Welcome to your new home!

Your New Home Welcome to your new home! Moving in The following provides some advice on moving into your new home for the first time. Please refer t...
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Your New Home

Welcome to your new home! Moving in The following provides some advice on moving into your new home for the first time. Please refer to the list of telephone numbers provided in the Plymouth Community Homes Contact Numbers leaflet at the back of the Handbook. Water supply In cold weather, the water supply will have been turned off at the main stopcock. The stopcock will usually be near the kitchen sink or in the bathroom. If it is in the street, it may be shared with neighbours. Some properties have a water meter installed. You will need to contact South West Water to change the account to your name.

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have a key meter. You can decide if you wish to change the supplier or type of meter that you have. A competent person, registered with an electrical self-certification scheme authorised by the Secretary of State, must connect any fixed appliances. Gas supply Please read the meter when you move in and make a note of the reading. You will need to contact the gas company, giving them at least 24 hours notice to arrange for the supply to be turned on. Some properties have a meter with a gas card. You can decide if you wish to change the supplier.

Electricity supply

Any appliances must be installed, serviced and connected by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

Please read the meter when you move in and make a note of the reading. Contact the electricity company to arrange for electricity to be supplied. Some properties

If you suspect a gas leak, turn off the whole supply at the meter and ring Wales and West Utilities, see the Home Safety leaflet – Gas section. Extinguish

any naked flames, do not operate any electrical switches and leave the property immediately. Telephone Contact your phone company to arrange to take over the line or install a new telephone. Please supply us with your new telephone number. If you have a mobile phone please let us know the number or if you change it. These details are held confidentially. TV and aerials Plymouth Community Homes does not provide TV aerials except in some

properties (for example, multi-storey flats and maisonettes) which may already be fitted with a shared aerial when you move in. If the property has an individual aerial, it is your responsibility to maintain it. If there is no individual TV aerial fitted, it is your responsibility to get one. Wherever possible you should use an indoor aerial or one inside the loft or roof space. If you really need an outside aerial, contact our Repairs department for advice on where it can be fixed.

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You must not put up any aerial or satellite dish without prior permission from your local housing office.

You should insure yourself for claims from a third party, for example, if your washing machine leaks and floods the flat below.

Primary Care

Plymouth Community Homes is only responsible for the cost of the repairs to the building.

New tenants should contact their family doctor and inform them of their new address. You may need to register with a new practice. Schools If your children need to change schools you need to contact the Schools Admissions Team at Plymouth City Council. Insurance You are responsible for insuring the contents of your home (including store sheds and garages). It is in your own interest to take out insurance. Plymouth Community Homes is not liable to give you financial help or compensation in the case of loss or damage caused by fire, flood, storm or theft.

Plymouth Community Homes runs a Tenants’ Insurance Scheme – you can pay the premium by weekly instalments, see the Home Contents Insurance Scheme leaflet. Other benefits of the scheme are: • Tenants can still join the scheme if they are in arrears or on Housing Benefit. • Costs are identical across the city - no area is more expensive than any other. • A low minimum sum insured is available. Contact your local housing office for an application form. Joint tenancy If you have a joint tenancy you are both responsible

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for keeping to your Tenancy Agreement. This includes paying your rent. If you and your partner split up, and you can’t agree between you who should stay in the property, Plymouth Community Homes will go by a Court’s decision on who should have the tenancy. You may wish to seek independent legal advice and you will need to apply to the Court. Written proof of the Court’s decision will be needed. If you become a victim of domestic abuse, please contact the police, Plymouth Domestic Abuse Service and your housing officer for advice and assistance. If the person responsible forces a family member to leave through domestic violence and stays in the property, Plymouth Community Homes may take legal action for possession.

