Partners For Improvement in Islington Tenants Handbook

Transcription

1 Partners For Improvement in Islington Tenants Handbook P A R T N E R S

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3 Contents Section Introduction How to contact us Our service promise 1 Paying your rent and claiming Housing Benefit 2 Repairs, gas servicing, redecorating and pests 3 Anti-social behaviour, harassment and domestic violence 4 Avoiding problems with your neighbours 5 Keeping a pet 6 Improving your home 7 Insuring your home contents 8 Keeping your home safe and secure 9 Your rights as a secure tenant 10 Your responsibilities as a secure tenant 11 Moving home 12 Buying your home 13 Telling us what you think 14 Making a complaint or a suggestion 15 Useful Council services 16 Other contacts 17

4 Translation This is a handbook for all tenants of Partners for Improvement in Islington. It contains important information about your tenancy. If you would like this document in another language or format, or if you require the services of an interpreter, please contact us on our freephone number If you would like to have a copy of this handbook in Braille, in larger print, on a tape or a CD then please contact us on Turkish Spanish Somali Greek Somali Portuguese

5 Introduction Welcome to Partners Tenants Handbook. We have put together some useful and essential information about your tenancy and living in your home. We hope you will find it helpful. We would like to thank members of the Residents Forum and Homes for Islington (which manages the Council s other rented and leasehold homes) for contributing to this handbook. What is Partners? In 2001 several organisations came together to form Partners for Improvement in Islington (or Partners, for short). We manage properties through a type of contract called a Private Finance Initiative (PFI). All the properties we manage are based in and owned by the London Borough of Islington (the Council).

6 What is a Private Finance Initiative (PFI)? A PFI releases money from the private sector and central government to spend on a public sector scheme. In our case, we spend this money on refurbishing properties around the borough, owned by the Council. You continue to be a Council tenant and the Council continues to own your property. Your tenancy rights and responsibilities are the same as for all other Council tenants in the borough. For full details of these rights and responsibilities, please see your terms and conditions of tenancy. The level of your rent is also unaffected. Why choose a PFI scheme? PFI was chosen by the Council as the best solution for dealing with the backlog of repairs and improvements required to bring its street properties up to the Decent Homes Standard. The refurbishment of street properties will benefit residents. It will enable Council owned properties to continue to be used for social housing, maintaining a range of housing tenures in Islington. Which organisations are involved in Partners? Hyde Housing Association provides the housing management service. Rydon Property Maintenance Ltd does day-to-day repairs. United House Ltd refurbishes the housing, and services and renews leaking heating systems and boilers. Halifax Bank of Scotland lends the money for the project.

7 How to contact us By telephone Between 8.30am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, you can contact the offices on these numbers: Freephone Switchboard Minicom For out-of-hours emergency repairs, please phone Calls to 0800 numbers are free from landlines, but charged at your network rate from mobiles. In person You can visit our offices between 8.30am and 5pm, Mondays to Fridays, at: 4 6 Colebrooke Place and Omnibus Workspaces London N1 8HZ United House North Road London N7 9DP By enquiries@partnersislington.net Through our website My Tenancy Officer is My Income Officer is My Partners office is To find out who your tenancy and income officers are, please contact us using the details above.

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9 1 Section 1 Our service promise At Partners, we strive to give you an excellent service. Our mission is to improve homes and communities, and provide excellent customer service through partnership and innovation. Our strategic aims To work with you to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction. To work in partnership. To provide a responsive and flexible repairs service. To improve homes to meet the availability standard. To manage housing excellently. To promote diversity. To innovate. Our service promise Whenever you deal with us, we will: be helpful and polite listen to and respect your views ask for your views on our service and use what you tell us to improve it deal with your enquiries quickly, fairly and sensitively serve all members of the community whatever their race, ethnic or national origin, sex, disability, sexuality, religion or belief, or age. If you contact us, we will: answer your call within six rings, giving our name at the office, see you quickly, and in private if you choose 1

10 1 Our service promise answer your letters within 10 working days make sure you can use our service whatever your needs. When we visit you, we will: make appointments convenient to you let you know if we can t keep the appointment or are running late leave a card if you are out and tell you how to rearrange the appointment always carry and be willing to show you identification respect your home and all reasonable customs compensate you if we fail to keep a repair appointment we have arranged with you. 2

11 2 Section 2 Paying your rent and claiming Housing Benefit The Council decides how much rent and other charges you must pay. Paying your rent each week on time helps to keep the rent as low as possible for all tenants. Your weekly rent includes: basic rent the charge for providing your home water rates the charge for water and sewerage (the Council collects this money for the water company) charges for heating and hot water if your property has a shared system. Changes in rent and other charges Any changes in the amount of rent and other charges you pay usually take effect in April. The Council will send a letter giving you reasonable notice of any change. This letter is called a Notice of Variation. When to pay your rent Your tenancy conditions say you must pay your weekly rent every Monday. You can pay your rent every fortnight or month if you prefer, but you must: agree this with us, and always pay it in advance. 1

