As a tenant of High Peak Borough Council you have a secure tenancy. This means that you have the legal right to live in your home as long as you want to, providing you keep to the conditions of your tenancy. These conditions are set out in your Tenancy Agreement. You will have received a copy at your sign up interview.
What is a tenancy agreement?
A Tenancy Agreement is a legal document that all new tenants must sign at the start of their tenancy. It is a legal contract, which sets out the rights and responsibilities of both you as a tenant and the council as your landlord. By signing the Tenancy Agreement you agree to abide by the conditions of your tenancy. It is an extremely important document, and you should read it carefully and keep it in a safe place.
What happens if I break my Tenancy Agreement?
If you break any of the conditions of Tenancy Agreement we can take action to end your tenancy. In most circumstances we will try to sort out any problems with you and reach an agreed solution. However, if the problem is serious and we cannot solve it together, we may have to take steps to re-possess your home.
Step 1
If you have broken one or more of the Tenancy Conditions, a Neighbourhood Co-ordinator will contact you. You will be given the opportunity to put things right. If the problem stops at any point in the process, no further action will be taken against you.
Step 2
If you continue to break the conditions of the agreement we will serve you with a notice of seeking possession. This is the first legal step we take to re-possess your home. The notice gives you 4 weeks to start putting the problem right.
Step 3
If, after 4 weeks, the problem continues we will apply to court to re-possess your home. The court’s decision will be based on the evidence presented and the seriousness of the problem. We will have to prove to the judge that you have broken the agreement conditions and that re-possessing your home is reasonable action to take.
Remember…
- We can stop the action at any point if you sort the problem out.
- You are likely to lose your home if you continue to break your Tenancy Agreement
If you are evicted from your home you will not be able to join the Council’s Housing Register again, and it is unlikely that you will be re-housed as a result of your homelessness.
What are the Tenancy Conditions?
The full list of tenancy conditions is set out in your Tenancy Agreement. The following are just a few examples of behaviour that would break your Tenancy Agreement:
- Falling into rent arrears
- Behaving in an anti-social behaviour
- Playing very loud music
- Failing to keep your garden in a neat and tidy condition
- Failing to keep domestic pets under control
- Using abusive, threatening or violent behaviour towards your neighbours and/or staff.
- Selling illegal drugs at the property
What are your rights as a secure Tenant?
As long as you keep to the conditions of your Tenancy Agreement, you have the right to live in your home for the rest of your life. You also have many other rights as a secure tenant. These include:
Right to Succession
It may be possible for members of your family to take over your tenancy when you die – this is called succession. The following people have a right to inherit your tenancy when you die:
- A husband, wife or someone living with you as you as a partner at the time of the death
- Another family member or relative that has lived with you for at least the previous 12 months. They may be asked to prove this.
- If a family member or relatives cannot agree who should take over the tenancy, we will decide. We normally only allow tenancies to be passed on twice.
Right to take in lodgers
You can take in lodgers without our permission, although you should let us know. You should also remember the following important points:
- You must not let your home become overcrowded
- If you are getting help towards payment of your rent and/or council tax, you must tell the Revenues and Benefits Team at High Peak Borough Council. Taking in a lodger could affect the amount of housing benefit that you receive.
- If you currently live alone, you must tell the Council Tax Section at High Peak Borough Council that you are taking in a lodger. You will lose your entitlement to the 25% single person’s Council Tax discount.
Contact them at:
Council Tax Section
High Peak Borough Council
Town Hall
Buxton
Derbyshire
SK17 6EL
Telephone: 0845 129 4858
Email: counciltax@highpeak.gov.uk
Right to Sub-let
You may be able to sub-let your part of your home but only with our permission. If you sub-let all of your home you will lose your secure tenancy.
Again, if you are claiming housing benefit, you must let the Housing Benefits Section know because your claim may be affected.
Sub-letting is not the same as taking in a lodger. A lodger usually shares your home and may have meals with you. He or she may pay for food, bills and upkeep. A sub-tenant has their own use of part of your house where you need their permission to go. A sub-tenant does not have any meals provided and he or she would normally do their own cooking and cleaning.
