Housing

Conditions of Tenancy - Chapter 4

Your rights

This section explains what you can expect from us, as your landlord.

Living in the property

4.1 This agreement gives you the right to live in the property.

4.2 You can live in the property without interference from us as long as you, your friends and relatives, and any other person living in or visiting the property (including children), do not break any of the conditions in this agreement. If any of the conditions are broken, we may apply to the court to end your tenancy.

Tenancy succession

4.3 When you die, your tenancy may pass to your partner (whether he or she is a joint tenant of your home or not) or a relative who has lived with you continuously for the 12 months before your death. In both cases, the property must be their main home at the time of your death. Passing on the tenancy in these circumstances is called 'succession'. A tenancy can only be passed on once. If you have succeeded to a tenancy (for example, because the previous tenant died, or because you were a joint tenant and have become the sole tenant), your partner and relatives will not have the right to succession.

4.4 In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to assign your tenancy. This means you might be allowed to transfer your tenancy rights to a qualifying member of your household, as long as we agree before you leave the property. Please contact your local housing office for more information.

4.5 If your tenancy passes to a relative or your partner when you die, and the property is larger than they need or has a specific use such as a sheltered housing scheme for elderly people, we may ask them to move to another suitable property. We will do all we can to find them alternative accommodation. However, if they are not willing to move and it is reasonable in the circumstances, we may apply for a court order to get possession of the property.

Policies and proposals

4.6 You have the right to see our policies on housing, rehousing and exchanging properties.

4.7 You have the right to be consulted about any plans to change the way we manage, maintain, improve, demolish, sell or transfer our homes, or changes to do with services or facilities for our tenants. However, this right to be consulted does not apply to rents, charges or service charges.

Improvements

4.8 If you move and you have substantially improved your home (with our permission), you may be entitled to some compensation. However you may also have to put back the standard fixtures or fittings that were in place at the start of your tenancy. Please speak to your community housing management team for more information.

Secure tenants only

4.9 You have the right to take in a lodger but only if you do not cause overcrowding by doing so. (To understand what we mean by overcrowding, see 13.2).

4.10 You have the right to sublet part of your home, but you must get our written permission first. You must not sublet all of your home or sublet if this would cause overcrowding (see 13.2).

4.11 You have the right to exchange your home with another of our tenants, a housing-association tenant or a council tenant from another council. We may refuse an exchange if you do not meet certain conditions. If you exchange your property without our written permission, you will have to move back to your original home. If you fail to do this, we may go to court and ask for you to be evicted.

4.12 In certain circumstances, you have the right to buy your home. To be eligible to buy your home, you must have lived in a council or other qualifying property for at least 2 years (the 2 year period does not need to be continuous). The government is constantly reviewing right-to-buy legislation and these entitlements and qualifications may change at short notice. Please ask a housing officer for more information.

4.13 Certain small urgent repairs which might affect your health, safety or security are covered by the right-to-repair scheme. If they are not done within a specific time, you have the right to ask us to get another contractor to carry out the repair (or repairs). If the second contractor fails to do the repair work in time, you can ask us to pay compensation. You must give us notice of what you plan to do. The repair should be urgent and up to the value of £250. You should contact a housing officer, the housing advice centre, a solicitor, a law centre or a citizens advice bureau for more information.

Data protection

4.14 You have the right to see information we have about you, as covered by data-protection legislation. We may charge you a reasonable cost for providing this information.

4.15 The information you give us when, for example, applying for a council property, a transfer or any other service we provide is essential to help us provide the housing service.

4.16 We will keep the personal information you give us on our computer systems or within paper records. Whichever way, your personal information is protected under the data-protection legislation.

4.17 You should be aware that there may be times when we have to give your personal information to other organisations.

4.18 We will use the information you give us on your application to prevent and detect fraud against all public services.

4.19 When dealing with personal enquiries, we will treat all information confidentially, as set out under data-protection legislation.

4.20 If someone asks for information about you which is not covered by the legislation, we will always get your permission before we take any action.