Bulky waste
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Housing management
This is a sample of the tenancy agreement you will sign before you move in to your council home.
Brighton & Hove City Council would like to welcome you to your new home and neighbourhood. We hope that you will be very happy as a council tenant.
This tenancy agreement is a legal document and sets out both your responsibilities and rights as a tenant and those of the council as your landlord. If you fail to comply with a tenancy condition Brighton & Hove City Council have the right to take legal action.
It is important that you understand this tenancy agreement as it sets out the conditions of a tenancy with Brighton & Hove City Council. You have the right to get independent legal advice from a solicitor, Citizens Advice Bureau or a law centre if you are unsure about signing this agreement or would like advice about your rights and responsibilities.
Key information on your Tenancy Agreement can be found in the Tenant Handbook and the Repairs & Improvement Handbook.
More information about council housing.
If you are not currently a secure tenant, you will be an introductory tenant for the first year of your tenancy with the council.
If you transfer from another of our properties, you will continue to be a secure tenant unless you are still in the first year of your introductory tenancy. In this case, your introductory tenancy continues at the new property until the end of the first year.
Your type of tenancy will be indicated below. It will be either:
If you are signing this agreement with someone else - such as your husband, wife, civil partner or partner, or in some cases a family member - you will be a joint tenant. In joint tenancies, each tenant is jointly and individually responsible for all of the conditions of this agreement.
This means that if one tenant leaves the home, both tenants remain responsible for the conditions of the tenancy until the tenancy is ended.
As a council tenant, you have a number of legal rights including the rights to see your personal housing file. We have summarised these in ‘Section 8 – Your Rights’ at the end of this agreement and indicated where these rights apply to introductory and secure tenancies.
Any personal information you give us – verbally, in writing or in person - is held securely. Information collected for one purpose may be used for another purpose by the council unless there are legal restrictions preventing this. Using your information in this way helps us to deliver more efficient services. We will not share your information with third parties for commercial or marketing purposes.
We may share your personal information with other agencies (for example law enforcement agencies or utility companies) where the law requires us to or where it is appropriate to support our duty to protect public funds and/or detect and prevent fraud. For more details on how the council holds your personal data please see our website at www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/privacy or write to the council’s Data Protection Officer, Bartholomew House, Bartholomew Square, Brighton BN1 1JP
The tenancy conditions represent responsibilities you have as a tenant and those we have as a landlord. This agreement does not remove any rights you or we have which are set out in the Housing Acts or other law and that apply now or in the future.
In these tenancy conditions, ‘we’, ‘us’, or ‘our’ refers to Brighton & Hove City Council. ‘You’ refers to you the tenant or, in the case of joint tenancies, you and the person with whom you have signed this agreement. You are responsible for the behaviour of all members of your household, including your children and any lodgers, subtenants or visitors (‘they’).
In the tenancy conditions, when we refer to ‘your home’ or ‘the property’, we mean the premises you live in including any garden, balcony, parking area or storage area that is used by you. ‘Shared areas’ include stairs, lifts, landings, entrance halls, paved areas, communal gardens, bin stores, and other areas that can be used by more than one person living in the same building.
Where we refer to ‘Seniors Housing’ this is the name for Brighton & Hove City Council’s sheltered housing service (sometimes known as retirement, sheltered or warden assisted housing). ‘Extra Care Housing’ is similar to Seniors Housing but with social care provision on site. It allows people to live independently while getting the care and support they need.
Most of the tenancy conditions are the same for introductory and secure tenancies, but some conditions only apply to one or the other. There are also some additional conditions for tenants living in Seniors and Extra Care Housing. We have indicated where this is the case in this agreement.
If you live in a flat, we will keep the shared areas clear and service installations i.e. pipes, cables etc. clean and in a reasonable state of repair. This includes but is not limited to all communal areas such as entrances, door entry systems, halls, stairways, lifts, passages and lighting.
We will give you reasonable notice of when access is needed - this will vary according to the urgency of the situation.
Brighton & Hove City Council, together with its partners, is committed to tackling nuisance and anti-social behaviour in the city.
a) We will investigate any complaints of nuisance or harassment as necessary and will take appropriate action.
