Your tenancy

Contents:

End a tenancy

Your tenancy can only be ended if:

  • we give you 4 weeks’ written notice because you no longer live in your home as your main home
  • you give us 4 weeks written notice for your tenancy to end on a Monday
  • a court order for your tenancy to be transferred from one person to another as a result of a domestic dispute or marriage breakdown
  • we are granted a county court order to evict you

If you have a joint tenancy and one of you ends the tenancy, this will end the tenancy for both of you.

You need to leave your home in a satisfactory condition so that we can re-let the property to someone else who needs it as quickly as possible.

Before leaving, you need to:

  • clean and tidy the house (including the loft or shed if you have one)
  • clear furniture
  • leave a plug and chain for each sink, hand basin and bath
  • leave sinks, wash hand basins, baths, shower trays and toilets in a sanitary condition
  • make sure electric sockets and light fittings are working
  • not leave any bulky rubbish or unwanted items in or outside the house

If you do not leave your home in a satisfactory condition we will carry out the work to bring it up to the required standard.  We will charge you the cost of doing this work.

You must return all keys to all locks of the property. There will be at least two front door keys and at least one key for every other lock.

Before returning your keys you need to call us on 01279 446655 to complete the end the tenancy form.

Your keys will then need to be brought into or posted by a signed for delivery service to the Civic Centre before 12 midday on the Monday your tenancy ends.

If we receive your keys after this deadline we will charge you another full week’s rent.

Tenant death

If a council tenant has died, you need to tell us as soon as possible by calling us on 01279 446655An advisor will provide further advice on the next steps.

When you report the death, you will need to give us:

  • details of the tenant’s next of kin (closest relative)
  • a copy of the death certificate
  • your address and contact details, or the details of the person dealing with the deceased affairs if this is not you
  • a date to return the keys

If the tenant was receiving housing benefit, this will end once we have been notified of the death. The Revenues and Benefits team will let you know the date the claim has been stopped from.

We will continue to charge rent until the tenancy is formally ended and all keys have been returned.