1. Your tenancy agreement
We are required under section 6 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 to participate in the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data matching exercise. Tenancy data will be provided to the Audit Commission for NFI and will be used for cross-system and cross-authority comparison for the prevention and detection of fraud.
Lifetime secure tenancy agreement
This tenancy agreement is for both introductory and lifetime secure tenants and sets out a tenant's rights and responsibilities:
If you don’t currently have a social tenancy, it is likely you will be given an introductory tenancy.
Introductory tenancies usually last for 12 months from the tenancy start date but if you have broken your tenancy conditions during the first 12 months, the council may choose to extend your introductory period by a further 6 months.
After the introductory period, your tenancy will automatically become a secure lifetime tenancy unless we have begun proceedings to end the tenancy due to a breach of the tenancy agreement.
If you currently have a social tenancy, it is likely you will be given a secure lifetime tenancy with no introductory period.
Tenancy agreement explained
There are some parts of the tenancy agreement which cause confusion. These are explained below.
Successions
This is a right for secure tenants to pass on their tenancy to their husband / wife / partner / civil partner or member of the family. This applies to anyone who signed their tenancy agreement before 1 April 2012. In the case of a family member, they must have been living with you for at least the past 12 months. Succession can only happen once.
Anyone who signed their tenancy after 1 April 2012 will only have the right for their husband / wife / partner or civil partner to succeed to the tenancy. Succession can only happen once.
Assignments
An assignment of tenancy takes place where a tenant exchanges properties with another tenant or a sole tenancy becomes a joint tenancy or vice versa.
Lodgers
You have the right to take in lodgers, but please inform the housing customer relations team when you do on 01392 265033.
A lodger is someone who lives in your home but does not have exclusive right to any one part of it. They will get some sort of service from you, such as cooking or cleaning.
Subletting
You have the right to sublet, but your must get our written consent first.
Subletting means that someone pays you rent to have exclusive right to part of your home. They will usually do their own cooking and cleaning. You cannot sublet part of your home if it means you will be over-occupying the property.
You must not sublet the whole of the property. The property has been offered to you, for your use.