12 2 Paying your rent and claiming Housing Benefit How to pay your rent There are several ways to pay your rent you can choose the one that suits you best from the following: Direct debit this is one of the most convenient ways to pay your rent if you have a bank or building society account. You permit your bank or building society to pay your rent direct. When your rent changes, the Council contacts your bank or building society and asks to change the amount. The advantage for you is that you don t have to write to your bank every time the rent changes. The Council will write and tell you if the amount you must pay or the date you must pay it changes, at least five days before the payment goes out. This gives you time to question any payment. You can cancel the arrangement at any time by writing to your bank. Please contact your Income Officer if you would like a form to pay by direct debit. Standing order this is similar to direct debit, but you must contact your bank or building society each time the rent changes. We can give you a standing order form to fill in and take to your bank or building society. If you would like more advice on paying by standing order, please contact your Income Officer. By phone you can pay by debit or credit card. See Other contacts at the end for the freephone number. 24-hour telepay you can pay by debit or credit card. See Other contacts at the end for details. ipay this offers a secure internet connection to the Council s online system for credit or debit card payments. You will need your nine-digit payment reference number. You can also pay Council Tax and other Council charges through this link. See Other contacts at the end for details. 2

13 2 Post office or PayPoint use your payment card to pay at any post office in Islington, or local shop that displays a PayPoint sign. There is a list of local PayPoints in Other contacts at the end. When you pay using this method, the money enters your rent account within three working days. Please make sure you keep your receipt as proof. If you lose your card, please contact us to ask for a replacement. The Council will send you a rent statement four times a year showing your balance. This is usually in January, April, July and October. You can also ask us for a current rent balance at any time. We can give you a statement if you call into either of our offices, but you must have proof of identity. You can ask us to send a statement to your home at any time. Check the statement carefully; if you have any questions, contact your Income Officer. If your rent account is in credit because you have paid too much, you can apply to your Income Officer for a refund. Or you can leave the credit in your account to pay your future rent. 3

14 2 Paying your rent and claiming Housing Benefit Help to pay your rent Housing Benefit Housing Benefit is a government scheme to help people who receive state benefits or are on low incomes to pay their rent. Local Councils run the scheme. You can get Housing Benefit even if you are working. What you get depends on: you and your partner s income and savings some benefits such as disability living allowance or attendance allowance aren t counted as income the number of grown-up children or other adults you have living with you your entitlement to Housing Benefit is reduced if you have nondependants (for example, lodgers or children who have left school) living with you the amount of rent you must pay only your basic rent is covered, not water rates or charges for heating and hot water. You can get an application form and advice on claiming Housing Benefit from either of our offices or any of the Council s area housing offices (run by Homes for Islington) see Other contacts for details. Rent arrears As the Council s managing agent, we are responsible for monitoring your rent payments and collecting any rent you owe (called arrears ). You must pay your rent in full and on time, and your rent account mustn t show arrears at any time. If you don t pay your rent, you will be breaking the conditions of your tenancy agreement and we will take steps to recover the arrears. Good reasons not to get into rent arrears If you are evicted from your home for rent arrears, the Council won t normally rehouse you. You may have trouble getting credit such as loans and hire purchase. 4

15 2 A possession order always carries a money judgement (this affects your credit rating) for the amount of arrears, plus court costs. This lasts for seven years. You may not be able to get a mortgage if building societies and other lenders ask us for a rent payment reference. You won t normally be able to get a transfer (move to another home) or mutual exchange (swap homes with someone else). You won t be allowed to rent a garage, parking space or car cage. If you already rent one, it will be taken away from you. You risk losing your right to buy your home. If you do get into rent arrears If you are struggling to pay your rent, contact your Income Officer, who will be able to advise you. We will do all we can to help keep you in your home and we will consider legal action only when we have tried everything else. If you have rent arrears and ignore the situation, your Income Officer will take action to recover the amount owing. First they will write a letter asking you to contact us. Don t ignore this letter contact your Income Officer as soon as possible. If you do ignore it, or you break an agreement to pay your rent and arrears, we will take legal action to recover the amount you owe. We don t want to evict you, but in the end we will if you don t pay rent arrears. Legal action to recover rent arrears If we start legal action, we will send you a Notice of Seeking Possession. If this happens and you don t arrange to pay the arrears within four weeks, we will apply to the court for a possession order. A court hearing will be arranged for your case, which you must attend. The court can grant us two types of possession order: 5

