Your tenancy

When you become a tenant you will be given a tenancy agreement which sets out our responsibilities as your landlord, and your responsibilities as our tenant. You can find all the details of your tenancy in the tenant portal.

Tenant portal

Types of tenancy

There are 2 types of tenant - your tenancy agreement will tell you which you are.

Introductory tenancy

If you have not been a council tenant before you will be given an introductory tenancy.

This is a temporary tenancy that lasts for 12 months. It means you have fewer rights than a secure tenant. It also means it is easier for us to evict you if we need to.

Your tenancy will be reviewed at regular intervals to ensure that you are conducting your tenancy in a satisfactory manner. If you breach your tenancy we may extend this period by another 6 months.

Secure tenancy

All introductory tenants will automatically become secure tenants on the first anniversary of the date of the start of their tenancy. This only happens if they have conducted their tenancy in a satisfactory manner.

A secure tenancy gives you more rights.

Rights and responsibilities

As your landlord we have some rights and responsibilities and as a tenant you have rights and responsibilities too. Your tenancy agreement will set these out for you.

Your rights

As a tenant you have the right:

• to be consulted about the way we manage your property and any changes that may be made
• to make alterations or improvements with our written permission
• to live in the property as your principle home
• to exercise your legal rights as a tenant
• to have any repairs that are our responsibility carried out
• to take on a lodger as long as we have granted permission. We will take into consideration the house make-up and the capacity of your home.

Your responsibilities

As a tenant you have the responsibility:

• to pay your rent and other charges on time
• to keep the inside of your home and your garden in a satisfactory condition
• to ensure your household/visitors/pets do not cause nuisance to your neighbours
• to give us access to complete any repairs, annual service works or to allow employees and contractors to go about their duties
• to raise awareness of repairs needed. Not to alter the property without written consent. Inform us of any struggles you face with your tenancy, so we can signpost you to the relevant support agencies
• to adhere to your tenancy conditions to prevent court action being taken against you.

Our rights

As a landlord we have the right:

• to request access to the property to carry out inspection or repairs. We will give you reasonable notice of our intention, unless it is an emergency situation
• ask the courts to end your tenancy if you break the conditions of your tenancy agreement.

Our responsibilities

As a landlord we have the responsibility:

• consult with you about important changes to the management of your tenancy
• to deal with your complaints
• to maintain service standards
• to ensure the tenancy agreement is being adhered to at all times
• to act on any repairs that are our responsibility.

Tenants Handbook

Further information relating to the management of your tenancy, your rights as a tenant and our obligations as your landlord can be found in your Tenants Handbook. A copy of the handbook should have been provided to you when you signed for the tenancy. The handbook is reviewed periodically, as required, which could be following feedback from tenants, learning from a complaint or following changes to legislation etc. A copy of the current handbook can be found in the downloads section at the bottom of this page.

Contact us about your tenancy

You can contact us about your tenancy at the contact details on this page.