Your Tenancy

When you agree to rent one of our homes you will sign a contract called a tenancy agreement. It explains what we will do as your landlord, and what you must do as a customer. Generally, tenancy agreements include information about:

• Your rights and responsibilities
• The services we will provide to you
• How your rent and any service charges are calculated
• How both us and you will keep your home in good repair
• How to make a complaint

Because there are many different types of tenancy agreement, you must refer to your own tenancy agreement for specific details relating to your tenancy.

If you breach your tenancy agreement you risk losing your home.

If you want to end your tenancy with us, sign in to manage your home online and visit ‘Thinking of ending your tenancy?’ under My tenancy. Or fill in a Notice to Quit form and follow the instructions at the bottom of the page. Alternatively you can call us on 0300 555 6666.

Please check your tenancy agreement for details of the amount of notice you need to provide.

Our priority is to keep customers feeling safe and secure in their homes. Your Community Housing Officer can provide guidance on any housing or tenancy issues.

You can also contact us with any questions about your tenancy, or to request a copy of your tenancy agreement.

Yes. You can let someone else manage your tenancy on your behalf by giving them authorised third party access.  You will need to contact us directly, either verbally or in writing to make this request. To keep your information secure we may ask you to reconfirm these details occasionally.

Under-occupation is where a household is living in a home that has more bedrooms than it needs. Therefore the home is not occupied to its full capacity – or under-occupied.

We aim to make the best use of our homes. Where possible we try to avoid under-occupation so that we can provide customers with the most suitable homes for their needs. To do this we use a calculation to work out how many bedrooms a household requires. You can find this calculation in our Allocations policy.

Your Housing Benefit or Universal Credit could be reduced if you are living in an under-occupied home. Read Citizens’ Advice guidance about the so-called ‘bedroom tax’.

Overcrowding is when a household has fewer bedrooms than it needs to avoid sharing, based on the age, sex and relationship of the household members.

To prevent overcrowding we use a calculation to work out how many bedrooms a household requires. You can find this calculation in our Allocations policy.

If you believe you are living in an overcrowded home you may have housing options available to you. You can check your eligibility for our housing register and find out your options online by clicking here.

Housing fraud – or tenancy fraud – is a criminal offence and a breach of your tenancy agreement. There are many types of tenancy fraud. Some examples are:

• Deliberately providing false information or withholding information as part of a housing application
• Subletting a home to someone else without our permission
• Giving false information as part of a Right To Buy application

We have a zero tolerance policy towards tenancy fraud. We work proactively prevent tenancy fraud from occurring and our Community Housing Officers are trained to identify the signs of fraud. We work with partner organisations such as local authorities and the police to tackle fraud. If you suspect tenancy fraud is being committed, you can report it to us anonymously by contacting us. We will investigate any reports of suspected tenancy fraud received from neighbours and/or partner agencies.

Before you move into one of our homes we may need to make sure you are fully supported to ensure your tenancy with us is successful. We may contact you to make an appointment (which may be in person or a video call) and let you know what you will need during this appointment. If a TSA is a requirement of the tenancy and you do not attend the appointment, we may withdraw our offer of a home.

Your rent payment is due in advance. It is important that you keep up to date with your rent, as it is part of your tenancy agreement. But if you are struggling to keep up with your payments, please get in touch with us straight away so we can discuss how we may be able to support you. Our priority is keeping you in your home, so we will do our best to work with you to resolve the situation.