Your Tenants Handbook

Transcription

1 Your Tenants Handbook Your Tenancy Agreement Your Rights & Responsibilities Your Rent Your Estate & Environment Getting Involved

2 Contents Jargon Buster Glossary of Terms 1 Introduction 1.1 Who is Sutton Housing Partnership? 1.2 What is the Tenants Handbook? 1.3 What services does Sutton Housing Partnership offer? 1.4 When do you need to contact the Council rather than Sutton Housing Partnership? 2 Contacting Sutton Housing Partnership 2.1 How to contact us 2.2 and Website 2.3 Emergency contact numbers 2.4 Visiting us in person 2.5 Writing to us 2.6 Your personal contacts 2.7 Our response standards to each method of contact 3 Your Tenancy Agreement 3.1 Different types of tenancies 3.2 The difference between Sole Tenancies and Joint Tenancies 3.3 Supported and Sheltered Housing 3.4 Tenancy checks 3.5 Tenancy fraud 3.6 Ending your tenancy 3.7 Succession to your tenancy 3.8 Assignment of your tenancy (transferring your rights) 3.9 Relationship breakdown 3.10 If we ask you to leave your home 3.11 Reasons why we can get possession of your home 4 Your Key Obligations Under Your Tenancy Agreement 4.1 Subletting and lodgers 4.2 Pets and animals 4.3 Cars and other vehicles 4.4 Flooring 4.5 Firearms customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

3 Contents 5 Our Key Obligations and Standards of Service To You 5.1 Service standards 5.2 Service reviews 5.3 Your right to be consulted 5.4 How we communicate with you 5.5 Our complaints process 5.6 Your data and your right to confidentiality 5.7 Access to your files 5.8 Freedom of Information 5.9 Equal opportunities 6 Anti-Social Behaviour and Domestic Violence 6.1 Disagreements with your neighbours 6.2 What is anti-social behaviour? 6.3 Reporting harassment or anti-social behaviour 6.4 What we can do about harassment and anti-social behaviour 6.5 Respecting our staff and contractors 6.6 Safeguarding and social services 6.7 Domestic violence 7 Your Rent 7.1 Paying your rent 7.2 Prepaid weeks 7.3 Details and statements 7.4 Housing Benefit 7.5 How to stop rent arrears building up how we can help 7.6 Legal action 7.7 Credit Union 8 Day-to-day Repairs 8.1 Who is responsible? 8.2 Recharges for repairs 8.3 How to report a repair 8.4 Pre-Inspections 8.5 Your right to repair 8.6 How long have we got to carry out your repairs? 8.7 What to do if a repair is not completed 8.8 Condensation and damp 8.9 Burst pipes and flooding 8.10 Properties destroyed by fire or major incident Website:

4 Contents 9 Planned Maintenance and Major Works To Your Home 9.1 Major repairs and improvements 9.2 Internal and external decorations 9.3 Right to improve your own home 9.4 Aids and adaptations 9.5 Electrical Testing programme 9.6 Annual gas servicing programme 9.7 Asbestos 9.8 Lift servicing 9.9 Communal door entry systems and aerials 9.10 Communal water tanks 9.11 Insulating your home 10 Your Estate and Environment 10.1 Estate caretaking and cleaning 10.2 Window cleaning 10.3 Estate tree maintenance programme 10.4 Your garden 10.5 The gardening scheme 10.6 Getting rid of rubbish 10.7 Recycling/Disposal of bulky items 10.8 Salting communal paths 10.9 Garages, sheds and parking spaces 11 Getting Involved 11.1 Tenant Participation Compact 11.2 Getting involved at the local level 11.3 Getting involved at a borough wide level 11.4 Tell us what you think - your compliments, comments and feedback 12 Safety, Security and Insurance 12.1 Fire safety 12.2 Smoke alarms 12.3 Home insurance 12.4 Home security 12.5 Identifying our staff 12.6 Crime prevention officers 12.7 Safecall community response system customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

5 Contents 13 Moving Home 13.1 The Council s Housing Register 13.2 Choice-based lettings 13.3 Mutual Exchanges 13.4 Under-Occupation Scheme 13.5 Mobility Schemes 14 Wanting to Buy 14.1 Wanting to buy your current home how the Council can help 14.2 Wanting to buy elsewhere how other schemes can help 15 Useful Contacts and Supporting Information 15.1 Useful contacts 15.2 Key leaflets available Website:

6 Jargon Buster - Glossary of Terms Term Aids and Adaptations Annual Report to Tenants Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Assignment of Tenancy Caretaking Service Contractor Choice-based Lettings The Council Credit Unions Customer Care Team Decent Homes Demoted Tenancy Domestic Violence Electrical Testing Emergency Estate Gas Servicing Housing Register Income Manager Introductory Tenancy Joint Tenancy Leaseholder Local Standards Definition Equipment or construction work to assist those tenants who require help in carrying out the physical activities of life such as grab rails or ramps. A report produced by the resident Scrutiny and Improvement Group to tell you how SHP has performed in the last year. Any disturbance or annoyance which upsets other people. Handing your tenancy to another person who has the right to take the tenancy on. The service provided to estates or blocks with communal areas, including seasonal work such as grass cutting, graffiti removal and inspecting playgrounds. A company whom SHP employs to do specialist work for example repairs or gas systems. The system by which most social housing (including Council properties) are allocated. The London Borough of Sutton who is the landlord and owner of your property. Community savings and loan cooperatives owned and controlled by their members who offer low cost flexible financial products to members. The team at SHP who will always be your first point of contact for enquiries about any of our services to you. A central government standard for modern homes. A tenancy that has been downgraded due to the tenant breaking the Tenancy Conditions, and is no longer secure. Any form of physical, sexual or emotional violence between people in a close relationship. A ten year cycle of maintaining and testing the safety of your electrical wiring, sockets and lighting. A serious risk to life or property. An area or groups of properties with similar characteristics. Annual servicing and testing of gas appliances and pipe work in your home. The list of applicants awaiting social housing or needing to move. The SHP staff member responsible for your rent and service charge collection, support and advice. A tenancy granted for a trial period. You and the other tenant have equal rights and are both legally responsible for paying the full rent and keeping to the terms of the Tenancy Agreement. An owner of a property for which the Council holds the freehold. Our promise of the standards that you can expect when you contact us or receive any service from Sutton Housing Partnership customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

7 Jargon Buster - Glossary of Terms Term Major Works Team Mediation Mutual Exchange Neighbourhood Inspections (or walkabouts) Neighbourhood Manager Pre-Inspection Visits Possession order Recharges Residents Associations and Panels Resident Repair Inspector Right to Buy (RTB) Mobile Response Service Safeguarding Scrutiny and Improvement Group (SIG) Section 16 Freeholder Secure Tenancy Definition The team who manages the planned programmes of work which do not fall under day-to-day responsive repairs. These would include external and communal decoration, kitchen and window replacements and box bathrooms. If neighbours have a dispute, a trained volunteer can help them to reach agreement. A scheme for Council and housing association tenants who want to swap their homes with other tenants. Inspections which take place at least twice a year on each estate by Neighbourhood Managers and repair surveyors to identify issues that need to be tackled including repairs, maintaining grounds and cleaning. The SHP staff member who can provide advice on tenancy issues such as sub-letting; parking; pets; gardens; refuse disposal; exchanging properties; ending a tenancy; abandoned properties; succession; and Introductory Tenancies. If we need to inspect any repair request or fault before sending out our contractor, one of our surveyors will visit. If you break any of the Tenancy Conditions or you are no longer entitled to occupy the property, the council can apply to the courts for possession of your home and to end the Tenancy Agreement. Extra charges you have to pay for damage or neglect to your property. Groups of tenants and leaseholders who have come together because they want to have a say in issues that affect the area where they live. A tenant or leaseholder who helps to check and monitor the standards for communal repairs. A government scheme giving certain tenants the right to buy their property. An alarm system for elderly or vulnerable residents. When you are worried that someone is being badly treated or needs help in any way due to age, health or mental illness, there is a special Safeguarding team within the Council s Adult Social Services department and a protocol to help. The resident led group directly involved in monitoring and challenging how we perform. The owner of a property who holds the freehold but resides within an estate or block for whom Sutton Housing Partnership provides services. A tenancy that can only be taken away via a Court Order in special circumstances. Website:

8 Jargon Buster - Glossary of Terms Term Sutton Federation of Tenant and Residents Associations (SFTRA) Sheltered Housing Sutton Housing Partnership (SHP) Sutton Leaseholders Association (SLA) Social Housing Sole Tenancy Succession Surveyor Tenancy Agreement Tenancy Checks Tenancy Conditions Tenancy Fraud Tenant Tenant Participation Compact Termination Form Under-Occupation Definition SFTRA is a borough wide organisation representing the interests of tenants and leaseholders. Housing for older people which gives residents the chance to live somewhere with their own front door and keep their independence, but have the peace of mind of having help and advice at hand when needed. SHP who is the provider of your day-to-day housing services. SLA is a borough wide organisation representing the interests of leaseholders. Rented housing owned and managed by local authorities and housing associations for which guideline target rents are determined through the national rent regime. You are solely responsible for paying the full rent and keeping to the terms of the Tenancy Agreement. Where someone else takes over the tenancy when a tenant dies. Specialist SHP staff members who may inspect any faults or repairs required in your property to diagnose the cause of the problem and agree the solution with you. The legally binding contract between you and your landlord (the Council). A visit by an SHP staff member to check on tenant well being and that all Tenancy Conditions are being upheld. The legal conditions given to you at the start of your tenancy which all tenants must adhere to. Where a Council-owned property is not occupied by the tenant(s) who are supposed to be there or a tenancy has been obtained by giving false information. A resident of a Council-owned property who has signed a Tenancy Agreement and pays rent to occupy their property. An agreement which sets out how SHP will work with and involve residents in improving housing and local neighbourhoods. The form you need to fill in to end your tenancy. If you are living in a property that is larger than your family needs. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

