone else to wait) for a contractor to appear.

We'll ask your guests to leave a set of keys in the lockbox if they head out, and then we'll pass the access information on to our trusted suppliers.

For more on lockboxes, how they work, and why we use them see here!

How am I charged for any work?

Houst will receive any invoices or job reports.  We'll then add the charge to your next management fee. This is taken automatically, so there's no need for you to worry about any late payment fees!

You'll be able to see the invoice on your Houst dashboard, and we'll also pass on the job report.

But what if my guest caused the issue?

Accidents happen, however rarely. If we need to charge your guest for any maintenance work then we'll do this for you.

• On Airbnb: we'll open a claim on the 'resolution centre'. Your guest can pay, counter-offer, or decline. If they choose not to pay, we will raise the claim to Airbnb themselves who will then make a decision.
• On Booking.com, Expedia and HomeAway: we take a deposit of £150, and have the option of asking the platforms to charge your guest further.

If you'd like to find out more about exactly how we ensure your home is protected, see our guide here.

Ready to start your Houst hosting journey? Find out how much you could earn with our free pricing estimate!