A guide to your social rented tenancy

Becomingour resident

A guide to your social rented tenancy

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Your tenancy 4Your information 5Our obligations 6Your obligations 8Being a good neighbour 11Your tenancy rights 12Final terms and conditions 15

Contents

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Your tenancy agreement is a contract between you and East Homes (part of the East Thames Group). It sets out:

your rights and responsibilities while you are our tenant, and

our rights and responsibilities as your landlord.

This booklet explains some of the key things you need to know about your agreement. We hope you nd it useful.

Your tenancy agreement is a legal document. If you think there is a difference between what we say in this booklet and what we say in your tenancy agreement, your agreement is correct.

Introduction

Phone: 0845 600 0830

Email: [email protected]

In person: 29-35 West Ham Lane, Stratford E15 4PH (Mon-Fri 8.30am-6pm)

Web: www.east-thames.co.uk

@

Contact us

If you ever have any questions about your tenancy, please get in touch:


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Your permanent tenancyIf we are considering giving you a permanent tenancy for the rst time, we will usually start you off on a temporary assured short-hold tenancy, sometimes also known as a starter tenancy. You will have a year to show us that you want to become one of our long-term tenants, by paying your rent on time, keeping your home in a good condition and behaving in an acceptable way. Providing you keep to the terms you sign up to, we will normally upgrade you to a full assured tenancy after 12 months.

If you are one of our long-term tenants transferring to a different East Homes property, your tenancy will be:

a secure tenancy if you rst became our tenant before 1989

an assured tenancy if you rst became our tenant in or after 1989.

Your temporary tenancyWe give temporary, assured short-hold tenancies to:

residents who live in some of our care and support schemes – you will normally be able to stay as long as you need support

young people living in our foyers – you will normally be able to stay while you take an active part in a foyer programme.

Your tenancy


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Your information

Details about you and your homeAt the front and back of your agreement we enter details including: information about the property you will be living in; the start date of your tenancy; anyone who will be living with you; and a photo of each tenant.

We also set out the rent and any other charges that apply when you rst move in, as well as any services we will provide, such as the cleaning and gardening of shared areas if you live on an estate.

How we use your informationWe ask you to sign a separate form at the end of your agreement to show that you understand and agree that we may use your details in various ways.

The form explains that we use these details ourselves and, when necessary, pass them on to organisations like our maintenance contractors, who provide services on our behalf. In certain circumstances, we may also pass on your details:

when it will help us to assist you

to meet our legal and other responsibilities

to assist other agencies with a good reason for needing it

to help prevent fraud.

We are always careful to meet the requirements of the Data Protection Act.


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1. To collect rent

We will collect your rent and service charges and issue you with quarterly statements. Before changing your rent or other charges, we will give you at least 28 days’ written notice. Your increase will normally apply from 1 April if you are an assured, assured short-hold or starter tenant. For secure tenants, the Rent Of cer registers a new fair rent every two years from the start of your tenancy (though we may charge you the rise in two annual stages). You have the right to appeal the Rent Of cer’s decision.

As your landlord we have a number of commitments to our tenants:

Our obligations2. To keep your home in good order

We are responsible for carrying out some repairs to your home. This includes: repairs needed to the structure of your home; repairs to xtures and ttings; repairs to heating, plumbing and wiring; and keeping areas you share with your neighbours clean and repaired. You can nd out about the repairs service you can expect in the repairs handbook for residents. Visit www.east-thames.co.uk/repairs.

3. To keep your home safe

Each year we are required by law to carry out a gas safety check. In return, we need you to allow us entry to your home to do this. We may also seek access to your home or the communal areas of your building for other safety checks, such as re safety checks or asbestos surveys for older buildings.


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4. To clearly set out the level of service you can expect

We have a set of customer promises (service standards) which explain the level of service you can expect from us. You’ll nd our customer promises at: www.east-thames.co.uk/customer-promises.

