Home pack A guide to your home and our services This pack provides information about your home and about the services we provide as part of your tenancy. It sets out what you can expect from us and what we expect of you in return. One Kings Hall Mews I Lewisham I London SE13 5JQ Tel: 0844 406 9000 I Fax: 0800 619 0213 L&Q is an exempt charity www.lqgroup.org.uk L&Q Design Studio 2013. LQ0367 1 Home pack A guide to your home and our services
Home pack A guide to your home and our services Home pack A guide to your home and our services 1
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Home pack A guide to your home and our services Contents 01 About L&Q 5 02 Your rent 9 03 Your home 13 04 Moving home 19 Home pack A guide to your home and our services 3
For 50 years now L&Q has responded to changes in the market. This advice centre, for example, opened in 1972 beneath our original offices in Deptford to support people we could not house. 4 Home pack A guide to your home and our services
01 About L&Q Welcome to your new home We want you to enjoy your new home as much as possible and benefit from being an L&Q tenant. That is why we have produced this home pack to help you settle in. We hope you will find it a useful guide to the services we provide as part of your tenancy. We want you to feel that L&Q offers you the quality, security and affordability you need. Please have a look through this pack to find out more about the services you can expect from us. We recommend that you keep the pack in a safe place so that you can refer to it if you need to. For more information about any of our services, please don t hesitate to contact us. We hope that you will enjoy living in your new home. Home pack A guide to your home and our services 5
About L&Q L&Q is one of the largest landlords in London and the South East. Our mission is: creating places where people want to live. We do this by offering highquality homes and services. We provide a variety of homes, both to rent and to buy. We are acutely aware of the housing shortage in London and the South East, so we reinvest any profit we make into building more homes and providing even better services. We also invest significant amounts of money and time in maintaining our existing homes and in community projects. The quality, security and affordability of your home are our top priorities. Our service commitment to you We want you to enjoy your new home and the neighbourhood where you live. That is why we are committed to providing you with a high-quality service. Our highly trained staff are on hand to help if you need anything, they are just a phone call or email away. They will check your home at least once a year and will also make sure that the gas appliances, fittings and flues we provide to you are safe. This is all to make sure you have peace of mind, knowing that they are in perfect working order. However, sometimes things can break down or get broken. When that happens, rest assured that we will act to get repairs done as swiftly as we can and at a time, morning or afternoon, that suits you best. We give our staff rigorous training, so that you receive good service from us. We have set standards for the areas of service that our tenants have told us are most important to them. These standards include: Resident involvement which covers things such as the level of customer service we provide and how we involve our tenants; Home including the quality of our homes and how well we provide our repairs and maintenance service; and Value for money such as our approach to providing cost-effective and efficient services. We have published a series of leaflets on our standards, and we report how well we perform against our targets each year in an annual report for residents. All of this information is available on www.lqgroup.org.uk Equality and diversity We train all our staff on equality and diversity, to make sure that they treat our customers with courtesy and respect. We offer equal opportunities to everyone, regardless of their race, colour, ethnic or national origin, religion, beliefs, gender, age, sexual orientation, sexual identity, HIV status, physical or mental disability, state of health, appearance, marital status, family circumstances or offending behaviour. If you would like to have any of the information in this guide reproduced in your own language, or in large type, braille or as an audio CD, please ask one of our staff. We will be happy to arrange this for you. 6 Home pack A guide to your home and our services