This section of the agreement only applies to Seniors and Extra Care housing tenants, and is in addition to all other conditions of tenancy.
If you are an introductory tenant and we want to end your tenancy, or extend it for a further six months we will give you a ‘Notice of Proceedings for Possession’ or a ‘Notice of Extension’ whichever is appropriate. You can ask us to review our decision to end or extend your tenancy.
If you are a secure tenant and we want to end your tenancy we will give you a ‘Notice of Seeking Possession’. This notice will explain why we want to end your tenancy and tell you the date after which proceedings can be started. Proceedings may start immediately after service of a notice if we have to go to court relying on anti-social behaviour.
If you are an introductory tenant or secure tenant and no longer use your property as your only or main home, or you have sublet the whole of your property, we will end your tenancy by giving you a ‘Notice to Quit’. This will give you four weeks notice ending on a Sunday or a Monday.
Any notice given by us will be regarded as being sufficiently and properly served by any of the following methods:
You should send us any notice (including legal notices) to Brighton & Hove City Council, Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, Hove, BN3 4AH
In the event of your death, the tenancy may pass on to your spouse or civil partner, a joint tenant or a member of your family if certain conditions are met.
In the event of your death, the tenancy may pass on to your spouse or civil partner or a joint tenant or a cohabitee (a person living with you as if they were your spouse or civil partner) if certain conditions are met.
After Chapter 6 of the Housing & Planning Act 2016 comes into force, all rights to succeed will be limited to a spouse, civil partner or cohabitee living with you (as if they were your spouse or civil partner). A new tenancy will be granted for a fixed term unless exceptions apply. The council will apply this law when it comes into force.
In certain circumstances if there has already been one statutory succession at the property or someone who is not entitled to succeed but had been resident with the tenant for at least
12 months prior to the death, we may offer a discretionary succession (to a suitably sized property). The full details of the conditions for discretionary succession can be found in the
Tenancy Policy.
For further information about succession please refer to the tenant handbook.
This section provides a summary of your legal rights, under the Housing Act 1985 (as amended).
Where these rights only apply to secure tenancies we have indicated this.
This agreement gives you the right, as a tenant, to live in the property without interference from us as long as you do not break any of the conditions of this agreement. If any of the conditions of this agreement are broken we may apply to the court to end your tenancy.
We believe that it is important that you are involved in housing management decisions that affect you. We will consult with you about any changes to our policy or practice that may substantially change the housing service we provide to you, your home and your neighbourhood.
Except for changes to rent or any other charges, the terms of this agreement can only be changed if we give you written notice that we intend to alter the agreement. We will write to you and tell you about the changes we are proposing to make and give you the opportunity to comment. We will take your views into consideration before agreeing any changes and give you at least four weeks’ notice before the change takes place. This tenancy agreement may also be changed where you and we agree in writing.
As a landlord, we hold information about you and your family in connection with your tenancy and your housing application. The Housing Act 1985 gives you the right to be given details of the information we recorded as being relevant to your application for accommodation. The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you, as a council tenant, certain rights to see your personal housing file so that you can check the details to make sure they are correct.
You can ask us to make sure that certain small, urgent repairs (known as ‘qualifying’ repairs) are completed within a specified time. These are normally repairs that are likely to affect your health, safety or security. In certain circumstances you may get compensation if we fail to meet the requirements of the regulation.
You have the right to improve your home as long as you get our written permission first. An improvement means an alteration or addition to your home. This includes, but is not limited to:
You must apply for our permission and give full details of the work you want to carry out. You may also need planning or building regulation consent.
This scheme gives tenants the right to claim compensation for some authorised improvements that they have made to their home when they move out.
Secure tenants have the right to buy their homes subject to certain criteria. The right to buy does not apply to Seniors housing or some specially adapted properties.
You have the right to take over the management of your own home. This right can be taken by tenants forming a tenant management organisation in a particular block or estate.
You may take in lodgers or have members of your family living with you, as long as this does not cause overcrowding.
You may sublet part of your home, as long as you get our written agreement first. You are not allowed to sublet the whole of your home.
Please refer to Section 4 Living in your home, Clause l.
Please refer to Section 7 Ending your tenancy, Clauses n to q.