9 Introduction Who is Sutton Housing Partnership? Your housing service is managed by Sutton Housing Partnership. We are a non-profit making organisation set up in 2006 to manage Council housing and to bring investment and improvements to your homes across the Borough. Your home is still owned by the London Borough of Sutton and the Council is your landlord. The Council will set housing policies and decide the rent. However, Sutton Housing Partnership is responsible for providing the day-to-day housing management and maintenance services to you. We are committed to providing excellent, customer focused and cost effective housing services to all our residents and currently look after over 6,300 tenants and approximately 1,400 leaseholders. You can get involved in how we provide housing services and can really make a difference. There are many opportunities for you to influence decisions and scrutinise our services outlined later in this handbook. 1.2 What is the Tenants Handbook? You should use this handbook together with our Tenancy Conditions, as your guide to a successful tenancy. It explains in much greater detail your rights and responsibilities as a Council tenant, and our rights and responsibilities as the manager of the housing service. This handbook should tell you almost everything you will ever need to know about being a Council tenant and explain all the services that Sutton Housing Partnership provides to you. There is a separate handbook available for our leaseholders and Section 16 Freeholders. There have been many changes in housing law, with policies and procedures changing over the past few years. The handbook has taken all of these changes into consideration as at the date of publication, and we have tried to explain the changes which might affect you as a tenant. Where we use the words you or your we are talking about our tenants. Where we use the words we, our or us we are talking about Sutton Housing Partnership, who provide your housing service on the Council s behalf. Please keep the handbook for future reference. 1.3 What services does Sutton Housing Partnership offer? Sutton Housing Partnership provides services in the following areas and teams. Neighbourhood Management Customer Care Repairs and Allocations Sheltered and Supported Housing Income Collection Leasehold Services External and Caretaking Services Customer Involvement Communications Major Works Quality and Performance Planned Maintenance Website:

10 1 Introduction We can help with most enquiries about your home and your tenancy including the following. Anti-social behaviour Maintaining the grounds Aids and adaptations Major works/external decoration Caretaking services Moving to another home Credit Union Mutual exchanges Communal cleaning services Removing graffiti Communal repairs Rent and advice on debts Direct debits Repairs Domestic violence Safety (fire) Garage rental Sheltered housing Getting involved Succession of tenancy Harassment Swipe cards Home insurance advice Tenancy audits How to end your tenancy Tenancy fraud See our full contact information in section When do you need to contact the Council rather than Sutton Housing Partnership? There are some housing related services for which you will need to contact the Council rather than Sutton Housing Partnership including the following. Adult Social Services: Services to support older people, with a physical disability, sensory impairment, long-term illness, mental health or learning disability, and carers needs. Allotments: To apply for an allotment. Children s Social Services: Services to support children including referral and assessment services, early intervention, family support and care planning. Council Tax: Paying your council tax, checking your council tax, exemptions, reductions and discounts. Environmental Health Services: Services including noise, air pollution, fly tipping and litter, pest control, animals (strays) and water quality. Housing advice and homelessness prevention: Homelessness, tenants rights and housing related support. Housing information and assessments: How to apply for housing in Sutton and housing strategies. Housing Benefit: Claiming Housing Benefit, overpayments, appeals, changes in circumstances. Household waste and recycling: Bin collection, gritting, garden waste, large or bulky household waste, assisted refuse collection for disabled, neighbourhood and borough recycling centres. Insurance services: To apply for the tenants contents insurance scheme or to make an insurance claim against your policy with the Council. Parking services: Parking permits, disabled person s parking, and parking penalty charges. Street Scene: Potholes, highway and street lighting, abandoned vehicles, street and gulley cleaning. For enquiries for all Council services please visit the Council s web site at or call customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

11 Contacting Sutton Housing Partnership How to contact us Our Customer Care Team is your first point of contact for all our services. You can contact Customer Care between 8:45am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. Sutton Housing Partnership Customer Care Team Throughout this document you will see this Customer Care Team number at the bottom of each page for your convenience. Most of our phone calls are about repairs to property, which we pass to our contractor to carry out in line with our target response times. Although we try to respond to your calls as quickly as possible, please remember that our phones are often at their busiest first thing in the morning and during lunchtime. For gas servicing and central-heating breakdowns, please call our contractor Smith & Byford direct on Freephone and Website You can also contact us via using customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk. The Customer Care Team will direct your to the most relevant officer and you will receive an automated response to acknowledge receipt of your . Alternatively, you may choose to access our website On our website you can pay your rent, access your rent balance, log a repair and read through all of our information leaflets. 2.3 Emergency Contact Numbers Please remember that if you have an emergency out of office hours, (at weekends and before 8:45am and after 5pm Monday to Friday) you can contact the Council s emergency service on We can only respond to emergencies when there is serious risk to life or property. If an emergency (for example, a burst pipe or gas leak) happens at your home while you are away and we cannot contact you, we can enter your home. We will carry out emergency work to make your home safe and prevent further damage. We will then make your home secure. Call 999 for the Emergency Services, Fire Brigade, Ambulance and Police. If you smell gas, call the National Gas Emergency Service on Freephone The line is open 24 hours. You should: You should not: turn the gas off at the mains; and turn electric switches on or off; or open doors and windows to get rid of the fumes. use naked flames. Website:

12 2 Contacting Sutton Housing Partnership 2.4 Visiting us in person You can also visit our offices at: Sutton Housing Partnership Sutton Gate 1 Carshalton Road Sutton SM1 4LE Office opening hours: Monday to Friday, 8:45am to 5pm Staff will be available to take your enquiries in reception from 9am. If you want to see a particular member of staff, it is best to phone and make an appointment first. Home Visits We can also visit you in your home if you have difficulty coming to our office. Please call us to arrange a home visit. 2.5 Writing to us You can also choose to write to us at the office address as above. 2.6 Your personal contacts My Neighbourhood Manager is: My Repairs Surveyor is: My Income Manager is: My Sheltered Housing Officers are: 2.7 Our response standards to each method of contact Telephone Call Written correspondence 24 Hours 7 working days 7 working days for general enquiries 15 working days for complex enquiries customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

13 Your Tenancy Agreement Different types of tenancies When you agree to become the tenant of your home, you must sign a Tenancy Agreement. This is a legally binding contract between you and the Council, and sets out the responsibilities that both parties have. Although you are a tenant of London Borough of Sutton, Sutton Housing Partnership has responsibility for managing Council-owned property. We have already given you a copy of your Tenancy Agreement, and you should keep it in a safe place. It s really important that you keep to the terms of your tenancy agreement and the tenancy conditions. If you do not, your landlord could take action against you which could lead to you losing your home. Introductory Tenancies You will be given an Introductory Tenancy if you have not, immediately prior to being offered this tenancy, been a secure tenant of the London Borough of Sutton, another Local Authority or an assured tenant of another social landlord such as a housing association. The tenancy will be granted for a trial period. An Introductory Tenancy allows us to monitor your ability to keep to the terms and conditions of your Tenancy Agreement. If you do not breach the Tenancy Conditions you will automatically become a Secure Tenant after the trial period of one year. If before the end of one year we ask the Court to make an Order for possession of the property, and an Order is made, your tenancy will come to an end. We may choose to extend your Introductory Tenancy by 6 months as an alternative to applying to the Court for possession of your property. If you continue to break the conditions of your tenancy and do not put matters right, we will seek a possession order against you. Secure Tenancies Under the Housing Act 1985, most Council tenants have security of tenure. This means we have to get a Court Order to make you leave your home, and a court will only grant an order in certain circumstances, some of which are detailed later in this section. Demoted Tenancies If the terms of a secure tenancy have been broken, the council may apply to the court to downgrade the tenancy to a demoted tenancy. As a demoted tenant, you will also lose certain rights including the Right to Buy or to exchange your property. Breaking the terms of the demoted tenancy will lead to immediate eviction from the property. Other Tenancy Types There are other types of tenancy which may be granted in some circumstances. For instance, people who are housed in temporary accommodation will have a licence agreement. If you are unsure what type of tenancy you have, please check the paperwork you received when you signed up for the property, or contact your Neighbourhood Manager. 3.2 The differences between Sole Tenancies and Joint Tenancies If you hold a sole tenancy, your name will be the only one on the tenancy agreement and you will be solely responsible for paying the full rent and keeping to the terms of the Tenancy Agreement. If you have a joint tenancy, you and the other named tenant are both responsible for keeping to the terms of the Tenancy Agreement. You are both jointly and individually responsible for paying the full rent of the tenancy. Website:

14 3 Your Tenancy Agreement We can demand rent from either of you if you have missed payments on your rent, even if your relationship has broken down and one of you has moved out. A joint tenancy gives equal rights to anyone who signs the Tenancy Agreement. It is important to understand the differences and the implications before signing your Tenancy Agreement. If you are not sure what is best in your case, discuss this with your Neighbourhood Manager. Once the Tenancy Agreement has been signed, you can not add names or take names off, without permission from us. However, a Court may make an order transferring a tenancy as part of a divorce, separation or child care proceedings. 3.3 Supported and Sheltered Housing Sutton Housing Partnership is also able to provide support to older and vulnerable people in a number of different ways including Sheltered Housing, a Mobile Response Service and a Community Support Service. All of these services aim to enable people to live independently in their own homes, with the reassurance and knowledge that they can access support that they need. Sheltered Housing gives older residents the opportunity to live somewhere with their own front door and keep their independence, but have the security of help and advice at hand when needed. Each scheme is supported by Sheltered Housing Officers. Emergency Mobile Response Services: specialist staff will respond to emergency situations at any time of the day or night to assess and manage the situation. If you are or become a service user you need to purchase and install a key safe to enable them to access your property. For more information on these services and information on charges, please see our leaflet list at the end of this handbook which you can access via our website or by calling our Customer Care Team. 3.4 Tenancy Checks We aim to visit all tenants periodically to check on their wellbeing and to see if additional support or advice is needed. We take the opportunity to make sure our records are up to date, and also to check that the people living at the property are entitled to be there. When we visit we will complete a short questionnaire with you and you will be asked to provide evidence of identity, such as a passport or driving licence. Visits are usually carried out by the Neighbourhood Manager for the area, but you should always ask to see proof of identification. 3.5 Tenancy Fraud Housing fraud is where a Council-owned property is not occupied by the person who is supposed to be there. Examples would be sub-letting a property without permission or giving false information to obtain a tenancy. There are a large number of people awaiting housing in Sutton, some of whom are living in very poor or overcrowded conditions. Fraudulent use of social housing stops these people from being re-housed more quickly. Our Fraud Officer will investigate all cases where a fraud is suspected. We may visit and ask to see identification, and run checks to see if the person in occupation has a right to be there. We will always take action to recover a property where there is evidence of unlawful letting or non-occupancy. Anyone involved will almost certainly lose their right to a Council property. In some cases, housing fraud is a criminal offence and prosecution may follow. If you think a Council-owned property may be occupied by someone who should not be there, you can contact us in confidence by calling the Customer Care Team. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

