After builders cleaning in Oldham

Across the borough 38.5% of households live in a terraced house, 35.9% in a semi and 12.3% in a flat (Census 2021). Near the town centre the houses are older: round OL1 1LF, 43.1% of homes with a recorded build date went up before 1919, and 53.3% of households live in a terrace.

In a house of that age the dust from a replaster lands on the picture rail, the tops of the doors and in the gaps between old boards. The crew starts at the ceiling line, works down and dusts a second time, because the finest dust settles again an hour later; getting plaster dust out of a home sets out the method.

The other half of the work is new. Under the Oldham Town Living programme the council and its development partner have planning approval on six town centre sites, among them Prince's Gate and the Civic Centre and Civic Tower, towards up to 2,000 homes. Places for Everyone allocates around 1,450 homes at Broadbent Moss and around 480 at Beal Valley beside it. A handover clean in a new flat means dust inside the kitchen units, labels on the glass and paint spots on the floor.

Only a skip operator registered with the council can get a permit for a skip on an Oldham road. For April 2026 to March 2027 registration costs £250 and a permit £47 for up to 28 days; an unregistered firm pays £145 for a one-off permit. Pavements and verges are normally off limits, a skip within 15 metres of a junction needs the Traffic Section's say-so and yellow lines need a dispensation from the parking team. A scaffolding licence costs £122 per 28 days and a hoarding licence £98.80, and in the town centre scaffolding goes up or comes down only after 6pm, before 8am or on a Sunday.

That paperwork belongs to the builder and the skip firm. The crew needs a clear path to the door and a place for the van all day. Visitors may not use resident bays in Oldham's parking schemes: they use the limited-waiting sections or a visitor pass where the scheme issues one. A driveway is the easy answer.

The council's conservation area dataset names 36 areas, from Uppermill, Dobcross and Delph to Oldham Town Centre and the Failsworth Pole area covered on the page for Failsworth (M35), and the council says the dataset is still being completed. Owners are asked to talk to the planning service before any work in one. Within 800 m of the middle of Coldhurst ward lie the Alexandra Park and Oldham Town Centre conservation areas and 30 listed buildings, among them the Grade II* Church of St Mary and St Peter. Original glass, tiled halls and old boards are cleaned gently, and the crew tells you on the day if a paint spot will not lift safely.

The selective licensing designation took effect on 4 July 2022 and covers five areas inside the Alexandra, St Mary's, St James, Waterhead, Coldhurst, Werneth, Chadderton South, Hollinwood and Medlock Vale wards; the page on builders cleans in Chadderton covers the Chadderton side. A licence costs £582 in total, £340.34 with the application and £241.66 once granted, and the application needs an EICR dated within five years and a current gas safety certificate. A five-bedroom HMO licence costs £834 plus a £380 compliance fee once issued. Put the electrician and the gas engineer in before the cleaners: a socket chased in after the clean puts dust back on every skirting.