Your rights and responsibilities Your rights Right of access to information You have the right of access to all information which you have given to us, regarding your application for a tenancy or a transfer. We may make a small charge for providing copies of these details. You have the right to see our policies on housing, re-housing and exchanging properties, by contacting your local housing office. Under the Data Protection Act 1988, members of the public have the right to see their own personal information, including any held on computer files. (Some information e.g. confidential medical records, are excluded under this law). The Access to Personal Files Act, 1987, allows tenants to see personal information held on paper. (Certain categories of information are excluded). The Freedom of 5

• You have the right to make a comment about the services Plymouth Community Homes provides. • You have the right to take part and be involved in the running of your home and estate. Information Act 2000 has extended these rights. If you wish to see this personal information (held either on computer or on paper files) you should apply to your local housing office. An appointment will be made for you to view the information, and a small charge may be made for copies. Right to comment You have the right to make a comment about the services Plymouth Community Homes provides. If you have cause to comment or complain please obtain a copy of the Viewpoints leaflet, which covers our Compliments, Suggestions and Complaints Scheme, from your local housing office.

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Right to participation You have the right to take part and be involved in the running of your home and estate. For more information see the leaflet on Resident Involvement, or read the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) leaflet, Tenant Participation Compacts – A guide for tenants, available at your local housing office. Right to consultation You have the right to be consulted about any proposals for changes to the way we manage, maintain, improve, demolish, sell or transfer homes, or changes to do with services or facilities for tenants of Plymouth Community Homes.

Right to privacy The Tenancy Agreement gives you the right to live in your home in peace and privacy. You can live in the property without interference from us as long as you, your friends and relatives and any other person living in or visiting the property, (including children), do not break any of the conditions in the agreement. If any of the conditions are broken, we may apply to the Court to end your tenancy. Right to Repair (not relevant to starter tenants) If repairs are not carried out within a fixed timescale, you can tell Plymouth Community Homes that you want a different contractor to do the job. We must appoint a new contractor and set another time limit. You can then claim compensation if the repair is not carried out within the new time limit. You can currently use the Right to Repair scheme for repairs costing up to £250. You can also claim up to £50 compensation. Twenty types

of repairs qualify for the scheme, including: insecure doors, broken entry phone systems, blocked sinks and leaking roofs. More details are to be found in the Repairs leaflet. Right to improve your home (not relevant to starter tenants) You have the right to improve your home if you are an assured tenant. You can carry out alterations to your home but must have our written permission before starting any work. In some circumstances, permission can be refused where work is deemed unsafe or unsuitable. Right to compensation for improvements (not relevant to starter tenants) If you have made improvements to your home, you have the right to claim compensation for certain improvements when you end your tenancy. The DCLG leaflet, A Better Deal for Tenants provides more information and is available in local housing offices. 7

Right to exchange (not relevant to starter tenants) You have the right to exchange your home with another Plymouth Community Homes’ tenant, a tenant from a council, or a housing association tenant. We may refuse an exchange if you do not meet certain conditions. For further information, contact your housing officer, and refer to the leaflet, Mutual Exchanges, available from local housing offices.

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Right to take in a lodger (not relevant to starter tenants) If you have spare space, you have the right to take in a lodger, but you must tell us immediately if you do. You can get more information from the DCLG leaflet Letting Rooms in your Home, available from your local housing office. Right to sub-let (not relevant to starter tenants) You have the right to sub-let your home, but you must get our written permission first. You cannot usually sub-let the whole of your home or transfer your tenancy to

someone else. If you do, your tenancy will no longer be an assured tenancy and your security of tenure will be lost permanently. Right to assign (not relevant to starter tenants) You have the right to assign, or pass on your tenancy, but only: a. to someone who would be entitled to succeed to the tenancy if the tenant died immediately before the assignment, or b. if a Court Order has been granted following matrimonial proceedings. Right to succession (limited for starter tenants) For former Plymouth City Council tenants eligible for a protected assured tenancy, any successions prior to the date of transfer from Plymouth City Council to Plymouth Community Homes will not be taken into account. When you die, your tenancy will pass to your husband, wife or civil partner if they