15 Your Tenancy Agreement Ending your tenancy If you want to end your tenancy, you must give us at least four weeks written notice. You can do this by sending a letter to us or you can fill in a termination form which you can get from the Customer Care Team. You must send or deliver the notice to our Customer Care Team at Sutton Gate. You will be required to have a pre-termination visit from one of our Re-housing Officers. This visit will give you sufficient advice to ensure that you do not do anything that may result in you being re-charged for any breaches of your Tenancy Agreement. You must make sure that when you leave the property: it is clean, tidy and safe all your belongings and rubbish are removed from the property (including the loft, back and front gardens, garage, balcony and outhouses) you remove all carpets, laminate flooring, white goods (cookers/fridges/ freezers), sheds, greenhouses, garden furniture and rubbish. lawns and hedges have been cut, overgrown gardens cleared, ponds drained and removed, and the area put back to its original condition safely. you have put right any unauthorised and incomplete improvement work to the property and garden areas, including patios, before you leave and you must put the property back to its original condition. you leave all fittings and fixtures, including kitchen units, heating systems, doors, handles in their original condition and in working order. If you fail to meet any of these requirements, we will recharge you for any work required for us to put it right. You must hand your keys in person, during normal working hours, at our office at Sutton Gate before the last day of your tenancy or before 12 noon on the Monday immediately after. You should ensure that you obtain a receipt. If you hand your keys in late, we will extend your tenancy to the following Sunday and you will be required to pay all the charges due. If you leave your property and do not tell us, either you will have to pay rent for the property until the date when you tell us you have left plus four weeks in lieu of notice, or until the date we repossess the property. 3.7 Succession to your tenancy In certain circumstances, if a tenant dies, a partner or family member may be allowed to take over the tenancy. For further information or advice regarding succession, please contact your Neighbourhood Manager. 3.8 Assignment of your tenancy (transferring your rights) Assignment happens when a tenant transfers a Secure Tenancy and all the rights that go with it to someone else. You will lose all your rights as a secure tenant if you assign your rights to someone else. Generally, an assignment is only allowed if a Court Orders a transfer as part of divorce proceedings, or if you want to transfer your tenancy to a family member who would be entitled to succeed if you died. If you are a secure tenant, you may also assign your tenancy if you take part in a mutual exchange. You may only transfer your tenancy by using a special document called a deed. By law, you may not assign the tenancy without our written permission. If you do so, we may apply for a Court Order to repossess the property. Website:

16 3 Your Tenancy Agreement When considering whether to allow assignments we treat a Registered Civil Partnership the same as a Civil Marriage, and we treat persons living together as if in a Civil Partnership the same as persons living together as if husband and wife. 3.9 Relationship breakdown If a couple splits up, we cannot provide separate accommodation for both partners. If a joint tenancy is brought to an end, we may offer a new tenancy to the partner who has responsibility for looking after any children. Couples can ask a court to order the transfer of the tenancy under the Family Law Act We would recommend you seek independent legal advice If we ask you to leave your home If we have good reason, we may serve you with a Notice of Seeking Possession, Notice to Quit or Notice of Possession Proceedings, depending on the type of tenancy you hold. After this, we may apply for a Court Order to end your tenancy. The County Court will set a date for the hearing, and send you a claim form and reply form so that you can give your response to our claim. If you receive a claim, you should take legal advice before you return the form to the Court. At the Court Hearing you will be given the opportunity to respond to our claim. After listening to both sides, the Court will decide whether or not to grant a Possession Order. If the Court grants an outright Possession Order, or if you break the terms of a suspended Possession Order or Demoted Order, we will ask the Court-appointed bailiffs to evict you. If this happens, the Council may consider you as having made yourself intentionally (deliberately) homeless and may not house you again Reasons why we can get possession of your home We can apply for a Possession Order for any of the following reasons. a If you have not paid your rent or you have broken some other term of your Tenancy Agreement. b If you, anyone living with you, or a visitor, have been convicted of using the property or allowing it to be used for illegal purposes, or have been convicted of an offence committed in or near your property. c If you have caused a nuisance in the local area. d If you have damaged your home or communal areas (entrances, landings, staircases, passageways, paths, drives, gardens or balconies). e If you, or your partner, have left the property due to violence or threats of violence in the home. f If you obtained the tenancy by using false information. g If you have refused to move back to your old home after being temporarily rehoused while we carried out building work. h If you have allowed the property to become overcrowded. i If we plan to demolish or redevelop the property or land. j If the property has been specially adapted for a physically disabled person but a disabled person no longer lives there. k If you (but not a married partner) succeeded to a tenancy and your home is under-occupied. l If the property is one of a group let to people with special needs, no one living there has specific needs and we need it for someone who does. In reasons a to g, the court will only grant us possession if they think it is reasonable to do so. In reasons h to i, we will only start Court Proceedings if you have refused an offer of other Council accommodation. The Court will only grant a Possession Order if suitable alternative accommodation is available to you. In reasons j to l, the court will only grant us possession if it also thinks it is reasonable to do so. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

17 Your Key Obligations Under Your Tenancy Agreement Subletting and lodgers You are allowed to take in a lodger or sublet part of your home if you tell us and get our permission. You are not allowed to sublet the whole of your home and move out. If we believe that you may have done this, we may apply to a Court to end your tenancy. Generally a lodger is someone who shares your home and you provide meals for, if someone lives separately in your home and provides their own meals, they are likely to be a subtenant. Subtenants and lodgers have no Security of Tenure and you are responsible for making sure that they leave the property if you give up your tenancy. If you move from your home, you must hand it back to us empty. If you receive state benefits, you must tell Benefits Services at the Civic Offices and the relevant Department of Work and Pensions agency about any rent or money you receive from a lodger or sub-tenant. The amount of Housing Benefit you receive may go down, which means the amount of rent you have to pay goes up. 4.2 Pets and Animals You need our written permission to keep pets. Pets require a lot of looking after, and owners need to make sure that their pet does not affect other residents who may not share their love of animals. You will be required to complete a permission to keep a pet form and provide a photograph of your pet (dogs only). If you have a pet, you must clean up any mess your pet makes. If you want to keep a dog, you will normally need to have a private garden. We will normally only give permission for up to two animals. Permission will normally be given for small domestic animals and birds. Permission will not be given for: Animals registered under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act Farm animals for example, sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, horses, chickens and ducks. Dogs specified under the Dangerous Dogs Act Pets to be kept in your home where there is an ongoing problem with pet ownership in the household or there has been a problem in the past. We may withdraw our permission for you to keep a pet if it causes a nuisance. This includes noise, smell, hygiene problems and aggressive behaviour. (See the Tenancy Conditions, section 4.29). You must provide reasonable care for your pet, and not allow it to: Cause nuisance, annoyance or danger to neighbours, visitors to the property, and our staff and agents. Cause damage to your home or any Council owned property. If this happens you may be charged for any damage caused. Foul on any Council property including communal areas. Fouling of any area must be cleared up immediately by you, the owner or person in charge of the animal at the time. Be present on any Council property without being accompanied by you or a responsible adult at all times. Your dog must be kept on a lead and completely under control at all times in communal areas. Your dog must also not be allowed to roam around the communal areas including footpaths and play areas. You must not: Run a business from your home. This includes breeding animals for sale or boarding kennels. Allow your home to become unhygienic. Website:

18 4 Your Key Obligations Under Your Tenancy Agreement Feed squirrels and other vermin either at your home or in communal areas. Feed pigeons in communal areas. Dog owners guide - We specifically ask dog owners to please remember: do not leave your dog alone for long periods (it is unfair to the dog and could be a nuisance to your neighbours if it barks or howls) do not leave dogs on balconies do not take your dog into dog-free zones all dogs must wear an identity tag giving their owner s name and address residents are requested to provide a registration number of dogs that have been micro-chipped If you do not comply with any of the above terms and conditions, we may withdraw our permission, and you may be asked to remove the pet(s) from your home. These rules apply to pets belonging to your friends, relatives, and visitors to your home, and any other person living in your home, including children. If they do something to lead to a breach of this clause, we will consider this a breach of your Tenancy Agreement. 4.3 Cars and other vehicles If you have an authorised parking space within the boundary of your home, you can park a vehicle there so long as it is safe, of reasonable size, and does not cause a nuisance to your neighbours. You will need to get our permission if you wish to construct a parking space. You must only park a vehicle in an estate area if it is an area set aside for parking. We will not give permission for boats, trailers, or caravans to be parked in parking spaces. Vehicles must be safe, roadworthy, taxed and insured. We will take action to remove unsafe, abandoned or untaxed vehicles. Any vehicle parked in a disabled bay must display a valid blue badge. While you can carry out minor repairs or maintenance of vehicles, you must make sure you do not cause a nuisance to anyone, and clear up after working on your vehicle. You must not carry out vehicle repairs or sales as a business on estate areas. We may charge you any costs associated with enforcement of the above conditions. 4.4 Flooring If you wish to install any type of floor covering which is laminate, wood, other artificial wooden floor coverings or ceramic tiles or if you want to have bare floorboards within your home, you must receive our prior written permission. Whilst we will not refuse permission unreasonably, we will only grant permission if you live in a house. We will not generally grant permission where you live in a flat or maisonette other than if you are on the ground floor. We may withdraw permission if at any time your floor coverings cause noise nuisance to your neighbours, and you will be required to remove the flooring and cover it with underlay and carpet. 4.5 Firearms and other banned items You must not store any firearms in your home. Firearms include air rifles, shotguns and replica guns. You must not store ammunition, oxyacetylene and welding equipment in your home, garden or in any communal areas to your property. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

19 Our Key Obligations and Standards of Service To You Service Standards The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) formerly known as the Tenant Service Authority (TSA) is the regulator for social housing. They have set out a set of service standards, supported by locally agreed standards, which Sutton Housing Partnership are required to meet. Visit the HCA website at The standards cover Tenant involvement and empowerment Home Tenancy Neighbourhood and Community One of the key roles of our Resident Scrutiny Group is to ensure that we are meeting these standards which have also been agreed with our residents. For more information on our local offers please contact our Customer Care Team. 5.2 Service Reviews We regularly review our services. The reviews ensure we measure, test services, learn from mistakes and assess whether we are providing value for money in the delivery of our services. A key part of a service review is to involve customers through focus groups and surveys. 5.3 Your right to be consulted Under the Housing Act 1985 we must consult all secure tenants on a range of housing management issues and give them the chance to make their views known before we make a decision. This means that before we change our policy on managing, maintaining and improving your home or providing new services, we will ask you what you think. If we plan to change any of the Tenancy Conditions, we will send you a notice of variation. This notice will tell you about the change we are proposing and explain the effect the change could have on you. You will have the chance to send in your comments within four weeks of the change. We will consider your comments before we make a decision on the proposed change, and then give you at least four weeks notice of the date the change will happen. Individual consultation: If you are likely to be affected by a significant proposal that relates to your home, we will speak to you personally. Group consultation: If we plan to carry out a particular scheme, or introduce a new policy that is likely to affect a group of tenants on a particular estate, part of an estate or a block, we will speak to the tenants who will be affected. We may consult you in writing, at a public meeting between tenants and officers, or through a door-to-door survey. 5.4 Website:

