Rights & responsibilities

This is called an ‘assignment of tenancy’. If there is a compelling reason or an exceptional circumstance, a tenancy can be transferred to another member of your family when we have given you approval. An assignment of tenancy can also take place by obtaining a court order. If you would like more information on transferring your tenancy please speak to your local neighbourhood team.

You can swap your home with another of our customers, a customer of another housing association or a council housing customer, but you need to seek permission first.

You may take in lodgers as long as you don’t have too many people living in your property it. If you want to do this you must first obtain written permission from us by putting the request in writing and providing us with the name and details of your potential lodger. By taking in lodgers it may affect your entitlement to housing benefit/universal credit and you will be responsible for the behaviour of your lodger.

You will need to complete a Right to Rent check before taking in a lodger.   And Right to Rent should have this link please  https://www.gov.uk/check-tenant-right-to-rent-documents.

If you want to make improvements and changes to your home you must obtain advice and written permission from us before the work starts. Some examples of improvements are: Putting in extra heating, a room divider, an extra room, a shower, laying laminate or wooden flooring, putting up a shed or satellite dish, changing the kitchen or bathroom fittings. If you don’t get permission first, we may charge you for putting right any alterations that have been made.

You may be able to claim compensation for any improvements that you have made when you end your tenancy; to qualify you will need to have obtained permission at the time of doing them. This compensation will only be paid within limited guidelines. These will be explained to you when you contact us about your improvements.

We will recharge you for any damage you cause to your property throughout your tenancy.

When your tenancy ends, we will inspect your home. If we find any damage, it will be your responsibility to put it right, in line with your tenancy agreement.

We will offer you two options – you can either arrange for the repairs to be carried out and pay for them, or ask us to complete the work, which you will then be charged for. You can choose to pay us in full, or agree a repayment plan. Any work must be completed in 28 days.

In addition, if you ask us to carry out a repair outside our normal office hours, and it turns out not to be an emergency situation, we may also need to charge you for this.

When you die your tenancy will usually pass to a joint tenant. If there’s no joint tenant, your partner or someone in your household may sometimes be able to take over the tenancy. This is called ‘a succession’. A succession can only happen once and the criteria set out in your tenancy must have been met. The neighbourhood officer must be contacted as soon as possible following the death of a tenant and they’ll give you advice.

When someone dies it does not automatically end their tenancy. This means that someone who represents them needs to do this. This should be the person named as an executor in a will or named as an attorney in a property and financial affairs lasting power of attorney. We will also accept a Notice To Quit from a next of kin if there is no will but you may have to apply for probate to deal with the deceased tenants estate.

If a tenant lacks the mental capacity to end a tenancy agreement and there is not already a Lasting Power of Attorney or Court Appointed Deputy in place to do this, then authority from the Court of Protection must usually be acquired. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 makes provision for best interest decision making by social care and health practitioners, but this does not cover legal contracts such as tenancy agreements.

If you’re the next of kin or have power of attorney of the person who has died, we can accept the notice to end the tenancy over the telephone, initially, but we’ll also need a copy of the death certificate for our records and a filled-in notice to quit form. The notice period will start from the following Monday and end four weeks later on the Sunday. Download a Notice to Quit form.

The four weeks’ notice period is subject to normal rent charges. However, these will be charged to the estate of the person that’s died and not passed over to the next of kin. If the person was in the receipt of any benefits you should contact these agencies immediately as benefit entitlement usually ends on the Monday after the customer passes away.

Both tenants in the marriage can apply to the court for an order transferring the tenancy to their sole name. This is something both tenants should speak to a solicitor about. If there are children involved, the court will normally give the tenancy to the person who is given custody. We won't get involved in deciding which party should become sole tenant. The other party to the dispute may apply to go onto the housing register but should seek independent advice about this or guidance about the housing register.

Please ring us to let us know or speak to your neighbourhood officer if you're thinking of running a business from your home or garage. This is because you must get our permission first. You'll also need to get advice from the local authority to find out whether you need planning permission too. Your business must not cause a nuisance to your neighbours.