Your tenancy agreement legally governs the relationship between you and us. It sets out your rights and responsibilities as a tenant, and our rights and responsibilities as your landlord.

Tenancy Types

Assured (non-shorthold) tenancy

Most of our tenants hold assured tenancy agreements. As an assured tenant you have the greatest security of tenure. This means that you cannot be evicted from your home unless:

  • you have broken one of the conditions set out in your agreement, and
  • we have followed a legal eviction procedure to get a court order requiring you to leave.

New fixed-term tenants of Odu-Dua begin with a one-year starter tenancy. After this period, depending on the type of agreement we have offered you, you will move on to:

– an assured shorthold tenancy with a fixed term of one or 10 years, or
– an intermediate rent assured shorthold tenancy, with a six-month initial period.

At the end of your fixed term, we may allow you to remain in the property, depending on your circumstances and how you have conducted the tenancy.

Joint tenants have equal rights and responsibilities for the tenancy. Both tenants have the same right to stay in the property. Both are responsible for paying the rent on time. One cannot evict the other without a court order, however, one tenant can end the tenancy by serving notice.

Your Rights and Responsibilities

Paying your rent on time

Paying your rent on time and in full is your most important responsibility as our tenant. Failing to pay is a serious breach of your tenancy agreement. We may take legal action and you could ultimately lose your home. Find out more about paying your rent and service charge here.

If you provide false information to obtain a tenancy, or if you let out your home and live elsewhere, this is tenancy fraud. If we discover tenancy fraud, we will take court action to recover the property. We may also take action against you personally under the Fraud Act, so that we can recover any money you have made.

We may agree to let you keep your home if you need to be away for a while, but intend to return. For example, if you have to go into hospital or plan an extended visit to friends or family in another country.
However, if you expect to be away from your home for more than 28 days, you must tell us:

  • your reasons for going away
  • the date of your return
  • who, if anyone, will be occupying your home
  • how you will pay your rent while you are away, and
  • how we can contact you in an emergency.

We may take action to evict anyone living in your home while you are away, unless you have informed us first and we have given you written permission.

You can assign your tenancy if you wish to exchange homes with the tenant of another housing association or local authority. You must first get our written permission. We will not withhold it unreasonably.
Read more about Mutal Exchanges

Your tenancy can be passed on or transferred to someone else if a court orders you to transfer the tenancy to your husband or wife as part of a divorce or separation settlement.

If you have an assured tenancy, are the sole tenant and you die, your tenancy can pass either to your partner, if they were living with you at the time of your death, or to another close relative who has been living with you for more than 12 months at the time of your death. This is called ‘succession’.
Your tenancy can only pass on through succession once.

You can take in a lodger providing this does not overcrowd your home. You need our written permission first. Please provide your lodger’s name, age and sex, and which part of your home they will occupy.

You are responsible for the behaviour of your lodger in your home. Your tenancy will be at risk if your lodger causes a nuisance to neighbours or breaks any of your other tenancy conditions.

Before deciding to take in a lodger, be aware that your welfare and council tax benefits may be affected. Your lodger will not have security of tenure.

You are not allowed to move out of your home and sub-let the premises to somebody else, although you can sublet part of your property.

If you live in a house or a flat, where your front door opens directly to the outside, we may allow you to keep a pet. You will need written permission first.

If you want to keep a dog, you will normally need to live on the ground floor and have sole access to a garden that is properly fenced and secure.

If we give you permission, you must make sure your pet does not cause a nuisance or foul shared areas. We will refuse permission to keep any dog covered by the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, or that appears to have been bred for fighting. We can take back our permission if we believe any animal is causing a nuisance or is a danger to other people.

Registered guide dogs for the blind, and hearing dogs for the deaf, are exempt from these rules.

You must get our written permission and any planning consent needed before installing satellite or cable TV. If you go ahead without permission, you may have to remove, refit or replace it, or meet the cost of our doing so.

You must not run any kind of business from your home without getting our permission first. Be aware that depending on the nature of your business, it may affect your council tax and our buildings insurance.

If you are an assured tenant, you have the right to make certain urgent repairs if we fail to meet a set timescale. This is a complicated piece of law, so you would need to call the office first, to find out more.

If you are an assured tenant, you have the right to carry out certain home improvements. However, you must get our written permission first.

If you are an assured tenant, or an assured shorthold tenant with a fixed-term agreement, you have the right to exchange homes with the tenant of any social housing landlord, providing you get our permission first. Be are that if you have a fixed-term agreement, your swap partner would only take on what remains of your tenancy. Read more about Mutual Exchanges

Residents whose homes were built with social housing grant after 1 April 1997 may be eligible for the Right to Acquire. This provides a discount on the purchase price if you wish to buy the home you are renting from us. Contact us for more detail of this scheme.

Please note that you will only be eligible if you have a fully clear rent account.