Your Tenancy

What’s the deal?

This guide sets out the service you can expect to receive from us in relation to your tenancy. It describes what we do, the standards of service you can expect and how we will check we are meeting them. It also sets out the things we expect you to do to ensure your tenancy runs smoothly and you are happy in your home.

Our responsibilities

We will:

• Ensure all of our empty homes meet our published ‘lettable standard’ and are clean, safe and ready for you to move in to as quickly as possible;
• Arrange for you to view your new home and answer any queries you may have before you sign your tenancy agreement;
• Tell you about your rights and responsibilities, provide you with information about your new home and advice you on the rent that is due when you sign your tenancy agreement. We will also tell you about the services we provide and check if you need any help managing your home. Where appropriate, we will make referrals to other agencies who offer specialised help, if you agree to this;
• Visit you within the first few weeks of moving in, to check you have settled in and to answer any further queries you may have; and
• Provide you with free access to Home Swapper; a national online facility that allows you to swap homes with another tenant.  

What we expect in return

Your responsibilities:

• To adhere to the conditions of your tenancy agreement, including looking after your home and garden;
• To pay your rent first, in advance all the time;
• Allowing us access to your home at agreed times;
• To let us know of any changes in your circumstances that may affect your tenancy; 
• To respond promptly if we try to contact you or ask you for information;
• To engage with any support services that are offered to you; and
• Tell us your views about the service. This will enable us to monitor the quality of the service provided and identify any potential improvements;

Measuring success

We will know if we are getting things right by:

• Monitoring and reporting our performance against our agreed performance measures;
• Asking you how happy you are with the service we have provided; and
• Publishing details on the work we do in our customer newsletter and website.

We will report our performance against these standards in our annual report to tenants. Regular updates will also be provided to our Customer Review Group, who are responsible for reviewing how well we are doing and offering constructive challenge.