Kevin Jay
Posted on: May 23rd 2022   •    Posted in: General News

A day in the life of an Estate Ranger

Kevin Jay is one of the estate rangers here at Havebury and here he tells us more about what a typical day looks like for him.

“I have always been a bit of an early bird. My day normally starts at around 7:15 am with a quick check of my van, and a quick scan of the jobs listed for me on our system which we use to diarise and schedule what needs to be done that day.

Communication with the team is really important, and we’ll usually have discussed the previous day what we’re doing, and where we need to undertake things such as joint visits.

Much of our work revolves around health and safety risk assessments in our communal blocks to ensure our residents stay safe. This normally involves testing both the fire alarms and sprinkler systems. I also perform smoke vent system checks, emergency lighting checks, fire escape route access checks, utility cupboard checks and bin area checks.

Where we can, we’ll resolve any issues there and then and report any issues that need repairing or cleared. If we need to do this and we always arrange follow up visits to ensure issues have been resolved.

Grounds maintenance and tree issues feature largely in our work too, particularly as spring and summer come round. We try to be proactive, and report issues when we see them. We work closely with our grounds maintenance contractor, Idverde, to ensure our green areas remain looking their best. This includes joint monthly inspections of our estates. We carry out various checks and if there are any issues, we aim to resolve these before they become a bigger problem for our tenants.

Around mid-morning I have a coffee break and do some admin. As I am out on the road for most of the day it’s important to stop for a rest.

During my day I will also work with our Tenancy and Estates team to assist with a range of low level anti-social behaviour issues and abandoned vehicle reports. We are also ready for more urgent, short notice calls, mainly around welfare issues for some of our vulnerable tenants. We might be asked to obtain short notice footage of incidents from our CCTV systems or check that an area is clear and clean after allegations of drug use.

The health, safety and well-being of our tenants is our main priority. We work with our Servicing team to gain access for important gas and electric inspections. If we contact a tenant who is due a safety inspection, we will try and get an appointment booked in and confirmed.
One job usually turns into multiple jobs. If I’m visiting a tenant, I would typically look at carrying out void garage inspections or conduct a visual inspection of the estate or area whilst I’m there. We try to deal with issues as we come across them and I try to clear as many fly-tips as possible to ensure our tenants can enjoy where they live.

Late afternoon might bring a trip back to the office, to skip any waste that I may have picked up, return any fobs or keys I`ve used, and to catch up with colleagues in the office -quite a novel experience after the past couple of years and various lockdowns!

I make my way home, sort out any final admin, and plan the start of the next day. I try to complete as much ‘paperwork’ as I can in the van once I have completed a job, but it’s good to get this finished off after each day!

As I sit typing away at my desk at home, I become aware of my elderly Jack Russell Frodo, lying in the doorway giving me that, “It’s great to see you home, dad, but surely it’s time for tea” look. As I shut the laptop, he suddenly realises that it is”.


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