Right to Buy
You have the right to buy your home if you have been a council tenant for at least 5 years, unless your tenancy began prior to 18th January 2005 in which case you must have been a tenant for 2 years. However the right to buy scheme does not apply to some properties including sheltered housing and elderly persons’ accommodation. If we agree that you have the right to buy your home, you will be entitled to a discount on the price. The amount depends on the amount of time you have been a council tenant and whether you’re buying a house or flat. For further information contact High Peak Borough Council's legal department on 0845 129 7777.
Right to Improve
You have the right to improve your home e.g. a new kitchen, a new bathroom, outside painting etc. You must get permission from us first and any work must be carried out within the guidelines we give you.
Right to Repair
By law, we must carry out certain small, urgent repairs that might affect your health, safety or security within a set number of days. Repairs that are covered by the right to repair are called “qualifying repairs”.
If we fail to complete any of these qualifying repairs on time, you can instruct us to get an alternative contractor to carry out the work instead. In the unlikely event that the second contractor also fails to do the work on time, you may be entitled to compensation.
Below are some examples of the qualifying repairs and the number of working days within which we must either permanently repair it or make safe if we cannot complete a permanent repair:
Unsafe power or lighting socket or electrical fitting…..1 working day
Blocked flue on open fire or boiler……………………...1 working day
Toilet which does not flush……………………………...1 working day
Loose or broken banisters or handrails………………..3 working days
Leaking roof……………………………………………….7 working days
Right to exchange
You have the right to exchange your home for a Council or Housing Association home in High Peak or another council area in certain circumstances. Please contact our Housing Options Team for further information.
Right to be consulted
We must consult you about important changes such as large scale building work, how your home is managed or changing the way in which we collect rent. for more information see the Getting Involved section.
Right to Assign
You have the right to assign (legally hand over) your tenancy to someone else in certain circumstances. We can only allow you to hand over your tenancy to specified persons for reasons such as:
- Mutual exchanges (swapping home with another secure Tenant)
- A court order in connection with divorce or childcare proceedings.
In some cases, if you want to leave your home, we may let you hand your tenancy over to another family member. We would only allow you to pass your tenancy onto someone who could legally inherit or succeed to it. You must get written permission from the council before your tenancy is handed over to another person.
What are your responsibilities as a secure tenant?
You must…
- Keep to the terms of your tenancy agreement
- Pay your rent
- Be a good neighbour
- Respect other s rights to live in peace and quiet
Joint Tenants
Each joint tenant is equally responsible for keeping to all the conditions for the Tenancy Agreement. Here are a few important points to remember about joint tenancies:
- Both tenants are equally responsible for paying the rent and for any rent arrears.
- Either joint tenant can apply for Housing Benefit
- If one of the joint tenants dies, the tenancy is automatically transferred to the other joint tenant. This is classed as a succession of tenancy.
- If your relationship breaks down it is not possible for one joint tenant to evict the other. You should discuss the situation with us and/or seek legal advice. If one joint tenant leaves and wants to give their share of the tenancy they should contact us
Creating a Joint Tenancy
If you are the only tenant and you want someone to join your tenancy so that they have the same rights as you, we will agree to create a joint tenancy providing:
- You are not breaking any of the conditions of your tenancy agreement
- The proposed joint tenancy would normally have been re-housed together with you from the Housing Register
- The tenant wishing to join the tenancy has a long-term commitment to the home.
What are our rights and responsibilities as the landlord?
We have the right to:
- Change the terms of your Tenancy Agreement, rent or other charges as long as we give you adequate notice before any changes come into force
- Enter the property without giving you notice in case of emergency or if there is a risk to any other person or property
- Take legal action against you if you break any of the conditions in your Tenancy Agreement
We have a responsibility to:
- Keep the structure of your home in good repair
- Carry out repairs that we are responsible for
- Allow you quiet enjoyment of your home as long as you keep to the conditions of your Tenancy Agreement
- Give you at least 24 hours notice if we wish to visit your property to inspect it, carry out repairs or make improvements.
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