have lived with you in the property at the time of your death. This is called the right of succession and can only apply once. If you do not have a husband, wife or civil partner it can be passed on to a co-habiting partner or family member, if they have been living with you continuously for the 12 months before your death. (Family members include parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, step relatives and adopted children). By law, a second succession is not possible but in certain circumstances we may pass the tenancy to a relative. Ask your housing officer for more information. If your tenancy passes to a relative when you die and we consider that the property is not suitable for their needs, we may seek to move them to another suitable property unless it has been specifically adapted for persons with disabilities and they have such a need. 9

the Right to Buy and Right to Acquire at the same time). Preserved Right to Buy

You may pass on your tenancy once to your husband or wife if he/ she is living with you, or to any close relative who has been living with you for at least 12 months (but only with the written permission of Plymouth Community Homes). Right to acquire (not relevant to starter tenants) This scheme is based on a grant scheme rather than a discount scheme, like the Right to Buy. If you live in a bungalow or a sheltered unit you may not be eligible for this scheme if you are a pensioner and the property has always been occupied by people of pensionable age. (You cannot exercise 10

In certain circumstances you have the Preserved Right to Buy your home if you are a protected assured tenant and have been a tenant of a public sector landlord for at least five years or more. If you held a secure tenancy before 18th January 2005, the minimum length of tenancy is two years in order to qualify. There are exceptions to the Right to Buy, such as housing for persons of pensionable age and homes used as temporary accommodation. Once you have registered your application to buy we will only carry out those repairs to your home which we are legally bound to do under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act, 1985. No improvements or major work to your home will be done. For more information read the Right to Buy leaflet published by the Department of Communities and Local

Government (DCLG) available in your local housing office.

Responsibilities Keep to the rules in your Tenancy Agreement It is very important that you keep to the rules set out in your Tenancy Agreement, which include paying your rent on time and not acting in a way that will cause nuisance or annoyance to others. If your behaviour as a tenant falls short of this, then you will be in breach of your Tenancy Agreement – this may lead to you being taken to Court and could even lead to eviction. It is your responsibility to keep to your tenancy conditions.

Paying rent You must pay the first week’s rent when you sign your Tenancy Agreement. You must take up occupation of your home at the start of the tenancy and pay the rent and any charges from that date, see the Paying Your Rent leaflet. Being a good tenant and neighbour Your Tenancy Agreement has been developed through consultation with tenants. This section is intended to help you fully understand your responsibilities as tenants of Plymouth Community Homes whilst also enhancing community spirit in your neighbourhood. Everyone has the right to enjoy life in their own way if they do not upset people living near them. A good neighbour will tolerate and

• You have the Preserved Right to Buy, if you are a protected assured tenant. • It is important that you keep to the terms set out in your Tenancy Agreement. 11

understand the different lifestyles of others. Please be considerate of others. As a tenant of Plymouth Community Homes you should understand your key responsibilities, which are: • Paying your rent and all other charges (including service charges, charges for heating and other services) for the property on time. • Keeping the interior of your home in a good state of decoration and repair. • Maintaining gardens and communal areas (where applicable). • Not causing nuisance to neighbours. • Seeking prior permission in writing from Plymouth Community Homes before making any alteration, improvements, or attachments to your home.

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As a landlord, Plymouth Community Homes will: • Enable you to enjoy the right to security of tenure in your home. • Make sure that you enjoy the right to live peacefully in your home without disturbance from neighbours. • Offer support to victims of nuisance. Anti-social behaviour is unacceptable in Plymouth Community Homes’ properties and neighbourhoods. Action will be taken against tenants who are behaving anti-socially.

Anti-social behaviour As a tenant you should understand that you are responsible for the behaviour of everyone (including children) living in, or visiting, your home. They are your responsibility whilst in your home, garden or surrounding areas (including communal areas). You, and they, should not cause nuisance, annoyance or disturbance to any other person. Nuisance and annoyance includes frequent behaviour such as: • Playing loud music. • Arguing and slamming doors. • Dogs barking excessively and fouling. • Offensive drunkenness. • Buying, selling or using drugs. • Dumping rubbish. • Playing ball games close to someone else’s home. • Using vacuum cleaners, washing machines and power tools at unsocial hours.