16 2 Paying your rent and claiming Housing Benefit A postponed possession order means that as long as you make the payments that the court has ordered, we will take no further legal action. But if you break the agreement, we will apply for a bailiff s warrant to evict you. A full or outright possession order means that the court grants us possession of the property, and we can immediately apply to evict you. If the court grants either of these orders, you will lose some of your tenancy rights and it will affect your security of tenure. You may also have to pay extra costs that the court may award us for having to take you to court. 6

17 Section 3 Repairs, gas servicing, redecorating and pests 3 We are responsible for keeping the structure and exterior of your property in a good state of repair, just as the Council agreed to do in your tenancy agreement. When you ask us to, we will repair: external walls of your property, doors, window frames and sills leaks or blockages in drains, gutters and external pipework any defects in the systems that supply water, gas, electricity and sanitation to your home any faults to your heating or hot water system. If you need the repair because of damage you have caused, for example if you have broken the glass in a window, we will charge you for the cost of doing the repair. You are responsible for some repairs, for example: internal doors and glazing internal fittings including skirting boards, architraves around doors and windows, bath panels, toilet seats, plugs and chains in sinks and baths, curtain rails and pelmets internal decoration repairing doors and drawers of kitchen units letterboxes replacing light bulbs and fuses replacing tap washers and plumbing installed for washing machines and dishwashers 1

18 Repairs, gas servicing, redecorating and pests 3 any repair relating to an improvement you have made yourself, for example if you have fitted a new kitchen that now needs repairing changing locks if you have lost the keys. How do I report a repair? You can report a repair in a number of ways: By telephone between 8.30am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, dial our freephone number. If you need an emergency repair outside these hours, you can ring our out-of-hours emergency number. We may do a temporary repair and return to do a permanent repair the next day. In person you can call into either of our offices between 8.30am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. By letter you can write to us at either of our offices. But please don t report emergencies or urgent repairs by letter as it will take us longer to do the repair. Online you can report repairs online. See How to contact us at the front of this handbook for our contact details. 2

19 3 What information must I give you when I report a repair? Please tell us: your name (in the form you would like us to use) your full address a contact telephone number in case we need to ask you something else quickly when it would be most convenient for us to visit any special needs you have, for example if you are hard of hearing or can t answer the door quickly. What will happen when I report a repair? If you telephone or call into our offices, we will tell you the day we can call and whether we will come in the morning or afternoon. We will give you a reference number in case you need to contact us again about the repair. We will put the repair into a time band, depending on the work needed. We have agreed time bands for completing repairs in our contract with the Council. We will aim to complete the repair within the relevant time band. When we have completed the repair, the staff member will leave a card asking for your comments on how well they did the job. Please send the card back to us as this helps us improve our service. 3

20 Repairs, gas servicing, redecorating and pests 3 How quickly will you complete my repair? We have three time bands for repairs: An emergency is a problem that could endanger the health and safety of anyone living in your home if we don t put it right. We will complete the work within one working day. We will complete an urgent repair within seven days. We will complete a routine repair within 28 days. Will you service the gas appliances? Each year, we will check the safety of any gas appliances that we or the Council has supplied. We won t check any gas appliances that you have fitted yourself, but if we feel these appliances are dangerous we must disconnect them. This gas safety check is very important as defective gas appliances can kill without warning. We will give you reasonable notice that we need to come in. If you don t let us in when we ask, we will try to sort this out speedily. If it becomes necessary, we may take court action against you. 4

21 3 I have condensation in my home. What can I do to stop this? Many homes suffer from a form of dampness known as condensation. Condensation occurs when you produce a lot of moisture in your home and your walls are very cold. Condensation occurs in cold weather and can cause mould to grow. Here are some things you can do to avoid condensation: Don t use paraffin or portable heaters that run on bottled gas. Cover pans and don t leave kettles boiling. If you have a tumble drier, vent it to the outside. Don t block off any means of ventilation, for example window vents. Don t draught-proof windows in the kitchen or bathroom. Who is responsible for redecoration? You are responsible for decorating the inside of your home. When you are redecorating, bear in mind that the walls and ceilings are constructed using building methods that were current when the properties were built. The walls and ceilings are made from a type of plaster that absorbs water much more than modern plaster. Don t use a steamer to remove any wallpaper. If you do, the walls and ceilings will absorb so much water that they may collapse. What if I need help redecorating? We may be able to help if you can t redecorate yourself and are: aged 70 years or over, or disabled and receiving a recognised disability allowance. We keep a waiting list of older and disabled people who have asked us to redecorate inside their homes. Please contact us for details. 5

22 Repairs, gas servicing, redecorating and pests 3 What can I do if I find pests in my home? If you see rats, mice or cockroaches in your home or in the communal areas, please tell us immediately. We will advise you on who to contact. This service is free. See How to contact us at the front of this handbook for our contact details. 6

