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(0191) 4268370.
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Your rights - information for existing tenants
What rights do I have as a secure tenant?
As a secure tenant, you have the right to:
Live in your home for as long as you like.
We will not interfere with this right unless you break any of the rules in your tenancy agreement or any of the other reasons for possession apply.
Have your home kept in good repair.
You have the right to have most repairs carried out by us.
> More on Repairs
Succession
You have the right, once you have died, to pass on your tenancy to a member of your family or partner (including a same sex partner). This is known as your right to succession.
> More on Succession
Take in a lodger
If have some spare space in your home you can take in a lodger. A lodger is someone who shares your home as part of your household. You do not need our permission to take in a lodger but you should let us know.
You must take care not overcrowd your home. If in doubt contact your estate officer for advice.
If you are receiving Housing Benefit, you must tell the Benefits Agency that you have taken in a lodger as it could affect the amount of benefit you receive.
Sub-let part of your home
You have the right to sub-let part of your home but you must get our permission in writing to do so. We cannot refuse permission unreasonably and if we do we must write and tell you why.
If you do sub-let your home without our permission and your sub-let tenant applies for Housing Benefit, their claim will not be processed until you have obtained our written permission. You must not sub-let the whole of your home.
Carry out home improvements
You have the right to carry out improvements to your home but you must get our written permission beforehand.
In certain cases, your estate officer may visit your home to look at the work you are planning.
> More on Improvements
Buy your home
You may have the right to buy your home if you have been a secure tenant for at least two years (five years for new tenancies that began on or after 18 January 2005*).
*This only applies if you became a customer (of this authority, any other local authority, housing association or lived in armed forces accommodation) for the first time on or after 18 January 2005.
You may not have the right to buy your home if it is being used as temporary accommodation or is designed to be suitable for elderly or disabled people.
> More on Right to Buy
Take part in managing your estate.
There are several ways that you can take part in managing your estate. You can join a local tenants’ group or you can ask us to help start one, attend one of our Focus Groups or simply give us your views through one of our consultation exercises.
You don’t have to get involved at all if that’s what you prefer but we’ll give you clear information so you can make that decision.
> More on how to get involved
Exchange your home with another customer.
If you want to move to a council or housing association home in another council area, you may be able to do so. You will need to find someone to exchange with. You have the right to exchange.
You must have written permission from us to exchange your home. The person you want to exchange with must also have the written permission from their council or housing association. We will only say ‘no’ for certain reasons; for example, if we think that the home is too large or too small for the person who wants it.
An organisation called HOMES helps to arrange exchanges between tenants who want to move to other parts of the country.
> More on exchanging your home
Receive compensation for some improvements when you leave.
In some cases where you have carried out an improvement, you may be able to get compensation when the tenancy ends. Section nine gives more information about being compensated for home improvements. Ask at your local Housing Office to find out the types of improvements we will compensate you for.
Read information that we keep about you and your tenancy
As one of our customers, we hold information about you and your tenancy, much of which will have been given to us by you when you applied for a home.
Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have the right of access to your personal housing file where you can check the details to make sure that we have got it right. We are, however, allowed to remove confidential documents from people outside the organisation, such as doctors or social workers.
If you are unhappy with a certain piece of information in your file, you should seek advice from the Data Protection Commissioner. The Commissioner has produced a factsheet called ‘Using the law to protect you information’.
> More on Confidentiality
Be consulted
You have the right to be consulted about and informed of any changes in your conditions of tenancy or the way we manage your home. This includes improvements to your home, work planned for estates and changes to your tenancy agreement. This does not apply to rents and service charges, where we can alter these without consultation. However we do have to give you four weeks written notice of any change in rents or service charges.
We consult in a number of ways including through meetings, letters, Community Area Forums (CAFs), Focus Groups, Tenant and Member Panels, exhibitions, roadshows and individual visits.
> More on how to get involved
Receive information
We produce information on how well we look after your home, including collecting the rent, getting repairs done and allocation of homes. You have the right to see this information.
We tell you how we are doing in a number of ways. We display our performance figures on this site, in newsletters, on wall charts in local Housing Offices and in annual reports.
If you want to know more about how we make decisions on housing, you have the right to go to public meetings and the right to see minutes of meetings.