You, and they, should not harass others – this includes Plymouth Community Homes’ staff or contractors, for example by: • Using racist, sexist or homophobic behaviour, or language. • Using, or threatening to use, violence. • Using abusive or insulting words or behaviour. • Damaging, or threatening to damage, another persons’ home or possessions. • Writing threatening, abusive or insulting letters or graffiti. • Doing anything that interferes with the peace and comfort or convenience of other people. You, or they, should not use your home for illegal activities, for example: • Buying, selling or using drugs. • Prostitution. • Receiving stolen goods. 13

You should be aware that, if you are convicted of an offence in or around your home, Plymouth Community Homes could ask the Court to evict you. Plymouth Community Homes will always seek to take action where drugs, violence, intimidation or prostitution is involved. Your Right to Buy, and Right to Exchange may be suspended if legal action is taken against you for antisocial behaviour. More information is provided in the leaflet on Nuisance & Anti-Social Behaviour.

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in breach of your Tenancy Agreement. • Keeping all shared stairways, halls, landings and walkways clear – you must not leave any personal belongings, drop litter, or leave rubbish in these areas. We will remove anything you leave in these areas and charge you for the work. We may take further action if it is considered that you are in breach of your Tenancy Agreement. • Keeping the property free from bad smells.

Cleanliness

• Keeping all shared areas free from obstructions.

You, and any other person (including children), living in or visiting the property, are responsible for:

• Contacting Repairs immediately if the drains of the property become blocked.

• Keeping the property clean and tidy, and free from rats, mice and other pests. If you don’t do this, we will charge you for any work we need to do, such as removing rubbish. We may take further action if it is considered that you are

• Flats or maisonettes – keeping all communal areas, stairs and landings free from rubbish or bulky items. You should avoid using rubbish chutes between 10pm and 7am. Your household rubbish should be placed in the bins provided, and recycling

facilities used where provided – please try to keep the area around the bins tidy. Bulky household items can be collected if prior arrangements are made – call Plymouth City Council’s Waste and Street Services Department. Parking Everybody wants to park near their home but this is not always possible. Please consider others when parking your vehicle. Remember not to block access for emergency services and do not park on grass verges or footways – it is unsightly, causes damage

and is dangerous for young children or partially sighted people. Obstructions on highways should be reported to the police. Garages and parking spaces are available for letting – please contact your local housing office for more information. Please do not park in front of garages or garage areas where you will cause problems for those people using them. Parking areas are in short supply and for use by private motor vehicles owned by residents and their visitors. Do not do large-scale car repairs in these areas or 15

park illegal, untaxed or unroadworthy vehicles, or leave any motor vehicle in a dangerous condition in them – Plymouth Community Homes will remove such vehicles and recover the costs from the owner. Caravans, trailers or commercial vehicles should not be parked in parking areas or gardens without permission. Plymouth Community Homes may remove these and recover our costs from the owner. Pets Please refer to Section 3.8 – animals of your Tenancy Agreement. Certain breeds of animals and dog are not permitted – always check with your housing officer before acquiring any pet. If you are able to keep family pets, you must make sure that they do not become a nuisance to your neighbours or the community, especially by fouling gardens, communal areas or open spaces.

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It is your responsibility to ensure dogs are kept under control and secure within the garden of your property, and in public areas and that any fouling is cleared up. Pets should not become a nuisance by being noisy, especially late at night or early in the morning. Crime Take responsibility for reporting crime in the community i.e. anti-social behaviour on estates, drug dealing, car crime, joy riding and damage to property. Report these to the police in the first instance and then to your local housing office. Take responsibility for securing your home, shed or garage. For a relatively small outlay you could make your home more secure and have peace of mind into the bargain. If there is a Neighbourhood Watch scheme in your area, support it. More information can be obtained from your Police Liaison Officer or Neighbourhood Beat Manager.