We report back to residents about how we’re doing against our promises in the quarterly newsletter, online and in the annual report.

We are also responsible for meeting all the current requirements of our regulator.

This means managing our organisation and your homes ef ciently, having fair policies, involving residents in our work and reporting our performance to you regularly.

5. To prevent fraud

With social housing in short supply, we are keen to prevent fraud. We may carry out tenancy checks to ensure you are still the tenant in the property. It is also why we take photos of you and your household when you move in.

6. To allow you to enjoy your home in peace

Apart from changes to what we charge, or changes to the services we provide, we can only alter the terms of your tenancy or licence agreement by agreeing this with you in writing – unless we are responding to a change in the law.

We may apply special rules to living in your home, such as house rules or a good neighbour agreement. We will attach these to your agreement. Breaking these rules means you are breaking your agreement.


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3. To insure your belongings

Our insurance doesn’t cover your personal belongings, so you should take out your own cover. Call us for details of low-cost schemes available.

4. To keep your home in good condition

You are responsible for keeping your home in good order. Unless you live in a foyer or sheltered or supported housing, you are expected to carry out minor repairs around your home and keep it decorated to a reasonable standard. If you damage or neglect your home we may charge you to carry out repairs. If you have a garden, it is your responsibility to mow the lawns and keep shrubs and trees in order. You can check the repairs handbook for residents to nd out more about your repair responsibilities.

1. To pay your rent on time

You must pay your rent, including any service charges, weekly in advance every Monday. If you are moving and owe us money from a previous home, you must pay off this debt in weekly amounts.

2. To tell us if your circumstances change

We ask you to con rm that you are not renting or the owner of a property elsewhere. You also need to agree not to rent or buy a property elsewhere while you are our tenant and to tell us if your circumstances change.

As a tenant, you have a number of responsibilities you need to be aware of:

Your obligations


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5. To ask rst if you want to change xtures and ttings

If you want to make changes to any of the xtures and ttings, you will need to get our permission rst. We will consider all requests, except for requests to install a satellite dish which we do not allow.

6. To give us notice if you want to move

You need to give us four weeks’ written notice ending on a Sunday if you plan to move from your home. You must pay all the rent and other charges you owe up to the end of the tenancy. When you move out, you must give us all the keys and take all your belongings and rubbish with you. If you leave the property in a poor condition, we will charge you the cost of putting things right. We will also charge for a lock change if you don’t return the keys and, in some circumstances, further rent.

7. To tell us if you’ll be away

You must let us know if you are going to be away for more than a month (two weeks if you live in a foyer), because otherwise we will assume you have abandoned your home.

8. To pay your household bills

Most of our tenants are responsible for paying their water charges and Council Tax direct to the water board and their local authority. If it is included in your rent we will let you know.

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9. To keep the home for your use

Your home is meant for you and anyone else living with you when you move in. You must not let it get overcrowded. If you are an assured short-hold tenant or starter tenants, you are not allowed to pass on your home to anyone else, or take in lodgers. You cannot allow anyone else to move in at all without our written permission.

If you are an assured or secure tenant, we may allow you to swap homes with another social housing tenant. We may also consider giving the tenancy to the remaining joint tenant/s if one is leaving. In addition, a court can order a tenancy to change hands as part of matrimonial proceedings.

Assured and secure tenants can take in lodgers who share some of their facilities, but you must give us full details rst. If you want to sub-let a separate part of your home, you will need our written permission.


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Many of the obligations in all our agreements are designed to make sure you are a good neighbour. We ask that you:

Treat your neighbours with respect and don’t cause a nuisance or harass anyone

Keep noise to a minimum, especially at night

Take care of any communal areas and gardens, including not leaving litter

You also need to make sure that you don’t:

become a gang member or allow anyone in your household to join one

use or supply controlled drugs in our around the property

Being a good neighbour

lay wooden oors or do without oor coverings for more than a month without our written permission (this is because neighbours often complain about the noise nuisance)

keep pets at our properties without permission, or allow permitted pets to cause a nuisance

park poorly on our estates, block access to dropped curbs, repair vehicles without permission, or park unroadworthy or untaxed vehicles (even on your own driveway) for more than seven days.