20 5 Our Key Obligations and Standards of Service To You 5.4 How we communicate with you We want to ensure that we communicate with you regularly, clearly and about the issues that matter most to you. Some of the most important written methods of communication we use are: Homefront: Is the newsletter that we produce for all our residents. We send it to residents four times a year. It is filled with information about services and events taking place in your community and is one of the main ways that we tell you about what we are doing. Annual Report to Tenants: This is an annual report showing how SHP have performed and is written by the resident led Scrutiny and Improvement Group. It is available in reception, by request to the Customer Care Team, and on our website. Budget Survey: Before we set our annual budget, we always ask your views on how we spend our budget to ensure that we are prioritising our spend in the areas which are most important to you. This is done through a survey. One of our other key communication tools is our website. Website: Our website is another of our main communication methods. On our website you can currently check your rent balance and see your rent history of payments, access leaflets on our services, check all upcoming events, get the latest news stories and much more. We will be adding more secure services and features soon. If you do not have access to the Internet, there is a PC in our reception for residents use. 5.5 Our Complaints Procedures We like to hear if we are doing things right or if you think we are doing things wrong. Your views are important to us. We want you, as a tenant, to receive a high standard of service. We want to stop things going wrong and help to prevent them from happening to other tenants. We would like to hear from you when: you have a comment or suggestion on how to improve or put right a particular service, or you have ideas on how we can use services in the future; or you need to complain about a service failure or member of staff, or you feel you are not receiving the service you are entitled to. We will try to resolve most complaints quickly. Your first point of contact is the Customer Care Team who will do whatever they can to sort the matter out to your satisfaction. However, if you are still not happy, you may , write to, or phone the Complaints Co-ordinator who will be happy to log your complaint at stage 1 of our formal complaints procedure. The formal complaints procedure A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction over which Sutton Housing Partnership has direct control, including services delivered by our contractors. Our complaints procedure aims to make sure that we deal with your complaint fairly and investigate your complaint fully to take care of any worries you may have. For full details of each stage and our response standards, please contact the Customer Care Team and ask for a copy of our complaints leaflet, or access it via our website. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

21 Our Key Obligations and Standards of Service To You 5 Stage 1 We aim to resolve your complaint at this Stage within 10 working days. The investigating officer will write to you to say whether he/she upholds your complaint and explain what action has been proposed as a result. The Head of Service involved in your complaint will oversee the investigation. Stage 2 If you are unhappy with the outcome of your complaint at stage 1, you can contact our Complaints Co-ordinator within 6 months of receiving our response, and explain why you are unhappy with the outcome. To make sure that a totally independent investigation is carried out, your complaint will be investigated by a Senior Manager who has not been involved in your complaint in any way and does not manage the service you have complained about. The Senior Manager will then write to you with the results of their investigation within 21 working days. Stage 3 If your complaint has still not been resolved to your satisfaction, you can request that the Sutton Housing Partnership Appeals Panel takes a fresh look into your complaint. Please contact our Complaints Co-ordinator within 28 days of receiving our stage 2 response to explain what you remain unhappy about. The Appeals Panel will review your complaint and the actions taken in previous stages and write to you within 21 working days with their findings. Taking your complaint further If you are still dissatisfied after Sutton Housing Partnership s complaint process is complete, you can contact the Customer Care Team who will advise you of what your next steps should be and what external bodies you can apply to regarding your complaint. Help in making a complaint If you need support to make a complaint, a friend, relative, Councillor or a Member of Parliament may be able to help you. You may also be eligible to receive help from a voluntary organisation. Refer to our leaflet or call for details of further support. Compensation In some circumstances Sutton Housing Partnership may provide customers with compensation, because of a failure in service delivery which results in financial loss or extreme distress or inconvenience. Compensation is not automatic and is considered on an individual basis. For more information about compensation please contact the Complaints Coordinator at Sutton Housing Partnership. 5.6 Your data and your right to confidentiality Some of the information we collect about our tenants is personal, so we have set up a number of procedures to make sure that only authorised people have access to information we hold, and that we always treat it confidentially. When we do need to release information, for example, for legal reasons, or if we have shared arrangements with other agencies, for example, housing associations, we will only do so on a need to know basis. Website:

22 5 Our Key Obligations and Standards of Service To You 5.7 Access to files Under the Data Protection Act 1998, all customers have a right to access any personal material held about them by the organisation, including a complaint file. This will sometimes be subject to a fee. To request your file please ask to speak to the Complaints Coordinator or send your request in writing via or letter. 5.8 Freedom of Information (FOI) The Freedom Of Information (FOI) Act gives you the right of access to all types of recorded information held by a public authority, including companies owned by public authorities (i.e. Sutton Housing Partnership). All requests under the FOI Act must be made in writing to the Council who will forward your request to us. You can use the Freedom of Information Request e-form on the London Borough of Sutton s website or you can FOI@sutton.gov.uk at the London Borough of Sutton. 5.9 Equal opportunities Sutton Housing Partnership is committed to meeting the differing needs of all our tenants and leaseholders. We believe that the growing diversity of the borough is a source of strength, and we actively value diversity in the community. Our Equality and Diversity Policy sets out how SHP promotes equality and seeks to prevent discrimination, as an employer and also through the services that we provide. Sutton Housing Partnership provides services to the most disadvantaged sections of the community. We believe that these should be delivered regardless of a person s race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, language, HIV status, religion, national or social origin or class. Our Equality and Diversity strategy outlines our approach to embedding equality and diversity and is available on the internet or by contacting our Customer Care Team. In order to assess the success of our equality and diversity strategy, monitoring systems are essential. We will gather information on ethnicity, gender, age, disability, faith or belief and sexual orientation from all of our residents, staff and Board members and we will use this information to ensure that we continue to provide inclusive and tailored services. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

23 Anti-Social Behaviour and Domestic Violence 6 We believe that all our tenants have the right to enjoy their homes in peace. Occasionally, some people are denied this basic right and their lives are made a misery by deliberate harassment or inconsiderate neighbours. All tenants are responsible for the behaviour of members of their household and visitors. You are breaking the conditions of your tenancy agreement if anyone living with you in your home or visiting you causes alarm, distress, nuisance or annoyance to anyone in the area or around your home. 6.1 Disagreements with your neighbours Occasionally you may have a disagreement with or a complaint about your neighbour. You should first try to sort out disputes in a friendly way by speaking to the neighbour about the problem. People often fail to realise that they have caused a nuisance until it is pointed out to them. If you find it hard to talk to the person involved, we may be able to offer you mediation with our trained staff or refer your dispute to Merton and Sutton Mediation Scheme. 6.2 What is anti-social behaviour? The 1998 Crime and Disorder Act defines anti-social behaviour as acting in a manner that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as the defendant. Anti-social behaviour comes in many different forms ranging from low-level nuisance to serious harassment. Things which cause nuisance, annoyance or disturbance may include, but are not limited to:- Loud music; arguing; door slamming; dog barking and fouling; drunkenness; offensive or violent behaviour; racist abuse, selling drugs or drug abuse; rubbish dumping; inconsiderate car parking; playing ball games close to someone else s home, and damage to property. You and your household or visitors must not disrupt your neighbours or other people. We have designed our Anti-Social Behaviour Policy not only to help the victim but also to take action against the people responsible. Your Tenancy Conditions say that, You, and anyone living with you or visiting your home, must not commit any acts of harassment towards anyone for any reasons. If you or your relative, or someone living with you, carries out anti-social behaviour or harassment or causes a nuisance, you risk losing your tenancy or facing other Court action. 6.3 Reporting harassment, nuisance or anti-social behaviour You should report any case of nuisance, harassment or anti-social behaviour to our Customer Care Team as soon as possible, especially if there has been violence or if you feel at risk of violence. We treat all complaints of harassment or anti-social behaviour seriously, and handle all cases in the strictest confidence. Our aim is to stop nuisance and harassment, and end the threat of more incidents. You should also report any incidents of harassment to your local police station. For independent help and support about racial harassment, contact the Sutton Race Equality Council. 6.4 What we can do about harassment and anti-social behaviour Our staff will deal sensitively with your problem. We deal with complaints of harassment and anti-social behaviour in line with a written procedure. We can tell you your rights and give you help and advice if you need it and direct you to other groups for help and advice if requested. We can investigate your complaint and take action against the person who is causing the Website:

24 6 Anti-Social Behaviour and Domestic Violence problem, if the evidence is clear and good enough. We will provide you with diary sheets and ask that you complete these regularly and return them to us. If someone is causing a nuisance, we will ask you to keep a note of the time and place, and their name and address, if you know them. We will need these records to take action. One of our Anti-Social Behaviour Officers or your Neighbourhood Manager will tell you what action we may be able to take. What we do will depend on what the problem is, what the person making the complaint wants, and how much evidence there is. To follow are some examples of what we can do. Mediation If neighbours have a dispute, a trained volunteer mediator can help them to reach agreement. If both of you are willing, your Neighbourhood Manager may be able to help you or can refer your case to Merton and Sutton Mediation Scheme who help neighbours sort out disputes about problems such as noise, children, parking, pets, rubbish and lifestyle differences. Warning people who have caused problems If we have some evidence that someone has caused a problem, we might warn them face-toface or in writing to stop their behaviour. If the anti-social behaviour or harassment involves a child, we will consider, along with the police and other agencies involved with the child, developing an Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC). If they do not change their behaviour, we can possibly take further action (see below). Extra security In extreme cases we will provide extra home security for people who have had problems with anti-social behaviour. This can include stronger locks or fire-proof letter boxes. We have our own alarm system called Safecall, which is available 24 hours a day, all year in an emergency. (For more details see section 12) Legal action In serious cases where we have sufficient evidence, we can ask a Court to make orders against people who are causing problems. These include legal procedures, such as Anti-Social Behaviour Injunctions and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, which can order people to stop behaving badly. We will also consider applying for a possession order which can result in you being evicted along with anyone else who is living with you. We many also consider excluding anyone living or visiting you from the property on a temporary or permanent basis. Tenants who are evicted for nuisance, anti-social behaviour or harassment are unlikely to qualify for alternative housing as they are likely to be considered to have made themselves homeless and may not be allowed to join the housing register. Demoted Tenancy Where you have been given a Secure Tenancy and you or your visitors or persons living with you have engaged or have threatened to engage in anti-social behaviour or you have used the premises for unlawful purposes, Sutton Housing Partnership and the London Borough of Sutton may apply to the Court for an order that your tenancy is down graded to a Demoted Tenancy. If this happens, your rights as a Secure Tenant will come to an end. This will usually last for a period of 12 months unless your tenancy is brought to an end because of further anti-social behaviour or other breaches of your Tenancy Conditions. 6.5 Respecting our staff and contractors We will take legal action against you if you or a member of your family assaults, harasses or abuses our staff or contractors. If you threaten or abuse a member of staff or a contractor we will also record details of the incident and those responsible on our Corporate Warning System. In some cases the Police will be notified. Our staff will not accept offensive language or threatening or racist behaviour from anyone. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