Domestic violence

Smoke alarms

Break the chain – If you are in a violent relationship there are four steps you can take:

Smoke alarms are provided for your safety. If they are not already fitted, when you sign your agreement arrangements will be made with you for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service to carry out a home visit after you move in.

• Recognise that it is happening to you. • Call the police. • Accept that you are not to blame. • Seek help and support.

Smoke alarms must not be removed or disconnected. You should test the alarm at least once a week, and replace the battery, if fitted, once a year – or as soon as you are aware that it has run down.

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Security Entry phone systems are fitted in some blocks of flats to increase security. Please make sure that you do not let anybody into the block who is not known to you and that any defects are reported promptly to Repairs or to your local housing office. Bogus callers can be a problem. Always make sure you know the identity of visitors before letting them into your home. All Plymouth Community Homes’ employees and contractors carry identity cards and you should ask to see these. Phone the police if you are suspicious about any person trying to access your home. Needles and syringes If you use needles and syringes on a regular basis, ask Waste and Street Services for sealed yellow sharps boxes to dispose of them safely. Arrangements can be made with Plymouth City Council’s Environmental Services for these to be collected on a regular basis. 18

If you discover a needle or syringe do not touch it on any account – report it to your warden, caretaker, local housing office, caretaking depot or Plymouth City Council’s Waste and Street Services. It will then be collected by a specially trained member of staff and disposed of in the correct way. In the event of receiving an injury from a discarded needle or syringe: • Encourage the wound to bleed, preferably under running water. • Cover the wound with a dry dressing e.g. plaster. • Report the injury to Accident and Emergency at Derriford Hospital. Health and safety You and any other person (including children) living in, or visiting, your home must not: • Use portable oil, paraffin or gas cylinder heaters if you live in a flat or maisonette.

• Store inflammable materials, including liquids, or gas in your home or garden. • Store any appliances, which are powered by petrol, diesel or paraffin, inside your home or within communal areas (domestic garden equipment may be stored in a suitable garden shed). • Store any gas cylinders intended for internal heating purposes. • Allow any unsuitable material or substances to enter the drainage system. • Interfere with any equipment for detecting or putting out fires in or around your home. • Cause a danger to anyone in your home or in the local area. • Allow children in the laundry (if provided) unless under the constant supervision of a responsible adult; laundry keys are for your use only. You must not allow any unauthorised persons access to the laundries and keep to allocated times.

• Undertake any modifications to the property or services, i.e. gas, electricity (including any external lighting or power), water and drainage, without prior written consent from your local housing office. • Use any electrical appliances outdoors, unless it is connected to a socket protected by a Residual Current Device (RCD). Do not use electrical equipment outdoors in wet or damp conditions, or trail cables through puddles. • Leave used needles or syringes in areas where people may come into contact with them. Please dispose of used needles and syringes safely – Waste and Street Services provide a free needle collection service (see the Needles and Syringes section on page 18). General environment Trees and shrubs improve our environment and should be respected – replacing them 19

is costly. Please discourage children from causing deliberate damage to them. Please report damage, dumped rubbish or other problems that you see in communal areas, including graffiti to your local housing office. It is helpful to report any defective streetlights by phoning Plymouth City

Council Street Services – effective street lighting reduces crime and the fear of crime. Pests Plymouth City Council Pest Control deals with and treats all types of infestations. Free advice on pest control is available – a qualified Pest Control Officer will identify the sample pest and will offer

Problem

Who is responsible?

Ants

Tenant

Plymouth Community Homes – In or on property Bee contact Repairs swarms Garden Tenant Bedbugs

Tenant

Cockroaches

Tenant

Fleas

Tenant

Mice

Tenant, but Plymouth Community Homes’ Repairs make good any damage

Rats

Council – contact Pest Control Officer

Wasp Nests

In or on property

Plymouth Community Homes – contact Repairs

Garden

Tenant

Woodworm or wood infestation 20

Plymouth Community Homes – contact Repairs

advice on treatment or any precautions needed.