Contact us Our Property Managers are here to provide advice and assistance. Please contact them if you need any help. L&Q 10 Grove Crescent Road Stratford London E15 1BJ Tel: 0844 406 9000 ext 4000 Email: to-rent@lqgroup.org.uk We can get things done more quickly if you contact us during normal business hours. However, if you need to phone us earlier or later in the day, please call on 0800 015 6536 instead. Please note that we offer an emergency only service between 8pm and 8am Mondays to Fridays, from 1pm on Saturdays and all day on Sundays. Our website also provides information about us and our services and you can report repairs online too. If you are unhappy with our service Our Property Managers are the first point of contact if you are not happy with our service. Alternatively, you can fill in our Comments and Suggestions form, if you prefer. You can find the form on our website. We aim to put things right as quickly as possible. However, we have a central Customer Relations team to help you when you feel you are not getting the quality of service from us that you should, and need an issue to be taken further. Customer Relations team PO Box 194 Sidcup Kent DA14 5HU Tel: 0844 406 9000 ext 6150 Email: complaints@lqgroup.org.uk Alternatively, you can fill in our Making a Complaint form, which can be found on our website. If you are still unhappy after going through our complaints procedure, you can take your complaint to the independent Housing Ombudsman Service. Home pack A guide to your home and our services 7
Sharon Nkansah and her daughter moved into a new home in Southwark in 2012 as part of our plans to regenerate their old estate. 8 Home pack A guide to your home and our services
02 Your rent Your rent includes the cost of any services we provide to you as part of your tenancy, including cleaning communal areas, servicing lifts and maintaining external grounds. Home pack A guide to your home and our services 9
Your rent Your rent and service charges How much do I have to pay? Your tenancy agreement will show you the total amount you have to pay for rent. Your rent is set at the start of your tenancy. If you renew your tenancy, your rent is recalculated at that time or on the anniversary of the tenancy, based on local market conditions. Where does the rent go? We use the rent we collect to: Repair and maintain your home; Manage the housing service we provide; and Repay money we have borrowed to build or improve homes. When do I have to pay? Under your tenancy agreement, your rent is due monthly in advance. We will expect you to pay it regularly each month unless we have agreed other payment arrangements with you. How will you tell me about any changes in the rent? Your rent will remain fixed for the length of the tenancy and we will review it annually. Where we agree to renewing it, we will notify you at least two months before it expires about any change in your rent. If you have a question about the amount of rent you have been asked to pay, please contact your Property Manager. How to pay your rent We expect you to pay your rent by standing order. In exceptional circumstances, we may collect your rent another way, such as by direct debit. We will take the first payment from you when you sign your tenancy agreement. If you miss your rent payment Talk to us straight away. Contact your Property Manager to explain why you have missed a payment and what you intend to do. There may be many reasons for late payments and we will offer you help and advice to make sure you can meet your responsibilities under the tenancy agreement. If you continue to miss your rent payments, or do not keep to an agreement to repay, we will seek to get back the amount you owe. This could include taking you to court and initiating possession proceedings, if necessary. 10 Home pack A guide to your home and our services
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Kingsland Wharves in Hackney. Through new developments such as these, we are making real our aim of creating places where people want to live. 12 Home pack A guide to your home and our services
03 Your home Moving into a new home can begin a new chapter in your life. We hope you find it an enjoyable one. If you need help from us while you re living here, please get in touch with one of our Property Managers. L&Q 10 Grove Crescent Road Stratford London E15 1BJ Tel: 0844 406 9000 ext 4000 Email: to-rent@lqgroup.org.uk Also, if you need to call us outside of normal business hours, please phone us on 0800 015 6536 instead. Please remember that we offer an emergency only service between 8pm and 8am Mondays to Fridays, from 1pm on Saturdays and all day on Sundays. You can also make an enquiry or report a repair via our website, www.lqgroup.org.uk Home pack A guide to your home and our services 13
Your home Moving in Things to do Give people you know, and organisations you deal with, your new address; Ask Royal Mail to redirect the post from your old address to your new address; Cancel all the services in your old home including direct debits; and Take meter readings for gas, electricity and water (if you have a water meter) in both your old and new homes. Utilities You are responsible for getting your gas, electricity and water supplies connected, and paying your bills from the date you move in. Gas and electricity supplies are usually connected already. If they are not, you will have to contact the suppliers as soon as possible to arrange connection ready for when you move in. If your water supply is not turned on, you will need to find the stopcock to turn it on. It is usually under the sink. In a block of flats, you may sometimes find the stopcock is located in the communal hallway. If this is the case, it is a good idea to label clearly which mains stopcock services your property so that you can find it quickly in an emergency. Contact your Property Manager if you need advice about this. Council Tax Your local council will need to know that you have moved in to arrange your Council Tax payments. You should contact them to let them know when you move in. The local council will be able to advise if you are entitled to a reduction in the amount you pay if you are the only person living in the property. Inventory When you move into your home, we will complete an inventory which will list the condition of the fixtures and fittings within the home. In line with the terms and conditions of your tenancy, you are responsible for keeping the inside of your home clean and in good condition. When you move out of the home, we will check the inventory and ensure the condition has been maintained. If you have damaged the property, we will deduct the cost of putting it right from your deposit. 14 Home pack A guide to your home and our services
