Ending Your Tenancy This section tells you about: • How we can end your tenancy. • How you can end your tenancy. • What to do before you go – moving out checklist.
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How We Can End Your Tenancy If you break the conditions of your tenancy agreement, you could be evicted and lose your home. Your tenancy agreement lists all the circumstances under which we can ask the County Court to give us a Possession Order, requiring you to leave your home. Examples include: • • • • •
Rent arrears. Anti-social behaviour or nuisance. Harassment. Damage to your home. Abusive behaviour towards members of staff.
The way in which we can apply for a Possession Order will depend upon which type of tenancy you have. For further information, please see the section on ‘Your Tenancy’, or ask your Housing Officer for details. We treat eviction proceedings as a last resort, and will only seek to recover possession of your home if we have been unable to resolve the problems with you. If you are having difficulties complying with the conditions of your tenancy agreement, please contact your Housing Officer immediately. We will do everything we can to help you. • If you do not use your property as your only or principal home, you will cease to have an Assured or Secure tenancy, and we can bring the tenancy to an end by giving you four weeks’ notice in writing. • If you abandon your home we can recover possession with immediate effect and without a court order.
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How You Can End Your Tenancy If you want to end your tenancy, you must give us at least four weeks’ notice, in writing. Your tenancy will end on a Sunday. Your Housing Officer will advise you of this date. You must return your keys to our office by the date and time specified by your Housing Officer. If you do not return your keys on time, you will be charged a further additional week’s rent for every week that we are unable to re-let your property. Please note that even if you are only a day late returning your keys, you will be charged a full week’s additional rent. Please also note that if you are a joint tenant, either one of you can end the tenancy by giving us four weeks written notice. This will mean that both of you will have to leave your home. After you have given us notice that you want to end your tenancy, your Housing Officer will make an appointment to inspect your property. Following this inspection, your Housing Officer will advise you of any repairs that you are required to carry out before you leave. If you do not carry out these repairs, or they are not carried out to the required standard, you will be re-charged for the costs the Association incurs in putting things right.
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What To Do Before You Go – Moving Out Checklist You must leave your home and all our fixtures and fittings in good condition. If you do not, you will have to pay for any repair of damage you caused deliberately or carelessly. You will also have to pay for the property to be cleaned if you do not leave it in a clean condition. We will also charge you if we have to remove any unauthorised alterations, additions or improvements you have made to the home. You will not have to pay for normal wear and tear.
Figures for typical recharge costs include (as of October 2011) • Replacement of internal door – £180.00. • Door lock changes – £70.00 (during office hours) £140.00 (out of hours). • Unblocking a toilet, sink or bath – £50.00. You must take all your belonging with you when you leave your home If you leave anything behind we will not have any responsibility for it, and we will re-charge you for the cost of disposing of it. We will dispose of anything left in the property within 14 days of the end of your tenancy. You will re re-charged for any storage costs.
Void Re-charges Typical re-charge costs include (as of October 2011) • Disposing of carpets – £140.00. • Disposing of a fridge – £55.00. • Standard garden clearance – £220.00. Please note these figures are subject to change and are estimates only.
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You must pay any outstanding arrears or other debts This includes any outstanding court costs or repairs that we have charged you for. Your Housing Officer will advise you what you need to pay. If you cannot pay this off in one go, we may be able to negotiate a repayment plan with you. Please note that you may be unable to obtain housing in the future if you have any outstanding unpaid debts. You also risk having a County Court Judgement registered against you. Give us your forwarding address In case we need to forward any mail. Take your gas, electric and water meter readings on the day you leave Tell your suppliers you are moving out, and give them your meter readings. Tell anyone else who needs to know! For example, the Housing Benefit Department and the Council Tax Department.
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