Changes to your household

A full range of pest control services is offered by Plymouth City Council to domestic households. A charge is made for some of these. As a public health pest, rats are treated free, and mice are treated for a nominal charge. A charge is made for all other pests.

You need to advise your housing officer if the number of people in your household changes – it is your responsibility to do so.

Gardens If you have a garden (front, side or rear) it is your responsibility to keep it neat and tidy. This includes removing litter, or keeping the grass and hedges cut. An untidy garden is not only unsightly but brings down your area. Tenants who are of pensionable age, or in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (Mobility Component), who cannot maintain their own gardens (and have no-one to help them) can apply for assistance. Contact your local housing office for advice; a charge is made for this service but it is also eligible for Housing Benefit.

Lodgers/sub-letting If you have a spare room in your home, you may be able to take in a lodger, (see page 8 – the Right to sub-let). You will need our permission – please contact your housing officer for further information. Businesses You must receive permission in writing from your local housing office before you operate a business from your home. Going away? If you leave your home empty at any time, even for a short period, inform your local housing office in writing, and let them know who has a key in case of emergency. Also, notify your local police – they can also suggest any security arrangements. 21

In winter, it may be necessary to drain water tanks to avoid burst pipes.

local housing office. You will also need to provide your new address.

Interest in other property

If you are a joint tenant, the whole tenancy will end if you or another joint tenant gives notice. We will then decide whether to create a new tenancy for the tenant who is left, or offer them another home. You will not have an automatic right to continue living in the property if a joint tenant has moved out.

If you become the owner of another property, you must notify your housing officer immediately. Abandoned property If you leave your home without telling us, we will consider the property as abandoned and we will automatically take steps to end your tenancy. You will be liable for any costs, including legal, involved. If you abandon the property, a charge, including administration, will be made for the costs of any work carried out, e.g. • Clearing rubbish. • Cleaning property. • Clearing garden. • Changing locks. Ending your tenancy You can end your tenancy at any time by giving four weeks’ notice in writing, ending on a Monday, to your 22

Before ending your tenancy or transferring to another property, we will inspect your home and the details of any repairs for which you are responsible, or any damage, will be recorded. You will be asked to make good any damage, make good any poor decoration and clear any rubbish left in the garden, shed, garage or loft (if provided). Action may be taken to recover the costs of repairs or additional work. If you transfer to another property any decoration allowance may be withdrawn should your previous property require decoration.

When you move out of your home, you must: • Allow access at reasonable times to enable an inspection to be carried out by our employees or contractors. • Pay all the rent and other charges up to the date of the end of your tenancy. If you owe us money for rent or other charges when you leave the property, you must make arrangements with us to pay the debt. You may not be able to have another home until you do.

• Remove all your furniture and personal belongings from the property. We will dispose of any items you leave behind and charge you for this. • Remove all rubbish from inside and outside the property. We will dispose of any items you leave behind and charge you for this. • Arrange for gas, electric and water meters to be read. • Have your telephone disconnected.

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• Ensure all fittings and fixtures you have installed and which you are leaving are in good working order. • Replace or repair broken items, which belong to us. • Ensure the property is empty, in good order, clean and free of rubbish, with floors swept, and any discarded syringes or needles disposed of correctly. • Report all repairs that are needed at the property. • In cold weather, turn the water supply off at the mains. • Ensure that any lodger or sub-tenant leaves the property at the same time as you. • Return all the keys for the property, including communal door keys/ fobs and store keys, to the local housing office, by noon on the Monday that your tenancy ends. If you do not give us all the keys to the property, we will charge you the cost of replacing the keys and locks of the property. Gas 24

and electric meter cards and keys should also be handed in with your keys. • Do not transfer your tenancy to someone else. If you do leave anyone in the property, we will commence eviction proceedings, as they will be living there illegally. • Mail - you should contact the Post Office with a forwarding address so they can send any mail on to you. They will make a small charge for this, but it does make sure that you get your post. Plymouth Community Homes is not responsible for forwarding mail. You may be entitled to our Cashback scheme if you comply with certain conditions – enquire at your local housing office. Grounds for possession – Starter tenants The first year of a starter tenancy (Assured Shorthold Tenancy) is a trial period. During this time, if you breach the conditions of your Tenancy Agreement,