23 Section 4 Anti-social behaviour, harassment and domestic violence 4 What is anti-social behaviour? The term anti-social behaviour includes all behaviour which causes annoyance, nuisance or disturbance to other people s quality of life. What are my responsibilities as a tenant? You are responsible for the behaviour of everyone living in or visiting your property, including children. You are responsible for their behaviour in the property, in shared areas and around the property. All the properties we manage are in traditional houses, which have often been converted into several flats or maisonettes. This means you will be living close to your neighbours and sharing some areas of the property. Many of the things you do may affect your neighbours. Please read the section Avoiding problems with your neighbours for some things to consider. What will we do if someone reports anti-social behaviour? We take all complaints about anti-social behaviour seriously. If you report anti-social behaviour to us, we will: take full details from you of what has happened we will arrange an interpreter if you need one investigate by telling the other party your allegation (we will not mention your name) 1

24 Anti-social behaviour, harassment and domestic violence 4 consider the most appropriate action, when we have fully investigated contact any other agencies that may be able to help to resolve the situation support and advise you throughout take action whenever we feel it is in our power to do so work with the Police and other agencies when we need to. Anti-social behaviour orders, anti-social behaviour injunctions and acceptable behaviour contracts These often resolve problems of anti-social behaviour. You must work closely with us and other agencies to help resolve the problem. Every ward has a Police Safer Neighbourhoods team and you can approach them directly. See Other contacts at the end for details of your local team. What is harassment? Harassment is an activity whereby someone behaves deliberately to cause an individual or group of people to suffer distress. Harassment can take many forms and happen for many reasons. Racial harassment is perhaps the most well-known type, but people can be harassed for many other reasons, for example their sexuality. We believe you have the right to live in your home without harassment or 2

25 violence by others. We take any report of harassment seriously, whatever its type, and investigate thoroughly. We must work closely with you and possibly the Police to solve the problem. 4 What can I do if I suffer harassment? Contact the Police and Partners. Keep a record of all incidents, noting the date, time, place, what happened, who was involved and the names of any witnesses. Try to take photographs of any damage (such as graffiti or vandalism) and record any damage to your belongings. If you are hurt, go to your doctor or the nearest accident and emergency department. As well as treating you, they will record your injuries and treatment. This can be valuable evidence if you take your attacker to court. 3

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27 What can we do? When you report harassment to us, we will investigate it. We will record all the details and give you the name of someone to contact if the harassment happens again or another incident happens. We will arrange an interpreter if you need one. We will take suitable action, which may include: doing any repairs and removing graffiti helping to make your home safe moving you to another home taking action against or seeking the eviction of the person harassing you. We will agree with you what we will do and confirm this in writing. We will also let you know how your case is progressing. 4 If you or your family is in clear danger, we can refer you to the Housing Aid Centre. They can place you in temporary accommodation or rehouse you permanently. We don t like doing this, because we prefer to take action against the person harassing you. If you move away, even for a short while, they may see this as a victory. But your safety is always our main concern. What can the Police do? If you want to involve the Police, in an emergency call 999. Otherwise, contact your local Safer Neighbourhoods team. You can find a list of the teams in Other contacts at the end of this handbook. The Police can take action against anyone who has: physically attacked you deliberately damaged your property 5

28 Anti-social behaviour, harassment and domestic violence 4 threatened or abused you tried to cause racial hatred, for example by handing out racist leaflets. The Police will take details of any incident, whoever reports it. They will investigate and interview witnesses. If there is enough evidence and they know who is harassing you, the Police will prosecute them if you wish. If the incident is one of a series of attacks against you, the Police may be able to arrange support for you. What is domestic violence? Domestic violence is physical, psychological, sexual or financial abuse that takes place within an intimate or family type relationship and forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour. Domestic violence is a crime and the Police have specially trained officers to help you. They can also take action to protect you. In an emergency, call 999. Otherwise, contact your local Safer Neighbourhoods team. You can find details of these teams in Other contacts at the end of this handbook. If you suffer violence or are threatened with violence, report it to your Tenancy Officer as soon as possible. The Tenancy Officer can advise you and record the incident. If you are asking for emergency accommodation, they can refer you to the Council s Housing Aid Centre for help. As well as helping the victims of domestic violence, we can also take action against the person causing the violence. Domestic violence is unacceptable and we aim to stop people who are violent from benefiting from their behaviour. We will take action only if you agree, and will discuss with you what action may be suitable. If the person causing the violence also lives in our property, they are breaking their tenancy conditions and we may consider evicting them. 6

