BURY METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL

CHARGING POLICY

DELIVERED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

SIX TOWN HOUSING

Introduction

Bury Metropolitan Borough Council values and respects all of its tenants.  In return we expect our tenants to respect and value their homes.  The majority of Bury Metropolitan Borough Council tenants act responsibly, maintain their property to a good standard and act within the terms of their tenancy agreement. 

This policy explains how and when Six Town Housing will charge tenants and former tenants for any costs we incur, if the cost is due to their action or behaviour.  This could be because they have damaged or neglected their home or acted in breach of their tenancy agreement,  despite warnings and support.  In these circumstances we will expect tenants and former tenants to be financially responsible for their actions.

This policy only refers to costs incurred as a result of rechargeable repairs, garden recharges, gas injunctions, incidents of anti-social behaviour and any associated court costs.  It does not relate to any other Bury MBC debts or claims.

Aims and Objectives

Six Town Housing are committed to continually assessing how we can give better value for money to all tenants.  It is not fair to expect the majority of tenants to pay for the actions of the minority.  We will seek to recover charges and take action against those who do not behave responsibly and follow the terms of their tenancy agreement.

Six Town Housing aim to treat all tenants in a fair and consistent way and charges to tenants and former tenants will be recovered equitably, considering their individual circumstances.  We will aim to assess the vulnerability of the tenant and their ability to pay in relation to the costs that have been incurred.  We will use this information to help us make decisions about how we determine and collect any charges incurred by tenants and former tenants.

 What is exempt?

Six Town Housing will assess all potential charges individually, paying particular attention to the tenant or former tenants circumstances.  As an organisation we have a duty to assess the tenant and former tenant for vulnerability and ability to pay, ensuring that undue hardship is not suffered.  Using these guidelines any charges due to be applied will undergo an assessment before being enforced or method of collection agreed.  We will not make a charge in the following cases:

• Any charges incurred where a tenant has passed away.
• Any charges incurred when a tenant goes into residential care.
• Any charges incurred by a tenant who has been a victim of a serious crime, who has reported the crime to the police and obtained a crime reference number or valid supporting evidence from the police.
• Any damage which is accidental and meets the following criteria:
• The damage is not part of a history of repeated accidental damage and
• The tenant has been identified as vulnerable and the damage caused is as a  result of their vulnerability
• Outgoing tenants will not be charged for improvements that have been made to the property which have been approved, or items that have been left behind and which have been agreed by Six Town Housing, such as carpets and fitted wardrobes for example.
• Six Town Housing will continue to encourage tenants to use their own insurance where possible to cover any costs incurred.

Any charges arising as a result of rent arrears are not exempt.

What will we charge for?

Tenants and former tenants are responsible for and will be charged for any costs incurred by Six Town Housing as a result of :-

• Damage to their property which is as a result of an act of intentional or negligent behaviour by the tenant, tenant’s relatives, pets or visitors to their home unless there is a crime reference number or valid supporting evidence.
• Any court costs incurred as a result of a breach of tenancy conditions – for example as a result of antisocial behaviour incidents or in gaining access to properties to carry out a gas service.
• Boarding up and re-glazing windows
• Lock changes and replacement keys if the tenant has lost their keys or locked themselves out of the property.
• Removal of items left in communal areas
• Clearing properties at any time during a tenancy or at the point the tenancy ends.
• Clearing gardens at any time during a tenancy or at the point the tenancy ends.
• Abuse of the emergency call out service e.g. when the repair required is not really an emergency, however has been reported as such.
• Making good any alterations done by the tenant which have not led to an improvement.

An improvement is defined as a change or alteration to the property which would bring it to a more desirable condition without reducing its value.  The quality of fittings and workmanship must be approved by the organisation.  Any alterations must also meet any associated Health and Safety regulations when inspected to be defined as an improvement.

In addition each tenant has specific responsibility for :-

      Repair or replacement of fixtures and fittings as detailed in the tenancy agreement.

      Interior decoration including small cracks in plaster.

      The fitting and repair of all domestic appliances and associated fixtures and fittings.

Six Town Housing are committed to ensuring tenants enjoy sustainable tenancies. However, we will thoroughly investigate any tenants who do not keep to the terms of their tenancy agreement or repeatedly damage, allow to be damaged, or neglect their home despite warnings and support.  This behaviour will not be tolerated and could result in the tenant being reported to the police and being pursued for criminal damage.  This carries the risk of tenants losing their home and may also prevent them being offered another council tenancy in future.

 We are confident that the majority of tenants will not be affected by this approach and we will work with tenants and former tenants to stop this situation arising, by offering advice and support at all times.

 How will we charge?

To ensure we are continuing to provide a quality and value for money service to tenants Six Town Housing along with Bury MBC will robustly pursue any debts owed which are the tenant or former tenants responsibility.  We will do this in a number of ways :-

Where a charge is to be made for repairs, anti-social behaviour action and for access for gas servicing we will :-

• Send an invoice to the tenant.  Collection of the debt will be made through the Customer Accounts department of Bury Metropolitan Borough Council.
• If the Customer Accounts department are unsuccessful in recovery, the debt will then be passed to an outside collection agency who will make contact by letter and by telephone.
• If these methods are unsuccessful the outside collection agency will make home visits to collect the debt or make a repayment agreement.

Finally, if all the above methods fail, Bury MBC may start court action to seek a judgement for the full outstanding debt and any court costs incurred.

For charges as a result of rent arrears, Six Town Housing will take the following action for the recovery of the outstanding arrears and any court costs incurred :-

• For current tenants any court costs will be added to the rent account and collected in the same way as outstanding arrears.
• Where a tenancy has ended we will make contact by telephone and letter advising the amount to be paid.  If payments are not received we may use outside collection agencies to help us collect any rent and court costs owed to us.
• The outside collection agency will make contact by letter and telephone.  If these methods are unsuccessful they will make home visits to collect the charge or make a repayment agreement. 

Finally, if all the above methods fail Bury Metropolitan Borough Council and Six Town Housing may start court action to seek a judgement for the full outstanding debt and any court costs incurred.

We take charges which tenants and former tenants are responsible for very seriously and will take all necessary action to recover them.  We expect payment in full unless there are exceptional circumstances, which will be subject to review by Six Town Housing. 

Appeals process

If you wish to appeal against anything you feel you have been unfairly charged for you must contact us as soon as possible.  We will supply you with an appeals form to complete along with some guidance notes as to what the next steps in the process will be.  We expect to receive any appeal claims within 20 working days of the date of the invoice.

We will acknowledge receipt of your appeal within 5 working days and make a decision on your initial appeal within 15 working days.

 If you are still unhappy with our decision regarding your recharge we will be happy to discuss your situation and refer your appeal to the Chief Executive for a final decision.

Detailed procedures

In order to guarantee that this policy is implemented effectively, fairly and consistently for all of our customers it will be supported by detailed procedures for use by all staff involved in the process.  The procedures will be subject to periodic reviews to ensure we are continually shaping an excellent service for our tenants.