the law enables Plymouth Community Homes to apply for a court order to evict you. In the case of anti-social behaviour, the introductory period can be extended by six months. If Plymouth Community Homes decides to take legal action against your tenancy, you will receive a Section 21 Notice. Providing that the notice has been served correctly, a court must give Plymouth Community Homes possession of the property. The Section 21 Notice will run for a period of two months, after which time you have no right to remain in the property. Plymouth Community Homes will then apply to the County Court for a Possession Order. If you receive a Section 21 Notice, you have the right to appeal to Plymouth Community Homes’ Appeal Panel. You would need to appeal in writing within 14 days of receiving the Section 21 Notice. If we apply to the Court for a Possession Order, we will not have to prove any

grounds for possession and the Court cannot consider whether it is unreasonable to give us possession of the property. As long as we have served a proper Notice and we have considered any appeal made by you, the Court must award a Possession Order. Grounds for possession – Assured tenants Plymouth Community Homes must get a Court order to evict you. Before going to Court, Plymouth Community Homes will send you a written notice to say that they intend to go to Court to get a Possession Order and why. This notice is called a Notice of Intention to Seek Possession. You will be given notice before Plymouth Community Homes starts possession proceedings. These are usually started within 12 months of the date the notice says Court proceedings will begin. Plymouth Community Homes must have a reason 25

for trying to get you out of the property. The law says that if you are an assured tenant there are certain reasons (grounds) which may entitle your landlord to get a possession order.

Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 – Grounds for Possession of Dwellinghouses let on Assured Tenancies Part I – Grounds on which Court must Order Possession Ground 7 The tenancy is a periodic tenancy (including a statutory periodic tenancy) which has devolved under the will or intestacy of the former tenant and the proceedings for the recovery of possession are begun not later than 12 months after the death of the former tenant or, if the court so directs, after the date on which, in the opinion of the court, the landlord or, in the case of joint landlords, any one of them became aware of the former tenant’s death. 26

For the purposes of this ground, the acceptance by the landlord of rent from a new tenant after the death of the former tenant shall not be regarded as creating a new periodic tenancy, unless the landlord agrees in writing to a change (as compared with the tenancy before the death) in the amount of the rent, the period of the tenancy, the premises which are let or any other term of the tenancy. We will only seek to recover possession of your home on this ground in the circumstances explained in Section 4, condition 12, of your Tenancy Agreement. Part II – Grounds on which Court may Order Possession Ground 9 Suitable alternative accommodation is available for the tenant or will be available for him when the order for possession takes effect.

We will only seek to recover possession of your home on this ground if in addition we can show that: a. we intend within a reasonable time of obtaining possession to demolish, reconstruct or refurbish your home and/ or the building of which your home forms part or an adjoining or adjacent building and cannot reasonably do so without obtaining possession, or b. your home has features which are substantially different from those of ordinary homes which are designed to make them

suitable for occupation by a physically disabled person who requires accommodation of a type provided by your home and no person residing in your home any longer does so and we require your home for occupation by such a physically disabled person, or c. your home is one of a group of homes which it is our practice to let for occupation by people with special needs and a social service or special facility is provided near to the group of homes in order to help people with those

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special needs, and no other person with those special needs any longer resides in your home and we require your home for occupation by a person who has those special needs, or d. your home is Overcrowded (within the meaning of Part X of the Housing Act 1985) in such circumstances as to render the occupier guilty of an offence, or e. premises were made available to you on a temporary basis so that works could be carried out to your property on the understanding that on completion of the works you would move back into your property. The works have been completed and you have failed to return to your own property, or f. a member of your family (not your spouse or civil partner or partner or a joint tenant) succeeded to your tenancy and the accommodation offered by the property 28

is more extensive than is reasonably required by the person succeeding to the tenancy provided that notice of proceedings for possession have been served (or where no notice has to be served that proceedings for possession have been served) more than six months but less than 12 months following the date of your death. Before deciding whether or not it is reasonable to take action under this clause we will consider the following matters. i. The age of the person succeeding to your tenancy ii. The period during which the person succeeding to your tenancy occupied the property with you as their only or principal home iii. Any financial or other support given to you by the person succeeding to your tenancy.