29 Section 5 Avoiding problems with your neighbours 5 All the properties we manage were built as individual houses, and many have been converted into several flats or maisonettes. This means that many properties are close to each other and have areas that are shared between several neighbours. Some things you want to do may affect others living near you, even if you don t intend this. This section advises you what to consider so you can avoid problems with your neighbours. If you are having problems with your neighbours, contact your Tenancy Officer. They can advise you on what to do. Your Tenancy Officer can also tell you whether the situation is serious enough to be dealt with through our anti-social behaviour or harassment policies. You can find out more about these policies in the section Anti-social behaviour, harassment and domestic violence. Noise Sound travels very easily from one home to another in a building. You must be aware of this and try to minimise noise travelling from your home. Here is some general advice for you to bear in mind: Don t lay laminate flooring in your home if you live in a flat or maisonette. Hard flooring makes noise from your home sound louder, so the noise from general living may be loud enough to disturb your neighbours. Don t play loud music late at night or early in the morning. It is likely to disturb your neighbours. Be considerate at all other times. 1

30 Avoiding problems with your neighbours 5 Don t let your visitors make a lot of noise when they are leaving your property, particularly late at night or early in the morning. Don t use your washing machine or vacuum cleaner early in the morning or late at night. Speak to your neighbours in advance if you plan to have a party on a special occasion, and be reasonable about the length of time it lasts. Listen to what your neighbours say, if they say you are making excessive noise, and respond in a reasonable way. If you are being disturbed by neighbours making excessive noise, or noise at unreasonable hours, your Tenancy Officer can advise you. If you feel able to talk to your neighbour directly about the noise, approach them calmly and politely, explaining what they are doing to disturb you. You can suggest to them that they act more reasonably in future. If you cannot agree with your neighbour, please tell us about the problem. In more serious cases, we will work with the Council s Environmental Health Section to decide what action is necessary. We will consider: sending your neighbour a formal warning letter asking environmental health to serve an Abatement Notice (an abatement notice is a formal legal document that may result in a fine or the seizure of equipment) applying for an injunction in extreme cases, applying for a possession order. In other cases, it may be better for you to take legal action yourself under the Environmental Protection Act, at the local magistrates court. If you are bothered by noise at night and feel you can t deal with it alone, you can contact the Council s out-of-hours Noise Patrol. They are available 8pm 2am on Sundays to Thursdays, and 10pm 4am on Fridays and Saturdays. See Other contacts for details. 2

31 Keeping the communal hallways clean and tidy If properties share a hallway, you must arrange with your neighbours to keep these areas clean, including any windows. If you have recently moved in, ask your neighbours what arrangements are already in place. If windows are so dirty that they endanger health or safety, we can arrange a one-off clean. You mustn t keep any of your personal belongings in a communal hallway. If you do, they may be dangerous or block the escape route in a fire. We will ask you to remove any belongings you have left in the hallway. If you do not we will dispose of them. 5 Repairs to the communal areas If repairs are needed to communal areas, please report them to us. 3

32 Avoiding problems with your neighbours 5 Gardens Many of the properties we manage have gardens. In most cases, residents have come to an arrangement about who maintains the garden. It is your responsibility as a tenant to ensure that you maintain your garden and do not allow it to become overgrown. If you want to discuss this arrangement, please contact your Tenancy Officer. Disposing of rubbish Make sure you wrap all household rubbish in securely tied bags before putting them in the dustbin or refuse store if you have one. If you don t have a refuse store, keep bin bags in a place where they won t block your neighbours way or annoy them. If you have your own dustbin, put it in front of your home on collection day. If you share bins with your neighbours, agree with them who will be responsible for putting them out on the correct day. If you store your rubbish in bags, leave them in the correct place to be collected on the right day of the week. Don t put rubbish out in the street before the collection day. If you have large items to dispose of, for example old furniture, you can arrange disposal through the Council. See Other contacts for details. 4

33 Section 6 Keeping a pet Your conditions of tenancy allow you to keep up to two cats, one dog or a small caged animal or fish in an aquarium, but you mustn t let any of your pets annoy anyone else. If you want to have a dog, it mustn t be a listed dangerous breed. 6 If you are thinking of getting a cat or a dog, consider how you will avoid the animal annoying your neighbours. For example, if you want to have a dog and you are usually at work during the day, you will have to leave it unattended for long periods of time. Continually barking dogs are extremely annoying. If you want to have a cat, think about how you will prevent it from fouling in the communal areas. It is a good idea to talk to the other residents in your building before you get a pet to see if they are likely to object. If your neighbours pets are disturbing you, please contact your Tenancy Officer, who will agree with you what to do. If we investigate the situation and find that a pet is annoying others to an unreasonable extent, we will insist that its owners find a new home for it. If you have any general concerns about dangerous dogs in your area, you can contact Animal Welfare, through Public Protection at the Council. See Other contacts at the end for details. 1

