Your Tenancy Service Standard
We are committed to managing your tenancy as fairly, efficiently and accurately as we can.
To achieve this, we will do the following:
- Visit you within 4 weeks of the start of your tenancy to make sure you have settled in well and to offer you and advice or support you might need. When this visit takes place depends on the RAG rating given to the new tenant during pre-tenancy screening.
- Visit your home occasionally to check the condition of the property and who is living there. This is known as a property inspection.
- Arrange to meet you in our office, or to visit you in your home at a convenient time, if you want to discuss your tenancy.
- Help you to fill in forms to do with your housing if you require assistance.
Successions:
Succession is where another person takes over (succeeds to) a tenancy after the tenant’s death. (In line with Housing Act)
If you want to take over the tenancy of someone who has died, we will do the following:
- After you tell us about the death, an officer will visit your property within 10 working days to assist with completing the relevant paperwork.
- Once the decision has been determined an Officer will send you a letter advising of the next steps.
Assignments:
An assignment is when a tenancy is transferred (assigned) from one person to another.
If the courts ask us to transfer a tenancy we will:
- Agree to this when we receive a copy of the court judgement.
- Ask you to sign a new tenancy agreement to accept the tenancy and the tenancy conditions and any rent arrears.
Mutual exchanges:
If you want to exchange (swap) your home with another tenant of any council or registered social landlords (usually a housing association) we will do the following:
- When you identify someone you'd like to exchange with, we will ask you all to fill in forms giving details of your households.
- Inspect your home within 14 days of receiving all applications for an exchange and arrange to carry out repairs that you are not responsible for.
- Give a copy of the inspection report to you and the person you're exchanging with.
- Ask you to do any repairs that you are responsible for before you move. We will not agree to an exchange without these being carried out.
- Tell you to take your time inspecting your new home before you apply for an exchange. We are not responsible for anything that is your responsibility once you have moved in.
- Tell you that you may not have the right to buy your new home if it belongs to a housing association.
- Tell you whether or not we agreed to your exchange. We will do this within 42 days of receiving all the information we need from you and the person you're exchanging with.
- Ask you and the other tenant to sign a deed of assignment (legal document transfer in the tenancy) and accept the tenancy conditions.
- Organise gas plumbing and electric checks to play take place as close to the day of exchange as possible.
Changing the name on the tenancy agreement:
If you would like to change your name on the tenancy, we will agree once we receive a copy of your marriage certificate or a deed poll to confirm your new name.
You can help us by doing the following:
- Keeping your tenancy conditions in a safe place so that you can easily check the details.
- Keeping to the conditions of your tenancy.
- Asking us for any changes in writing or by using the relevant form.
- Giving us any information we need as quickly as possible and signing letters and documents when we ask you to.
- Updating us on who lives in your home.
- Making sure you and your family understand your rights and obligations, particularly about taking over a tenancy after a tenant's death.
- Letting us know if a property is being lived in unlawfully or has squatters in.