Looking after your home We aim to make sure your home is clean and safe, and the services we provide are of a high standard and meet your needs. We inspect properties at least once a year. If you have any concerns about your home, including any communal areas, please contact your Property Manager. Repairs Repair responsibilities We are responsible for repairing the structure and outside of your home, our fixtures and fittings and any communal or shared areas. You are responsible for keeping your home in a good decorative condition. You are also responsible for minor repairs, such as replacing tap washers, fuses and light bulbs. You must deal with lost keys. Your Property Manager can give you advice if you are not sure. We will charge you for any damage to your home that we have to repair, if you, your family or your visitors caused it. Priority times When you report a repair we will give it a priority rating from one to four. This tells you how long to expect the repair to take: 1 Emergency within 24 hours. For example, burst pipes, fires, flooding, blocked drains, lack of security or complete power failure; 2 Urgent within five working days. For example, minor water leaks or faulty heating; 3 Essential repairs within 20 working days. For example, minor repairs to windows and doors; and 4 Miscellaneous within 40 working days. Repairs appointments Either our contractor or your Property Manager will contact you to arrange a convenient time (morning or afternoon) to call to inspect or carry out the repair. Please make sure you are at home for the appointment so contractors can get on with the work as soon as possible. If you break the appointment, you may be charged for the cost. Reporting repairs To report a repair, please call your Property Manager on 0844 406 9000 ext 4000. You should tell us quickly about repairs that need doing, especially where a problem may be a danger to yourself or others. If you need an emergency repair, please phone us rather than reporting your repair online. Home pack A guide to your home and our services 15
Your home Emergencies and safety Burst pipes You should turn off the water at the mains stopcock and report the problem immediately to your Property Manager. It is a good idea to make sure you know where the mains stopcock is (often under the sink or in the communal hallway). Gas appliances By law, we have to carry out a safety inspection of any gas appliances, pipe work and flues in your home each year. Our specialist gas engineer will contact you to arrange an appointment to do this. If you break the appointment, you may be charged for the cost. If you smell gas, do not switch electrical appliances or lights on or off, but do turn off the gas supply and open all windows and doors. Report the problem to the National Grid immediately on 0800 111 999. Electricity If you have an electrical fault, you should turn off the supply at the mains. This is in the fuse box. Report the problem to your Property Manager immediately. Fire safety You can help to prevent a fire by unplugging electrical appliances, such as televisions and DVD players, before you go to bed and when you leave the house. Keep matches away from children and never leave lit candles unattended. Smoke alarms can save your life by giving you an early warning of a fire so you should check them regularly to make sure they work. If you have a battery operated smoke alarm, replace the batteries when you hear the warning signal, and never remove them to use somewhere else. If you have a fixed/hard-wired alarm it will be checked annually when you have your gas inspection. For more information about fire safety visit the London Fire Brigade website, www.london-fire.gov.uk Safety considerations For the safety of yourself and others, do not store flammable substances such as petrol, bottled gas or paraffin heaters in your home, on your balcony or in shared areas; If there is a fire, dial 999 immediately and ask for the fire brigade; In the case of fire, if it is safe for you to do so without putting yourself or your family in danger, tell your neighbours, especially those living in the same building; and Get out of the building as quickly as possible, closing doors behind you. Leave using the stairs, not the lifts. 16 Home pack A guide to your home and our services