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35 Section 7 Improving your home If you are thinking about altering the structure or drainage of your home, altering it or fitting anything to the outside, you must follow these steps: Find out whether you need Building Control approval for the work 7 If you are thinking about altering the structure of, or drainage in, your home, you need to get Building Control approval. Contact the Building Control section at the Council; they will be able to advise you. Find out whether your home is in a listed building or conservation area Many of the properties we manage are in conservation areas, and some are listed buildings. If your home is in a listed building or conservation area, you must comply with the Council s requirements. You can find out if your home is in one of these categories by asking Planning Enquiries or checking the Council s website. See Other contacts for details. Get our permission As well as getting approval from Planning and Building Control, if you need it, you must get our written permission before you improve your home. When you have a proposal, apply to us in writing, giving as much information as possible. 1

36 Improving your home Some common requests for permission to improve homes Security gates We won t permit you to install a security gate on your front door as it could be lethal in a fire. 7 Laminate flooring We won t permit you to install laminate flooring in any flats or maisonettes above the ground floor. This is because sound travels very easily from one property to another, and laminate flooring makes it louder. Satellite dishes and aerials If you live in a conservation area, the Council will insist the dish goes on the back of the property. If you get permission to install a satellite dish or aerial, we will ask you to remove it if we do major work on your home and you must pay any associated costs. If you install a satellite dish without getting permission, we may ask you to remove it and to pay any associated costs. 2

37 Section 8 Insuring your home contents You are responsible for insuring your home contents, and we strongly advise you to take out a policy with a reputable provider. In the event of theft, fire or flood, your belongings could be stolen or badly damaged. If they weren t insured, you would have to pay to replace them. Neither we nor the Council would be liable to contribute towards this cost. This could prove very expensive. 8 Shop around first There are many good insurance companies, and we advise you to look at a variety of policies. It is worth shopping around to find the best deal. You may want to contact the British Insurance Association for advice. See Other contacts for details. Third-party cover Make sure the insurance policy you choose includes third-party cover. This covers you if you or a member of your household accidentally damages your neighbours belongings. If your neighbours claim against you for the cost of replacing their damaged items, you can claim under your policy. 1

38 Insuring your home contents Special insurance service for Council tenants The Council administers a special household insurance scheme for tenants. You can pay the insurance by standing order or PayPoint when you pay your rent. You can get a leaflet about this from either of our offices or any of the Council s area housing offices (run by Homes for Islington). To contact the Council s Insurance section direct, see Other contacts. 8 2

39 Section 9 Keeping your home safe and secure You can improve the security of your home in many ways that don t cost much money. This section suggests the more important of these. Preventing burglaries Close all windows and lock external doors when you go out, even for a short time. Most thefts happen during the day and take only a few minutes. Fit locks to your ground-floor windows they are quite cheap and work well. Make sure you always know where the keys are in case of emergency, such as a fire. Close windows on the ground floor and near pipes or flat roofs at night. Never leave keys under a mat or on a string inside the letterbox. Don t leave notes for callers saying you are going away from home. 9 Callers to your home Our staff and contractors carry identity cards. Anyone from the gas or electricity suppliers, or the water board, should also carry one. Always ask them to prove their identity, even if they have an appointment with you. Never let anyone into your home unless you are completely satisfied they are who they say. If a caller leaves when you challenge them, call the Police straight away. Crime prevention officers at your local police station are always happy to give you more advice about protecting your home. They can also help if you want to set up a Neighbourhood Watch scheme in your area. 1

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41 Preventing fire Many fires in the home are caused by simple carelessness, so remember to follow this advice: Put cigarettes out properly before you empty ashtrays. Don t smoke in bed. Don t dry or air clothes around fires or cookers. Keep matches away from children. Put fireguards around fires. Unplug or switch off all electrical equipment when you aren t using it. Look out for the danger signs of faulty appliances or wiring such as hot plugs and sockets, fuses that blow for no obvious reason, lights flickering, and scorch marks on plugs and sockets. Close all doors before going to bed. Take extra care when deep-frying chips or other food. Never leave a chip pan unattended. If it does catch fire, smother it with a damp cloth don t throw water on the pan. 9 When we do major work on your home, we will fit a smoke alarm. You must check the battery from time to time to make sure it works, and replace it if not. Most smoke alarms have a test button so you can easily check they are working. 3

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43 If a fire does start Close all doors to stop the fire spreading if safe to do so. Get everyone out quickly. Call the fire brigade on 999 and give the exact address of the fire. (Use a neighbour s phone or public call box never go back into your home to use your own.) Stay out of your home until the fire brigade tells you it is safe to return. Asbestos in your home Materials in good condition that contain asbestos aren t a risk to your health. Keep anything you think may contain asbestos in good condition and seal it with paint. Damaged materials that contain asbestos can be repaired. Removing them is generally a last resort. Don t drill, sand or scrape anything you think may contain asbestos. Don t try to remove textured coatings from ceilings. Wash any areas of flaking paint before repainting. Don t try to remove old floor tiles or lino. Leave them in place and lay new floor coverings over them. If you suspect that materials containing asbestos have been damaged, please contact us. 9 5