25 Anti-Social Behaviour and Domestic Violence Safeguarding and Social Services If you suspect that someone is being badly treated or needs help in any way due to age, health or mental illness you must tell someone about it. Your concerns will be taken seriously. If you are worried about the consequences, your identity can be withheld from the people you report. In an emergency where immediate action is required to protect someone from harm, please contact the emergency services by dialling 999. Otherwise you should act on any concerns to ensure that the situation is assessed and investigated correctly by reporting the incident to your Neighbourhood Manager or Sheltered Housing Officer via our Customer Care Team or directly to the London Borough of Sutton Adult or Children s Social Services Teams. All Sutton Housing Partnership employees also have a professional and moral duty to report any safeguarding concerns. 6.7 Domestic violence Domestic Violence includes any form of physical, sexual or emotional violence between people in a close relationship. It can include rape, threats and intimidation such as degradation, mental verbal, financial or psychological abuse, humiliation, deprivation, systematic criticism and belittling. You and anyone living with you or visiting your home must not commit any act of domestic violence or abuse against any other person either in the home or in or around the locality of your home. You or your partner must not cause the other to leave the property because of violence or the threat of violence. If you need protection from domestic violence (in an emergency) you should call the Police on 999. If you live in a council property and need advice about your situation you should contact our Customer Care Team who will put you in contact with one of our Anti-Social Behaviour Officers. We will arrange for you to see someone of your own sex if you prefer. We may be able to offer temporary accommodation if you feel unable to return home. As this is a time of great stress, our staff are careful to deal with you very sensitively. All interviews will be confidential, and you can use a support service. Rehousing If a family splits up because of domestic violence, we will look at the case carefully to see who should stay in the family home. We will also let you know what your rights are on your home. In some cases it may be possible for you to get an Ouster Injunction (an order from a Court banning someone from your property or belongings). However, we will not insist that you do this, as it may not give you the right kind of protection. If you get an Ouster Injunction or Non- Molestation Order (an order from a Court preventing harassment, pestering or assault) against your partner in a Council property but are worried about them returning home, we will consider offering you other accommodation. If this happens, we will ask you to serve us with a Notice to Quit to end the tenancy of the original home. This will allow us to take Possession Proceedings against your partner if we need to. If you don t have children and apply to the Council for housing assistance because domestic violence has taken place or is threatened, the Council can explore your alternative housing options with you. Support groups in Sutton For more information on related support groups, see the useful contacts and supporting information section or call our Customer Care Team. Website:

26 7 Your Rent Your rent is set on an annual basis by the Council using a formula set by the central government. The rent you pay is used by us to manage, repair and maintain your home and estate, so it is vital to pay on time. 7.1 Paying your rent Your Tenancy Conditions say that you must pay your rent every week in advance. Your rent is due on a Monday. You may choose to pay every week, two weeks or monthly, but all payments are due in advance. You can pay your rent by the following ways: Direct Debit We recommend you pay your rent by Direct Debit. It avoids queuing, postage and paperwork, and it takes away the worry of paying your rent on time. It also costs less to process, meaning more of your money goes towards important services like repairs. You can opt to pay monthly, on the 1st or 10th of every month or fortnightly, and this can be set up easily over the phone. Alternatively forms are available on request. Please call our Customer Care Team. Once a direct debit is set up, your bank or building society automatically pays your rent to us and there is no need to tell your bank when the rent changes. If you pay by Direct Debit or have a clear rent account, you will be entered into our monthly draws to win your choice from a selection of prizes, (this is for residential rent accounts only and excludes garage accounts). Bank standing order You can get an application form from our Customer Care Team. Once this is set up, you will need to let your bank know if your rent changes. Post Office You can use your Payment Card at any UK Post Office to pay using cash, a Debit or Credit Card or cheque (made payable to Post Office Limited). PayZone You can use your Payment Card at any shop with the PayZone sign to pay by cash, or at the Civic Offices (Ground Floor, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton SM1 1EA). You may also pay by cash, Debit or Credit Card using the Payment Machine in the ground floor reception, at the Civic Offices. By post You can send cheques through the post to Sutton Housing Partnership, Sutton Gate, 1 Carshalton Road, Sutton SM1 4LE. Please make the cheque payable to the London Borough of Sutton, crossed account payee only, with your name, address and account number on the back of the cheque. If you need a receipt, please ask us in writing when you send your payment. Do not send cash payments or payment cards in the post. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

27 Your Rent 7 Credit and Debit Cards You can make payments by credit and debit cards by phoning our Customer Care Team or the Council s call centre on (Please note that if you pay your rent by Credit Card, this may result in you having to pay interest if you do not clear your Credit Card account each month. We do not recommend the use of credit cards for this reason). Touch-tone phone payments You can use this service by dialling The touch-tone phone service operates through a series of recorded instructions, asking you to press specific phone keys which relate to the particular type of service you need. Internet payments You can pay by Debit or Credit Card over the internet through our website. Click on the make a Payment option in the bottom left corner. You should also keep your own record of the payments you have made on-line. Please read the Payment Help screen for instructions on how to do this. 7.2 Prepaid weeks We work out your rent to be paid over 50 weeks of the year. You do not have to pay rent during the Christmas fortnight these are the dates shown on the letter you receive with your rent details. If you are behind with your rent, you should continue to pay during this period to reduce what you owe. You should also, during the two prepaid weeks, continue to pay any amount due under a possession order. 7.3 Details and statements The annual tenancy details notification letter is important and you should keep it safe for reference. We will send you a statement of your rent account every three months. If you need a statement at any other time, please contact our Customer Care Team. You can also get live access to your rent details via our website. Simply click on the How Do I Check My Rent Balance option in the bottom left corner. 7.4 Housing Benefits If you are on benefits, or have a low income, you may be able to get Housing and Council Tax Benefit. You can get an estimate of your entitlement to Housing and Council Tax Benefit or apply for these benefits on the Council s website. 7.5 How to stop rent arrears building up how we can help It is important that we receive the rent when it is due because your rent pays for all the housing services. If you do not pay your rent you might lose your home. It is important that you contact our team straightaway if you start having problems paying your rent. Website:

28 7 Your Rent If you do get into rent arrears, we will offer advice and may come to an arrangement with you to clear them by regular instalments. You should make sure you can manage to make the suggested payments and must keep to the arrangement. If you have difficulties after you make the arrangement, even if it is for only one week, contact our Customer Care Team and ask for help from our Debt Advisor. 7.6 Legal action If you break your agreement to clear your arrears by instalments, or if you let the arrears increase, we will send you a Notice of Seeking Possession if you are a secure tenant or a Notice of Possession Proceedings if you are an introductory tenant. This will tell you the reasons why we think the Court should give the Council possession of your home. We will send you the notice and make arrangements to see you. It is important that you keep this appointment or rearrange it if you cannot make the suggested time. If you do not clear your arrears or make an arrangement to clear them, we will apply for a hearing at the County Court. The Court will send you a claim form telling you the date of the hearing and giving details of our claim. There will also be a form for you to fill in and return to the Court giving your side of the story. You should take legal advice at this stage, if you have not already done so. You can get legal advice from a solicitor or from the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) if you need it, (see the useful contacts section). You should also make sure that you attend the day fixed for the hearing. If the Court gives the Council a possession order, we may ask the court bailiffs to evict you. We do not like evicting tenants but we will have no choice if you do not let us know acceptable reasons why you cannot pay your rent. If we evict you from your home, you will still have to pay your rent arrears, Court costs, and the costs charged by the bailiffs for evicting you. 7.7 Credit Union Croydon, Merton & Sutton Credit Union are a Community Savings and Loans Co-Operative, run for and by its members on a not-for-profit basis. They are authorised and regulated by the Financial Savings Authority and help their members avoid high interest money lenders, doorstep lenders and loan sharks. To find out more about Credit Union see the details in the useful contacts section. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

29 Day-to-day Repairs 8 We rely on you telling us about repairs that are needed to individual properties or shared areas. These are called day-to-day repairs. Most repairs to the structure and the essential services to your home are our responsibility. However, if you damage a Council property, we will charge you for the cost of putting it right. A separate Repairs Handbook is available and will give you more details on all of the information in this section and is designed to make reporting repairs easier. You can obtain a copy from our Customer Care Team or our reception. 8.1 Who is responsible? Your Tenancy Conditions set out the responsibilities for carrying out repairs. In some cases, if the previous tenant carried out an improvement or left other items in place, we will have asked you to sign a disclaimer at the start of your tenancy to confirm that you will be responsible for any future repairs to that improvement. The only exception to this will be when we accepted responsibility for the improvement at the start of your tenancy. We are responsible for repairing and maintaining the structure and the outside of the property, including any shared parts of the building the roof, walls and foundations drains, gutters and pipes, tap washers doors and door frames window frames chimneys and chimney stacks window glass (we may charge you for this work) ceilings plaster work skirting boards paths, fences and steps our boundary walls and fences garages and stores which form part of your home You are responsible for reporting repairs as soon as possible and for keeping the inside of your home in good repair and the decorations, fixtures and fittings in good condition. You are also responsible for door furniture (e.g. handles and knobs), hinges and cupboard latches replacing keys, light bulbs and fuses your own electrical equipment broken pulls for high-level toilet cisterns and toilet seats sink and bath plugs cracks in plaster that are not structural changing batteries in smoke alarms and telling us if the alarm needs attention regularly testing your battery or hard-wired smoke detector getting back into your property if you have locked yourself out Website:

30 8 Day-to-day Repairs You must immediately report to our Customer Care team any blockage or breakage that may affect any shared area or system, or another property. This is so we can make sure further damage is limited. 8.2 Recharges for Repairs You must repair any damage caused by any members of your family or other people living in or visiting your home. If any repairs have to be carried out because you, a member of your family, or anyone visiting your home, caused damage or neglect, you will have to pay extra charges to cover the work. 8.3 How to report a repair You can report repairs in one of the following ways: By phone to our Customer Care team Visit or write to us at Sutton Gate By to customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk On the Sutton Housing Partnership website When you report a fault, give as much information as possible including your telephone number and dates and times when you will be available to let the repair contractor in. Our contractors offer two hour appointment slots and can offer Saturday appointments and some evenings. Please ensure that you do not miss an appointment as this will waste time and resources and you may even be recharged. Outside office hours, you can call the emergency number for genuine emergency repairs. Non-emergency calls to the out of office service could affect other tenants with more serious problems and may result in a recharge to you. Emergency repairs are those that need to be done to prevent immediate danger to people, to prevent major damage or to make a property secure. 8.4 Pre-Inspections If we need to inspect the fault before we send our contractor, we will arrange an appointment for one of our surveyors to visit you. We offer morning and afternoon appointment times and can avoid school runs to suit you. 8.5 Your right to repair The Government introduced the Right to Repair scheme to make sure that certain small repairs (up to the value of 250) which are likely to affect the health, safety or security of the tenant are finished within certain time scales. If we do not finish the repair within the timescale, you can ask us to get another contractor. If they also fail to finish the work within the timescale, you can claim for compensation. For more information please refer to the Repairs Handbook. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