Insurance We recommend that you take out home contents insurance to cover theft or damage to your belongings. We are not responsible for insuring your possessions and are not legally able to do so. There are many insurance schemes for you to choose from, but to help you we have negotiated a special discounted policy exclusively for L&Q residents. The policy offers new-for-old cover and a range of payment options. For further information or an application form please contact your Property Manager or: L&Q Insurance team Tel: 0800 015 653 Email: insurance@lqgroup.org.uk Shared responsibility in communal areas If you have shared use of hallways, gardens and drying areas, please help to keep these areas tidy and free from rubbish. Renewing your tenancy At the end of your tenancy, you may decide that you would like to stay longer. If so, your Property Manager will check that you have met the terms of your existing tenancy before they renew your tenancy. Specifically, they will check that: You have paid you rent on time and there have been no arrears; You are still in employment and there has been no material change in your circumstances; You have kept the property in a good condition; and We have received no complaints from your neighbours about your behaviour. A new rent will be calculated based on the prevailing market rate in the local area relating to the size and condition of the property. You can also help us by doing the following: Make sure stairs and landings are not blocked with personal items. These can be dangerous if people trip over them or have to get out of the building quickly if there is a fire; If you share a communal door, make sure it is always kept closed and you don t let in anyone you don t know. This way everyone s homes are kept secure; If you have children, please make sure they don t play in the shared hallways, stairs, balconies or doorways; and Do not throw, or allow others to throw, things from your home. Home pack A guide to your home and our services 17
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04 Moving home Tenancies typically last for 12 months. As you come towards the end of your tenancy, you may want to start to thinking about whether you would like to stay longer or whether you would prefer to move on. Home pack A guide to your home and our services 19
Moving home Ending your tenancy Your Property Manager will get in touch with you around two months before your tenancy is due to end. This will give you the opportunity to discuss renewing or ending the tenancy. If you decide you want to leave your home before the end of your tenancy, you will need to give us two months notice. If you are going to move out, during your final two months, your Property Manager will: Send you confirmation of notice, and information about ending the tenancy; Arrange an inspection of the property before you move out to identify any defects and dilapidations; and Return the deposit (less any deductions relating to damages to the property). Your responsibilities You must: Allow future residents to view the property during the notice period; Pay your rent until the tenancy ends, and pay any other money you owe; Leave your home in a clean and tidy condition, removing all your furniture, domestic appliances and rubbish. We will charge you for the cost of work if we have to put things right, and this will be deducted from your deposit; Return all keys by midday on your last day. If you do not return your keys in time, we will charge you an additional week s rent and the cost of changing the locks; Tell us your current utility providers; and Tell us your new address. Things to do You will need to inform: The post office. You will need to arrange for your mail to be redirected. We cannot accept responsibility for post that has been delivered after you have returned the keys to us; Your utilities supplies (ie gas, electricity, water, telephone); Your local authority (eg regarding council tax); and Other organisations you may deal with (eg TV licensing, satellite/cable company, mobile telephone provider, internet service provider, insurance company, bank/ building society, credit card company, DVLA, doctor, dentist, vet, schools, employer). Contact us Contact your Property Manager if any issues arise relating to moving out. 20 Home pack A guide to your home and our services
Buying an L&Q home Purchasing options L&Q has homes available to buy through lowcost home ownership and outright sale. A general overview of home ownership products are listed below: Outright sale is buying 100% of a home. This is usually with a mortgage and means becoming an owner-occupier; Shared ownership is a part-buy/part-rent scheme offering you the opportunity to buy what you can afford; Shared equity enables aspiring first-time buyers to buy a new home with an affordable mortgage and with government assistance on a designated development; and Re-sales are part-buy, part-rent properties that were built and sold in the past. They are now available for purchase on a part-buy, partrent basis because the owners wish to sell. All schemes are subject to availability of funding and eligibility criteria. Further information on all low-cost home ownership schemes and outright sales can be found at www.lqgroup.org.uk. If you live in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey or Sussex, visit www.homebuy.co.uk Home pack A guide to your home and our services 21
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Home packour future Rising to the challenge 17 Home pack A guide to your home and our services 23