44 Keeping your home safe and secure 9 6

45 Section 10 Your rights as a secure tenant As you are still a tenant of the Council, you have a secure tenancy. Your secure tenancy gives you a number of legal rights. Some of these are complex and subject to conditions that we set, as your landlord. The right of security of tenure The Housing Act 1985 gives: your basic rights of security as a Council tenant rules for the landlord to repossess your home if you don t keep to your tenancy conditions. We will start court proceedings only when we have tried everything else. If we do need to resort to legal action, we will follow the proper procedure and tell you your rights at every stage. 10 Changes of tenancy The Housing Act 1985 and more recent law gives secure tenants certain rights about tenancy changes. These rights are complex, and valid only if you can prove that you qualify for them. We will advise you on your rights but in many cases will ask you to produce satisfactory proof before we agree to let you claim your rights. If you can t produce satisfactory proof when we ask you to, we will reject your claim. The right to one succession of tenancy If you are a secure tenant, the law gives certain people the right to succeed to (take over) your tenancy when you die: 1

46 Your rights as a secure tenant If you are a joint tenant, then the other joint tenant will automatically succeed to the tenancy. If your spouse or civil partner is living with you when you die, they have the right to succeed to your tenancy. If you have a partner or another family member, such as a son or daughter, who has lived with you for at least 12 months before you die, they can also succeed to the tenancy. The person applying to succeed to the tenancy must give proof of their identity, where they live and their relationship with you, when we ask them to. If the property is too big for the successor, we will ask them to move to a smaller one. By law, a tenancy can only be succeeded to once. 10 2

47 The right to one assignment of the tenancy If you are a secure tenant and need to leave your property to live elsewhere, the law gives you the right to assign (hand over) your tenancy to someone else in some circumstances. You can assign the tenancy only to those people who would have the right to succeed (see the section on successions). If you have succeeded to the tenancy (taken it over from someone who died), you don t have the right to assign it. If you wish to assign, you must follow a number of steps: You must get permission to assign before you leave your home, as we won t agree to assign after you have moved out. You must write to ask us, giving full details of the person you wish to assign the tenancy to. We must make sure that both you and the person you want to assign the tenancy to agree to this. 10 3

48 Your rights as a secure tenant You must provide proof of your identity, where you live, and your relationship with the person, when we ask you to. You must clear any rent arrears in full. We will contact you to arrange a home visit as quickly as possible after receiving your request. Assignment of a tenancy is a complex legal process. If you are considering it, you should seek independent legal advice. Changes of authorised occupants 10 The right to take in lodgers A lodger is someone living closely with you in your property and paying you rent. You have the right to take in lodgers as long as we, as the landlord, think this is reasonable. If you wish to take in a lodger, you must follow a number of steps: You must ask us for permission before you take in a lodger. We will then consider whether this is reasonable. We will look at how many people are already living in the property and whether having a lodger would overcrowd it. If we say you can take in a lodger and you are getting Housing Benefit, you must tell the Council s Housing Benefit department. You will also be responsible for making sure the lodger leaves the property if you end your tenancy. The right to sublet your property Subletting is when you let part of your home to someone else while you are still living there. A subtenant pays you rent to use a room just for themselves but (unlike a lodger) has little to do with you day to day. If you wish to sublet part of your property, you must get our permission first. 4

49 10 5

50 Your rights as a secure tenant We will consider your application using the guidelines described in the section above on lodgers. We won t allow you to sublet the whole of your property in any circumstances. If you do sublet the whole of your property: you will lose your security of tenure we will take legal action to take back the property. 10 The right to swap homes with someone else (mutual exchange) You can swap homes (do a mutual exchange ) with another tenant of a Council or housing association, but you must first get permission from both landlords. There are a number of ways to find someone to exchange with look in the Moving home section of this handbook. When you have found someone suitable, contact us and the Rehousing section at the Council. We will then arrange a home visit as quickly as possible and decide as soon as we reasonably can. We will ask you to clear any rent arrears in full before we agree a mutual exchange. The right to buy You have the right to buy your home at a discount when you have lived in the property for at least two or five years, depending whether your tenancy started before or after 18 January For more information on this right, please see the section Buying your home. The right to improve your home You have the right to improve your home as long as we, as your landlord, think this is reasonable. For more information on this right, please see the section Improving your home. 6