31 Day-to-day Repairs How long have we got to carry out your repairs? We group all repairs into categories and give them target times. The length of time will depend on how urgent the repair is according to our service standards. We place orders into one of the following response-time priority categories: A B C D To go to the premises and make safe, or finish the repairs within 3 hours To go to the premises and make safe, or finish the repairs within 24 hours To go to the premises and finish the repairs within 5 working days To go to the premises and finish the repairs within 20 working days We will carry out all other non-urgent repairs outside the response times listed above. The repair response times are the maximum time periods for the work we will carry out when it is ordered during normal working hours. In the higher priority A and B categories, it may only be possible to deal with and, if appropriate, make safe a fault rather than finish a repair because we may need to order materials. We can only meet these response times if we have reasonable access to the property. If programmes of work cover repairs that you have asked for, or if we need to order custom-made items, the response times will not apply. For certain repairs to the outside of a property, the response times will depend on the weather conditions and we may need to extend them. Below is a very small selection of example response times. For further information on response priorities for specific repairs please refer to the Repairs Handbook. If you are not happy with the response time given to your repair, you should contact our Customer Care Team. General building repairs Response time Replacing faulty door locks if they are a security risk A Replacing tiles or slates on the roof where water is leaking in B Reglazing (hole in the glass, which may make the glass dangerous) C Repairing outside brickwork D Gas and mechanical repairs Response time Gas leaks A Heating and hot-water failures in properties which elderly or seriously ill people live in (during October to March) A Heating failures where there is no other type of heating, during October to March (not gas fires or electric fires) B Heating failures, during April to September C Website:

32 8 Day-to-day Repairs Electrical repairs Reporting electric shocks or exposed wires in a property No lights or power, including inside shared staircases Supply to cooker or freezer not working Replacing faulty accessories, including doorbells Response time A A B C Plumbing repairs Dealing with serious blockages and leaks to washbasins, bath or sink wastes or supply pipes Replacing unusable broken toilet pans and cisterns, and dealing with blocked toilet pans if there is only one toilet in a property Clearing blocked waste pipes and repairing leaks to washbasins, baths or sinks if waste water is not backing up or the leaks are not serious Repairing flushing systems to toilet cisterns if there is more than one toilet in a property Response time A B C D 8.7 What to do if a repair is not completed If a repair is not finished or you are not happy with the work to the repair, please contact our Customer Care Team as soon as possible or return the repair satisfaction slip that we will have sent you when you placed the repair order. 8.8 Condensation and damp Condensation is the water produced when moist air, vapour or steam comes into contact with a cold surface, such as windows, walls and floors. It can damage clothes, bedding and floor coverings, and can cause mould to grow on walls and ceilings. The following simple steps will help reduce condensation problems: Keep rooms warm and well ventilated. When you are cooking, keep the kitchen doors shut and the windows open. When you are bathing, washing or drying clothes, keep the doors shut and the windows open or the extractor fan on. To help beat condensation, there will usually be airbricks or grilles fitted into the walls of your home to provide ventilation. Please do not let the airbricks or grilles become blocked by allowing garden soil, rubbish or other items to block the area around the airbricks on the outside walls. There is a serious risk of dampness if you do not do this. See our leaflet for further advice. Sometimes homes get damp due to building faults or because the damp-proof course is damaged. If you believe that your home is damp and that the cause is not condensation, please contact our Customer Care Team who will arrange an inspection. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

33 Day-to-day Repairs Burst pipes and flooding Make sure you know where the main water stopcock to your house or flat is, in case you need to turn off the water in an emergency. In most homes it is at the back of the kitchen sink unit. The stopcock will cut off the water supply to your property until help arrives. If you are in doubt, rather than wait for an emergency, please contact Customer Care so that we can help you to find the stopcock. If you plan to leave your home empty and unheated during very cold weather, we advise you take the following steps: Turn off the main stopcock. Drain down the water system by opening all the taps until the water stops running. Flush the toilet to empty the cistern. Turn off all taps. If for any reason the water supply fails, make sure all the taps are turned off and the plugs are left out of sinks, baths and hand basins to prevent the risk of flooding when the water supply comes back on Properties destroyed by fire or major incident In cases where properties have been destroyed by fire, violent storm, severe weather damage or any other unavoidable major loss, Sutton Housing Partnership will ensure the property is inspected and repaired as soon as possible. Contact us as soon as you are aware of any major incident. Following any major loss, to ensure your own safety and that of others, under no circumstances should you re-enter the property until Sutton Housing Partnership have attended the site and the necessary safety checks have been completed. We would strongly advise you in the event of a major loss to contact your insurer immediately. We will not be responsible for rebuilding or restoring improvements and decorations you have made. For more information on home insurance, see section 12. Website:

34 9 Planned Maintenance and Major Works To Your Home 9.1 Major repairs and improvements The Government requires that public housing meets a set standard of decency and Sutton Housing Partnership has a programme of improvements to achieve 100% decency across the Borough. You can find our programme of works on our website or request one from our Customer Care Team. If your home is part of the programme, we will survey your home using independent surveyors who will tell us if any element of your home fails the decency standard. We will write to you with full details to offer the work such as a new kitchen or bathroom if your home needs it. You do not have to accept the work unless it relates to safety such as your electrical system. One of our contractors will contact you to discuss a range of colour choices and to tell you more about what will be done. If we plan to do external works such as renew windows, doors, your roof or box bathroom if you have one, you will not be allowed to refuse this work unless there are special circumstances. Even so we will send you full details of what to expect and our contractor will contact you to explain exactly what will take place. For more information on the Decent Homes Standard or Sutton Housing Partnership s Major Work s Programmes, please see our website or contact our Customer Care Team. 9.2 Internal and external decorations We aim to decorate the outside of all the homes we are responsible for regularly. If you live in a block, this includes communal areas such as the lobbies, corridors and shared staircases. You are responsible for decorating inside your home. 9.3 Right to Improve Your Home You are allowed to carry out improvements at your own cost in your home. However, you must receive permission from Sutton Housing Partnership before you start any work. You will need to send full details of what you intend to do and what contractor you intend to use, as we need to be sure that contractors are qualified to do the work. You may also need to contact the Council as the work may be subject to Planning and Building Regulation approval. If you move, all the fixtures in your home, including what you install and leave behind, become the Council s property. You may be eligible for compensation from us for certain fixtures you install and leave in the property under the Right to Compensation for Improvements Scheme, but only if you have obtained prior approval from us for the improvement and if it falls within the scheme s definition of Tenants Improvements, including being in good condition and usable by the next tenant. For more information, please contact the Customer Care Team. 9.4 Aids and adaptations Any tenant who needs assistance in carrying out the physical activities of daily life (including bathing and mobility around the property) can request an assessment by a Council Occupational Therapist. As a result of an assessment, advice and equipment may be offered or your property may be assessed as needing adaptations to assist you. These can range from grab rails, ramps or alternative bathing facilities which will be installed by one of Sutton Housing Partnership s contractors. Adaptations are dependent on available funding and a waiting list may be in operation for adaptations of a major nature. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

35 Planned Maintenance and Major Works To Your Home 9 If you are eligible for an adaptation but your property is not suitable, we will refer your case to the Council s Disability Housing Panel with a recommendation that you be re-housed. Further information can be obtained from the Council. 9.5 Electrical testing programme We are responsible for maintaining and testing the electrical installation in your home. Testing of electrical installations is carried out on a ten year cycle. For your safety and comfort it is essential that you allow our contractor into your home to carry out this important test. The test will include all electrical wiring, sockets and lighting as well as the consumer unit. This test will limit the possibility of breakdown, and loss of electrical supply in your home. Our contractor will contact you to make arrangements to carry out this test when due. If you fail to arrange to have this electrical test carried out, or any remedial work arising from the test, we will take legal action to get permission from the court to force entry into your home to carry out the inspection and any repairs arising. 9.6 Annual gas servicing programme We are legally responsible, once a year, for servicing and testing any gas appliances and pipe work in your home. For your safety and comfort it is essential that you allow our contractor into your home to carry out this important service. Even if you do not have any gas appliances but have a gas meter, we must check the pipe work and its connections. This service is for the safety of you, your family and those living around you. Our contractor will contact you to make arrangements to carry out this service. If you fail to arrange to have this gas service carried out, we will take legal action to get permission from the court to force entry into your home to carry out the gas safety and servicing checks. You may also be liable for any legal costs which Sutton Housing Partnership incurs in order to gain access. 9.7 Asbestos In the past materials containing asbestos were widely used in construction. It was mostly used from the 1950s to the 1980s in all types of houses and flats, including Council properties. Asbestos in your property may be in the form of dividing walls and roof linings; suspended ceilings; insulation lagging to boilers; or pipes and water-storage tanks. You will already have been given an asbestos report for your property at sign-up. These materials are not dangerous as long as they are in good condition. We have taken steps to make sure that tenants, employees and our contractors are protected from being exposed to asbestos dust. We will take action if asbestos is found in your home, depending on the type, where it is and the condition of the asbestos. Before we take action, we will inspect the property. We may take samples to find out whether asbestos is present. If we find asbestos, but there is no damage to the asbestos and no planned works to the property that will affect the asbestos, we may leave it alone. In some cases, we may take action to secure or seal in the asbestos to prevent any dust or fibres from escaping into the atmosphere. Alternatively, we may decide that we need to remove the asbestos we will discuss with you how this would happen. Do not try to remove or interfere with asbestos without our advice. Website:

36 9 Planned Maintenance and Major Works To Your Home Do not remove asbestos yourself, and do not drill, scrape or damage the asbestos. If you are in any doubt about whether or not asbestos is present or harmful, contact our Customer Care Team or the Council s Environmental Health team. We have a leaflet which you can request from Customer Care. The leaflet gives advice on ways of identifying asbestos and the precautions you should take if you are carrying out DIY. Remember asbestos is only dangerous when it is damaged or disturbed. 9.8 Lift Servicing We are responsible for the inspection and maintenance of passenger lifts and stair lifts. Our contractor carries out regular testing and maintenance of passenger lifts as well as any repairs which may be required. If you need to report a defect to a passenger lift, you should contact our Customer Care Team. If you have a stair lift or hoist, our contractor will contact you to make arrangements to carry out servicing and insurance checks four times a year. For your safety and comfort it is essential that you allow our contractor into your home to carry out these important services. If you fail to arrange to have this service carried out, we will take legal action to get permission from the court to force entry into your home to carry out the inspection and any repairs arising. 9.9 Communal door entry systems and aerials Where there are existing electrical door entry systems to communal entrances, we will maintain these or renew them as necessary during their lifetime. Where there are existing TV aerial systems serving blocks, these have been upgraded to allow residents to watch free-view digital television. Residents will need to purchase a set top box and have any connections carried out at their own cost. A limited Sky TV service is available should residents wish by contacting Sky direct who will carry out connections. Any work to connect is at the resident s cost, and it is the residents responsibility to ensure that televisions and set top boxes are properly tuned and in good working order. Both door entry systems and communal aerial systems are dealt with on an as needs basis through the responsive repairs service Communal Water Tanks We are responsible for maintaining and carrying out an annual inspection of the communal water tanks in blocks of flats to prevent the occurrence of Legionella in water supplies. Where the access to the water tank requires access through your home it is essential that you allow our contractor into your home to carry out this important inspection and maintenance. If you fail to allow this inspection to be carried out, we will take legal action to get permission from the court to force entry into your home to carry out the inspection and any repairs arising. This service will limit the possibility of an outbreak of Legionella and associated risk to your health Insulating Your Home To improve the insulation of your home, we are committed to insulating the lofts and cavity walls (if applicable to your home). Loft insulation should currently be 200 millimetres (8 inches) deep. Insulating your loft will save around 20% of your heating costs. Cavity-wall insulation will reduce heat loss from your property by up to 35%. If you do not have loft or cavity-wall insulation, please phone our Customer Care Team for advice about receiving these energy-saving measures. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

37 Your Estate and Environment Estate caretaking and cleaning If you live on an estate or block with communal areas, we provide weekly estate care services to your block. The service covers: cleaning entrance halls and other internal communal areas such as stairs, lifts, walls, landings and bin rooms graffiti removal litter picking and sweeping emptying dog bins inspecting playgrounds to check they are safe seasonal work where required including grass cutting, pruning and leaf clearance services as well as weed and moss control removal of fly tipped rubbish The caretaker(s) covering your estate only work in communal areas they do not provide assistance in your home. Further details of services to your block are contained on the Attendance Sheets placed on notice boards inside blocks, in Homefront or, where this is not possible, can be obtained by written request from our Customer Care Team Window Cleaning If there are communal windows in your block, these are cleaned twice yearly up to and including 3rd floor height internally and externally. We do not clean windows inside your home or their external panels. On blocks with higher floors, we may undertake bespoke cleaning where necessary and where there is sufficient resident demand Tree maintenance programme If your block has communal grounds, we maintain trees every 2 years, where required, to ensure they are in a safe condition. We only tackle trees on our estates outside our normal programme where there is an immediate threat to life, limb or property, for example during storm damage. We do not attend to trees blocking light or shedding sap. During the programme, shrub renewal planting is undertaken where required Your garden You are responsible for ensuring that your garden is maintained in a neat, tidy and safe condition avoiding nuisance or obstruction to neighbours or members of the public. This includes keeping grass, bushes and trees maintained as well as keeping garden areas free of junk or vehicles causing a nuisance. You must not plant trees in your garden without prior written permission or allow self seeded saplings to take hold and grow. You must maintain your trees and prune them regularly so that they do not grow too large or cause any damage to properties or fences. Website:

38 10 Your Estate and Environment 10.5 The gardening scheme If you are elderly and/or disabled you may qualify for help with garden maintenance by applying to The Gardening Scheme. This is a very limited service which offers help with gardening. Please contact our Customer Care Team for more information Getting rid of your rubbish Please dispose of your rubbish and waste thoughtfully and in the bin areas provided and consider other residents. Dumped rubbish, such as furniture, is an eyesore and can be dangerous. If you or anyone living with or visiting you breaks this condition, we may take action to put things right and may charge you for removing bulky items. You must not store bikes, prams and bulky items in communal staircases or corridors as this causes obstructions to the blocks being cleaned freely and may also cause fire hazards and blockage of means of escape. Any items left may be removed without notice for disposal if they are causing an obstruction or are a fire risk. Please report any rubbish-dumping or graffiti to our Customer Care Team Recycling/Disposal of Bulky Items For full information on recycling, contact the Council or visit their website. You can find facilities for recycling and for getting rid of other waste at the Council s waste and recycling centre at Kimpton Park Way (off Oldfields Road) in Sutton. The centre is free to all borough residents and there are also many neighbourhood recycling centres throughout the borough. The Council also offer a bulky household waste collection service for a small charge. In addition, The Vine Project will collect good re-useable furniture and household items Salting Communal Paths We provide a limited responsive service treating icy footpaths during winter weather. Owing to our overall capacity to respond to adverse weather conditions, we are not able to guarantee immediate service to all paths at once. Priority is given to salting sheltered scheme paths, to slopes and access paths to building entrances and to refuse bin areas Garages, sheds and parking spaces We manage over 1,200 garages including some reserved parking spaces. Most of our large estates have garages. There is a waiting list for garages, and application forms and eligibility information can be downloaded from our website or can be ed or posted upon request via our Customer Care Team. Some garage areas have greater demand than others and waiting list times vary considerably. If you are in arrears of rent or service charges you will not be offered a garage to rent but can remain on the waiting list. Garage rent is due in advance and payments are expected to be made by direct debit or standing order. Garage rent arrears are not permitted. Garages will be repossessed if arrears are not cleared or if an account is persistently falling into debt. Call our Customer Care Team for more information on garages including allocation and rent or to report garage repairs, inconsiderate parking or any other garage related issues. We also have some sheds available. If you are interested in using a shed, please contact your Neighbourhood Manager. They will be able to advise on availability. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

39 We want to work in partnership with you and your families to improve housing services and neighbourhoods. We offer a variety of ways for you to be involved in shaping housing services at a level that suits you. You can take part as little or as much as you want and your involvement gives you the chance to influence or make decisions that will affect your homes and neighbourhoods Tenant Participation Compact The Tenant Participation Compact is an agreement which sets out how we will work with and involve residents in improving housing and local neighbourhoods. The compact has been developed with residents, the Council, the Sutton Federation of Tenant and Resident Associations and the Sutton Leaseholders Association. The compact explains all the different ways you can get involved and what you can expect from us when you choose to become involved. It also has details about the support and guidance we offer to individuals and residents groups. A variety of ways to get involved You choose Getting Involved 11 We appreciate your time is valuable, so for each involvement method we have give an indication of the time commitment to you. Low time commitment: less that 2 hours a month and irregular Medium time commitment: more than 2 hours a month, both regular and irregular High time commitment: more than 4 hours a month and regular If you are interested in getting involved in any of the ways highlighted in this chapter please contact our Customer Care Team to find out more Getting involved at a local level Neighbourhood Inspections We encourage residents to get involved in neighbourhood inspections. Inspections take place at least twice a year on each estate and involve Neighbourhood Managers, repair surveyors and sometimes local councillors and contractors if this is appropriate. The purpose of the inspection is to identify issues that need to be tackled including repairs, grounds maintenance and cleaning and to suggest any improvements. Website:

40 11 Getting Involved We welcome residents who want to be present at the inspections to raise issues of concern about the shared parts of the estate. You can get details and dates of the inspections from your Neighbourhood Manager, from estate notice boards, on our website or from Homefront magazine. Resident Repair Inspectors Any tenant or leaseholder can become a repair inspector. As a repair inspector you will help to check and monitor the standards for communal repairs in your block or on an estate. This helps to ensure communal repairs are completed right first time. Major Works Steering Groups These groups are set up before major works projects like kitchen and bathroom renewals take place in an area or on an estate. The groups give residents an opportunity to get involved in design choices and meet contractors carrying out the works. Sheltered Housing Forum Sheltered housing residents play an active role in having a say through the Sheltered Housing Forum. This group meets regularly at one of the schemes to discuss how services are being provided and suggest areas for improvement. The group also take part in social activities on schemes and always welcome new members. Residents Associations and panels Residents associations are groups of tenants and leaseholders who have come together because they want to have a say in issues that affect the area where they live. As a member of a group, it is sometimes easier to put forward your views because together you have a stronger voice and can really make a difference. Residents associations discuss issues that can have a real effect on their local community, such as repairs and estate improvements, play facilities, car parking, anti-social behaviour and many other issues. They can also influence housing policy, campaign for a better environment, help to build community spirit and organise social activities. Your area may have a residents association which you can join. Your Neighbourhood Manager will have details of the local residents association. If there is not one in your area and you are interested in setting one up, we can provide information, advice, training and support to do so. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

41 Getting Involved Getting involved at a borough wide level Mystery shopping We want to provide excellent services for our residents. To help us ensure our services are regularly tested and quality checked we have a Mystery Shopping Programme. Mystery Shoppers help test our services to see how well they meet the standards expected, and give us feedback. Residents Reading Panel Members of our reading panel help us to ensure the information we produce is interesting, informative and clear. The panel also review our Homefront magazine and give us ideas on what to include in each issue. Scrutiny and Improvement Group This resident led group are directly involved in regulating and challenging how we perform. Members are empowered to make recommendations for improvement and have influence over change in strategies. The group have direct access to our board and officers and are supported in their roles with ongoing training and development opportunities. SHP Board Member SHP is managed by a Board of Directors which is made up of 12 members four of these are tenants and leaseholders. Resident board members play a vital role in helping to shape the direction of SHP. Anyone can apply to be a board member, no special skills or qualifications are needed. You do need to able to talk about issues relating to housing and be confident to voice your opinion. The role of tenant board member is different to other resident involvement in that board members must work for the best interests of the organisation, rather than representing a group of residents. The Sutton Federation of Tenant and Resident Associations (SFTRA) This group is a Borough-wide organisation representing the interests of tenants and leaseholders. SFTRA is a resident led volunteer group which works closely with residents associations to ensure they have one voice in the Borough. SFTRA has its own office, facilities and staff at Sutton Gate. Website:

42 11 Getting Involved Sutton Leaseholders Association (SLA) The SLA is a resident led group that represents the interests of our leaseholders. They have a committee which meets regularly to discuss issues affecting leaseholders Telling us what you think your compliments, comments and feedback If you prefer not to use one of the involvement methods detailed above, we would still like to hear from you when: you want to compliment us on our delivery of service, standard of service or for a particular staff member you have a comment or suggestion on how to improve or put right a particular service, or you have ideas on how we can use services in the future you receive one of our surveys or satisfaction reply slips The easiest way to comment or compliment us is to contact our Customer Care Team via or phone. Your compliments are fed back to staff, used in our internal staff newsletter and shared with our Board Members. Sometimes you will be asked to give your views about a service you have received or contact you have had with staff or our contractors. These will be through postal questionnaires, telephone surveys or face to face with staff. All tenants also receive an annual residents survey. The purpose of the survey is to find out what you think about our services overall and it will only take about 5 minutes to complete. We survey residents throughout the year, so not everyone is sent a survey at the same time. We select when you are surveyed on a random basis but by the end of the year everyone will have received a survey. We report back on the results of the survey every quarter via our Homefront magazine. We really appreciate your views and opinions. We will use your comments and suggestions to help us continuously improve the services we provide. For more information about how you can have a say and get involved, contact the Customer Care Team. customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

43 Safety, Security and Insurance Fire Safety If there is a fire in your home, please follow this guidance. Don t try to put it out, unless you can do safely and quickly Do leave the room and close the door Do make sure everyone leaves the property Do call the fire brigade, immediately dial 999 Do not use any lifts if applicable Remember the following: Always keep escape routes clear Always know your escape route(s) Don t wedge self closing fire doors open 12.2 Smoke alarms We have fitted free battery or hard-wired (wired into the mains) smoke alarms in all homes. However, it is your responsibility to look after them. When we fitted the alarm, you would have received an owner s manual. You should read this and make a note of the advice on how to look after the alarm. Here is a reminder of the main points. Dust the alarm regularly. Test the alarm regularly, using the test button, to make sure it is working properly and that you know what it sounds like if a fire breaks out. Do not decorate over the alarm or allow paint to get into the workings of the alarm. Please remember to replace the batteries in your battery-operated smoke alarm when you need to. The alarm will give a warning bleep when they are low. If your hard-wired smoke alarm does not work when you test it, contact our Customer Care Team. Please remember that the alarm is not yours to take away when you move. It has been fitted for the benefit of anyone who may live in the property. Where smoke alarms have been fitted in homes they will be checked by our contractor as part of the annual gas service. We also recommend that you have a carbon monoxide alarm fitted Home insurance You should take out home contents insurance. This will cover you against damage to your personal belongings, carpets, furniture, decorations and other household contents if you have a fire or flood. Contents insurance will provide cover if, for example, your bath overflows or your washing machine leaks. You should also make sure that your policy covers you for accidental damage and for stolen items if you are the victim of a burglary. Sutton Housing Partnership is not responsible for insuring your personal effects and will not be held responsible for damage to them arising from events beyond our control. If you think damage caused to your home is our fault, we will pass the details to our insurers. But, if they decide that we are not negligent, you will have to pay for the damage or claim on your household insurance. For this reason, it is essential that you have your own insurance and that you do not rely on being able to claim against us or someone else, such as a neighbour. We have arranged an insurance scheme through the Council where you can pay your insurance premium in instalments along with your rent. If you would like to apply for cover or would like more details about the scheme, please phone the Council s insurance section Home security It is important that everyone feels safe in their own homes. To help you in this, we offer the following guidelines. Always close and lock your windows and doors before going out, even if it is only for a few minutes. Website:

44 12 Safety, Security and Insurance Never leave your door key under the mat or on a piece of string inside the letter box. Do not advertise the fact that you are not at home by leaving messages for callers such as the milkman. When you go on holiday, cancel the papers, milk and other deliveries. Tell your neighbours or the police that you are going away, and leave an address or phone number where you can be contacted. Beware of callers who you do not know. All official callers will carry proof of identity. If you are unhappy about the identity of a caller, do not let them in. Call the police they will not mind if it is a false alarm. If you see a stranger acting suspiciously in your neighbourhood, call the police Identifying our staff Our staff will always carry official identification. If someone says they work for us or are calling on our behalf, they will be able to show you their identity card. If you are in any doubt, call our Customer Care Team. Never let anyone into your home without looking at their identity card. If you are still not sure, take the card and ring the organisation to check the caller is who they say they are. If you need to, call the police. Never let a doorstep seller (people who call from house to house) into your home if you are alone. Tell them you are busy and they should call back at a more convenient time, preferably when you have someone with you Crime prevention officers Metropolitan Police Service crime prevention officers are available to give you advice on how to increase your home security. If you would like to make an appointment with your local crime prevention officer, call your nearest police station and ask to speak to the crime prevention officer Safecall community-response system A number of Council homes in Sutton are particularly suitable for elderly people. Some of these properties are known as shelteredhousing schemes. They usually have a member of staff available Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. Outside these hours, there is a mobile response service and an alarm system, where there are pull cords in tenants homes and in other shared areas at the scheme. If you pull the cord, it will either link you to the shelteredhousing officer or, if they are not there, to a control centre. We know that there are other tenants and residents in the borough who would benefit from using the alarm system, but who do not live in the types of accommodation mentioned above. These people have the option of renting an alarm unit, with an emergency button and pendant. The service is available throughout the country to anyone with a phone line. You do not need to live in council property to apply and we have many of these types of clients. Pulling the cord or pressing the button will connect you to a trained operator at the control centre. It should be possible to speak to them from most parts of your home. The control centre will arrange help, either by contacting a family member, friend, key holder, doctor or the emergency services, whichever is most appropriate. It will not matter if you call the centre by accident, the operators will be happy to speak to you and in a real emergency they will stay on the line until help arrives. If you are not able to speak, the operator will be able to identify you, as the alarm system automatically displays your name and address. People with limited savings and a long-term illness may qualify to have their alarm paid for by social services, and people with disabilities do not have to pay VAT. Many people now have the alarm service paid for by the Supporting People Grant. For more information about the service, call Safecall on customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

45 Moving Home 13 The Council are very keen to make the best use of the borough s housing and there are a number of schemes that can help you with this. Information about housing options available to you can be found by visiting the Council s website where you can do your own individual housing options assessment The Council s Housing Register If you wish to transfer to another property, you may apply to join the housing register. Information about the Housing Register can be obtained from the Council or through the Sutton HomeChoice website You will be given advice about how to apply to move and your chances of being re-housed. Once you have made your application your housing need will be assessed and you will be placed into a Band with other households who have similar circumstances. The time it takes for you to be housed will depend on the priority that you are given Choice-based lettings All Social Housing Properties that become vacant are advertised each week. If you are placed on the Housing Register you will be able to bid for any of the properties that are available to your band. The applicant with the highest priority will be offered the property Mutual exchanges This is a scheme for Council and Housing- Association tenants who want to swap their homes with other tenants. This can be in the same area where you are currently living or you can swap with someone who is living in a different area. You have the right to apply for a mutual exchange. There are conditions that you will have to meet for your application to be approved. If you complete a mutual exchange, you are responsible for any repairs that need to be done in your new home. For more information contact the Customer Care Team Under-Occupation Scheme The scheme aims to assist social tenants, who already have secure tenancies and are living in accommodation that has too many bedrooms for their need, with the opportunity to move within the borough to smaller accommodation. This can include general, sheltered and extra care properties. For more information regarding this scheme you can contact the Council s Under Occupation Officer on or Alternatively you can visit their website at Mobility Schemes Seaside and Country The Scheme aims to assist social tenants who are aged over 60 with accommodation in the country or by the sea that is suited to their needs. The scheme s landlord s manage approximately 3,500 bungalows and flats in many areas from the south west of the country up to the east coast. For more information regarding this scheme contact Seaside and Country on or visit the website at Pan London Mobility due to commence 2012/ 2013 Social tenants who wish to move are often restricted to their own borough. The Pan London Mobility Scheme aims to provide social tenants with the same rights and freedoms to move into different boroughs within London, whether it be for work or training, to downsize into smaller accommodation, or to care for a family member or friend. For more information regarding this scheme please visit or contact the Council s Customer Service team on Website:

46 14 Wanting to Buy 14.1 Wanting to buy your current home how the Council can help Right to buy You may have the right to buy the property you are currently living in. Contact the Council s Housing Information and Assessment Team to discuss what options may be available to you or request an application or information booklet on or from the Council s website at or from Wanting to buy elsewhere how other schemes can help Shared Ownership & Equity Loans Londoners who are social tenants, serving Armed Forces personnel, considered a housing priority by their Local Authority or other first time buyers who are simply priced out by their local housing market are potentially eligible for homes available through FIRST STEPS. The two main FIRST STEPS products available are Shared Ownership and Equity Loans. Both products are designed to bring down the cost of home ownership by reducing the amount of deposit required to buy a new home and by making monthly housing costs manageable. For more information on all the products that are available, please contact First Steps on or visit the website at customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

47 Useful Contacts and Supporting Information Useful Contacts The Council Customer Contact Centre Environmental Health Services Housing Benefit Housing Centre Insurance Team Social Services - Adults Social Services - Children Waste and Recycling Resident Organisations Sutton Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations Sutton Leaseholders Association Support Services Advocacy Partners (specialists in helping people with learning disabilities and mental-health problems) Age UK Sutton Asbestos for information only Careers Services Connexions Citizens Advice Bureau The Croydon, Merton and Sutton Credit Union Consumer Advice National Domestic Violence Helpline (24 Hour) Refugee Council Advice Line Refugee Network Sutton Sutton Centre for Independent Living (SCILL) Sutton College of Learning for Adults (SCOLA) Sutton Racial Equality Council (Racial Harassment and Equal Opportunities) Sutton Women s Aid (Domestic Violence) Sutton Youth Awareness Programme The Vine Project (donating furniture) Women s Centre for Domestic Violence Website:

48 15 Useful Contacts and Supporting Information Safety and Crime Age Concern Home Security Service Safecall alarm service Safer Sutton Partnership Service Sutton Police Station Sutton Police Community Safety Unit Key Leaflets Available Upon Request There are a full series of leaflets available in our reception, on our website and upon request to our Customer Care Team with more in depth information on many of the subjects in this handbook. Key leaflets include: The Repairs Handbook Getting it Right (including complaints) Leaseholders Handbook Paying Your Rent Responding to Anti-social behaviour What is Sheltered Housing? customercare@suttonhousingpartnership.org.uk

49 Translation Panel ++ If you, or someone you know needs a translation of any part of this document, please tick the language required and complete the form below. Telephone for more information. Arabic French Spanish Tamil Turkish Many publications can be downloaded directly from our website, please visit Click on the Browse Aloud button or text size button if you have a visual impairment. If you need this document in large print, Braille or on audio CD please tick the relevant box below and complete the form. I would like this document in: Large Print Braille Audio CD Name... Address... Telephone No... Please return to: Sutton Housing Partnership, Sutton Gate, 1 Carshalton Road, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 4LE Website:

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