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Assured and secure tenantsAs an assured or secure tenant, you have the right to stay in your home as long as you like – unless you break the conditions of your tenancy or we have another good reason to take back your home. To take back your home, we have to take our case to court.

As a brief guide, we can ask the court for permission to take back your home if:

you owe us rent

you have broken another term of the tenancy

you or someone in your household has:

caused a nuisance, used the property for an immoral or illegal purpose, or broken the law in the neighbourhood

made a partner leave because of violence or threats

Your tenancy rights

damaged our property

lied or got someone else to lie to get the tenancy

you live at the property because of your job, but your job has ended

we need to make major repairs or demolish the building.

If you are an assured tenant, we can also ask to take back your home if:

we have another home to offer you

the original tenant has died and no-one still living there quali es as a successor


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If you are secure tenant, we can also ask to take back your home if:

you paid someone to swap homes with you

we gave you a temporary home while we made major repairs to your permanent home and now you won’t move back

you allowed your home to become legally overcrowded

your home was designed for someone disabled or elderly, but you don’t need this sort of accommodation and someone else does

you have succeeded to the tenancy, but you aren’t the original tenant’s spouse or civil partner and the home is bigger than you need.

Succession rights

If a secure or assured tenant dies, in certain circumstances their home can pass to someone else. You can succeed to a tenancy if you were the tenant’s spouse, civil partner or a live-in partner, providing you were living there when the tenant died.For secure tenancies, you can also succeed to the tenancy if you were a member of the tenant’s family and had been living there for at least the past year.Otherwise, if no-one quali es to succeed, we may consider granting a tenancy for the property, or a suitable alternative, to another member of the tenant’s household.Please note: There are no automatic succession rights if the original tenancy was a joint tenancy or if the original tenant was a successor already.


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Assured shorthold tenantsIf you are an assured shorthold tenant (including starter tenants during their rst year with us), we are renting you a home temporarily. We can require you to leave once you have been our tenant for at least six months. To do this, we have to serve you with a Notice Requiring Possession, giving you two months’ notice.

We can only require you to leave before the rst six months is up if you have broken your tenancy agreement or we have another good reason.

For example if:

you owe us rent

you or someone in your household has:

caused a nuisance, used the property for an immoral or illegal purpose, or broken the law in the neighbourhood

made a partner leave because of violence or threats

damaged our property

lied or got someone else to lie to get the tenancy

you live at the property because of your job, but your job has ended

we need to make major repairs or demolish the building.

We can also take back your home, with just four weeks’ notice in writing, if you are away for more than four weeks.


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Your agreement also reminds you that you have the right to make a complaint if you are dissatis ed with a service or how you have been treated. You can make a complaint over the phone, online or by email.

If for any reason we owe you money, it is our policy to set this against any money owed either by you or the tenant whose tenancy you succeeded to.

We point out that your agreement does not give rights to anyone other than you or us.

We also remind you that any changes in the law will apply to this agreement.

We hope you enjoy your new home.

Final terms and conditions


Calls to East Homes (part of East Thames Group) may be recorded and monitored for training and/or quality purposes. All address and contact details correct at the date of publication. Published by East Thames Group.

Issu

e da

te: A

pril

2011

This publication is printed on recycled paper.

Contacting usIf you have any questions about your tenancy, please get in touch:

Customer Contact Centre: 0845 600 0830 email: [email protected]: 020 8522 2006Fax: 020 8522 2001

29-35 West Ham LaneStratford, London E15 4PH(Mon-Fri 8.30am – 6pm)


Documents

A guide to your social rented tenancy