Ground 10 Some rent lawfully due from the tenant – a. is unpaid on the date on which the proceedings for possession are begun; and b. except where subsection (1)(b) of section 8 of this Act applies, was in arrears at the date of the service of the notice under that section relating to those proceedings. Ground 12

the tenant has not taken such steps as he ought reasonably to have taken for the removal of the lodger or sub-tenant. For the purposes of this ground, “common parts” means any part of a building comprising the dwellinghouse and any other premises which the tenant is entitled under the terms of the tenancy to use in common with the occupiers of other dwellinghouses in which the landlord has an estate or interest.

Any obligation of the tenancy (other than one related to the payment of rent) has been broken or not performed.

Ground 14

Ground 13

a. has been guilty of conduct causing or likely to cause a nuisance or annoyance to a person residing, visiting or otherwise engaging in a lawful activity in the locality, or

The condition of the dwellinghouse or any of the common parts has deteriorated owing to acts of waste by, or the neglect or default of, the tenant or any other person residing in the dwellinghouse and, in the case of an act of waste by, or the neglect or default of, a person lodging with the tenant or a subtenant of his,

The tenant or a person residing in or visiting the dwellinghouse –

b. has been convicted of – i. using the dwellinghouse or allowing it to be used for immoral or illegal purposes, or 29

ii. an indictable offence committed in, or in the locality of, the dwellinghouse. Ground 14A The dwellinghouse was occupied (whether alone or with others) by a married couple, a couple who are civil partners of each other, a couple living together as husband and wife or a couple living together as if they were civil partners and – a. one or both of the partners is a tenant of the dwellinghouse, b. the landlord who is seeking possession is a 30

registered social landlord or a charitable housing trust, c. one partner has left the dwellinghouse because of violence or threats of violence by the other towards – i. that partner, or ii. a member of the family of that partner who was residing with that partner immediately before the partner left, and d. the court is satisfied that the partner who has left is unlikely to return.

For the purposes of this ground “registered social landlord” and “member of the family” have the same meaning as in Part I of the Housing Act 1996 and “charitable housing trust” means a housing trust, within the meaning of the Housing Associations Act 1985, which is a charity within the meaning of the Charities Act 1993. Ground 15 The condition of any furniture provided for use under the tenancy has, in the opinion of the court, deteriorated owing to illtreatment by the tenant or any other person residing in the dwellinghouse and, in the case of ill treatment by a person lodging with the tenant or by a sub-tenant of his, the tenant has not taken such steps as he ought reasonably to have taken for the removal of the lodger or sub-tenant.

landlord seeking possession or a previous landlord under the tenancy and the tenant has ceased to be in that employment. For the purposes of this ground, at a time when the landlord is or was the Secretary of State, employment by a health service body, as defined in section 60(7) of the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 or by a Local Health Board, shall be regarded as employment by the Secretary of State. Ground 17 The tenant is the person, or one of the persons, to whom the tenancy was granted and the landlord was induced to grant the tenancy by a false statement made knowingly or recklessly by – a. the tenant, or b. a person acting at the tenant’s instigation.

Ground 16 The dwellinghouse was let to the tenant in consequence of his employment by the 31

Plymouth Community Homes Limited Princess Court, 23 Princess Street, Plymouth PL1 2EX. 0800 694 3101 www.plymouthcommunityhomes.co.uk

REPAIRS FREEPHONE 08082 306500 A charitable Industrial and Provident Society • Registered Number 30637R