51 10 The right to manage A tenants or residents organisation has the right to set up a Tenant Management Organisation, which may be able to take on responsibility for the day-to-day management of your homes. If you would like more information about this right, please contact us. The right to be consulted You have the right to be consulted about major changes in how we manage your home. We will consider any comments received during consultation before we reach a decision. 7

52 Your rights as a secure tenant The right to see your housing records You have the right to see your personal housing file so you can check the details to make sure they are correct. If you want a copy of part of your file, or the whole file, we will make a small administration charge. The right to repair The law that granted this right in 1994 means Councils must do some types of repairs within a set time. As the Council s managing agent, we will arrange to repair your property within the time agreed with the Council. If we don t do the repairs within this time, you can make a legal claim for disrepair. See the Repairs, gas servicing, redecorating and pests section for more information about reporting repairs to us. 10 Sole and joint tenancies When you first sign up for a tenancy, you can choose whether to become a sole tenant or a joint tenant with a partner. If you choose a joint tenancy, both of you are responsible for keeping to the conditions in the tenancy agreement including paying all the rent. If you choose a sole tenancy and later want to change to a joint tenancy, you must contact us. We will agree to change from a sole to a joint tenancy in certain circumstances. But you don t have the right to insist on a joint tenancy. One person in a joint tenancy can end it at any time even if the other person doesn t agree. 8

53 Section 11 Your responsibilities as a secure tenant As a tenant living in a property we manage, your tenancy agreement is with the Council. The tenancy agreement you have signed is a legal contract. The conditions of tenancy that we gave you when your tenancy started explain the terms of the contract. The contract means that: we, as your landlord (being the Council s managing agent), are responsible for certain things you too have certain responsibilities for looking after your home and behaving as agreed. This section summarises these responsibilities and what we can expect from each other. You can find more information about the different aspects of your tenancy in the various sections in this handbook. What do you expect from me in paying rent? 11 You must: pay your rent regularly and promptly, in advance apply for Housing Benefit to help you pay the rent, if you receive state benefits or your wages are low contact us as soon as possible if you can t pay, and arrange to clear the arrears within a reasonable time. 1

54 Your responsibilities as a secure tenant We will: help you apply for Housing Benefit and agree a realistic repayment plan, if you are having difficulty paying your rent and you let us know contact you if you don t make regular rent payments and don t contact us initially through letters, telephone calls and home visits take legal action to recover any unpaid rent, if you fail to make or keep to an agreement to repay the arrears. 11 2

55 Who is responsible for looking after the property? You must: take care of your home, and any fixtures and fittings we have supplied keep the property in a reasonably clean condition and the internal decoration in good order repair some items inside your property if they fail, even if this is due to wear and tear (see the Repairs, gas servicing, redecorating and pests section) report any repairs to us that you believe are our responsibility allow us reasonable access to do repairs and annual gas services. You mustn t: keep flammable materials, such as gas cylinders, at your home lay laminate flooring in your home as this makes sound travelling from your home louder. We will: respond to any emergency repairs 24 hours a day, seven days a week repair items that are our responsibility swiftly and efficiently charge you for the cost of any repairs needed because of vandalism caused by you, your family or your visitors usually give you at least 24 hours notice when we need to come into your home secure your property and leave contact details if we need to force our way into your home to deal with an emergency (for example a leak from your property into a neighbour s) 11 3

56 Your responsibilities as a secure tenant do an annual gas service of all gas appliances in the property get the necessary legal authority to enter the property if you don t let us in to do this gas service. What must I do if I want to improve my home? You must: get our permission before you improve your home, other than decorating get any other permission you need, depending on the sort of work you want to do and whether your home is in a conservation area (see the section on Improving your home ) arrange this other permission yourself and pay any necessary costs. 11 We will: be reasonable in granting you permission to improve your home ask you to remove, at your own cost, any satellite dish you have installed if we need to work on the outside of your property. Who is responsible for looking after the communal areas? You must: use any communal areas reasonably and report to us any repairs needed dispose of rubbish properly 4

57 arrange with your neighbours to keep the communal areas clean keep your garden in good condition, if you have one make sure your pet, if you have one, doesn t foul in the communal areas. 11 5

58 Your responsibilities as a secure tenant We will: do any repairs needed to communal areas swiftly and efficiently. What do you expect from me in considering my neighbours? You must: tell us if you suspect someone living in a Council property shouldn t be there call the Police immediately if you see anyone breaking into a Council property. 11 You mustn t: make too much noise, or let those living with or visiting you do so do anything that interferes with the peace, comfort or convenience of other people harass, threaten or use violence against anyone else use the property for illegal or immoral purposes. We will: tell you if are disturbing your neighbours take any report of anti-social behaviour, of harassment or violence extremely seriously investigate anyone living in a property we manage who appears not to be the rightful tenant. 6