Argyle Housing Group - Terms & Conditions

IMPORTANT: Unlike your tenancy agreement, this guide is not a legal document and does not make up part of your tenancy agreement. It is not intended as a hard and fast guide to what the law says you can or cannot do as a tenant. If you have concerns about anything that may cause you, or anyone in your household, a problem, we strongly suggest you ask a solicitor for advice.

What is this guide for?

Because the tenancy agreement is a legal document, some of the wording can be confusing. So we have produced this guide for you to use alongside the tenancy agreement itself. We have tried to use language you will find easy to understand.

What is a tenancy agreement?

Your tenancy agreement is a legal contract between you and the council, designed to make sure that you and other tenants are good neighbours and take proper care of the home you rent. It sets out some rules that you, and those who live in or visit your home, must keep to by law. If any of these people break the rules, you risk losing your home.

The tenancy agreement gives you rights as well as responsibilities. It also lists the services you are entitled to in return for the rent you pay.

Ealing Council and Argyle Housing Group

Argyle Housing Group is a nominated housing supplier to the London Borough of Ealing and is your appointed Managing Agent that manages your property on behalf of Ealing Council.

The council expects Argyle Housing Group to keep your home safe and well repaired. If you have any questions about your home you should get in touch with staff at Argyle Housing Group, not Ealing Council.

Argyle Housing Group Offices

Argyle House, 11 Beaumont Road , Chiswick, London W4 5AL 020 8742 7858

You have what is called a ‘non secure tenancy agreement’ – this is a legal name for the rights and conditions your tenancy gives you.

An agreement between you and the council

This explains that Ealing Council is your landlord . And it lists the people named as the tenants of your home. You and any other people named here are responsible by law for making sure your tenancy agreement is not broken.

There may be other people not listed on your agreement who also live in your home. You and any other named tenants are responsible for making sure these other people do not do anything which breaks your tenancy agreement.

Start of your tenancy

This tells you the date your tenancy began. It also says your tenancy is weekly , so you should pay your rent once a week, on the Monday of the week your rent is for. This is so the money reaches the council’s, or Argyle Housing Group's, bank account on time.

Landlord’s main address

If anything goes seriously wrong and you need to hire a solicitor, this is where the solicitor should send letters to.

Argyle Housing Group, Argyle House, 11 Beaumont Road , Chiswick, London W4 5AL

False information

This is very important . If the council agreed to let you rent this home because of something you claimed, but which wasn’t true , it has the right to take you to court to get your tenancy ended. This will almost certainly end in you being evicted.

Keeping your details private

The council and Argyle Housing Group will have put the information about yourself onto its computer system. By law, it must make sure this is kept totally private unless it is asked to show your information by, usually, the police or a government agency. This is only likely to happen if there is an investigation into a suspected crime , including tax and benefit fraud.

Your home, gas safety checks

Gas Safety Certificate – by law, your Landlord has to make sure any gas appliances, like a boiler or heaters, are inspected for safety once every 12 months. You will have to let contractors working for Argyle Housing Group into your home to check your gas appliances once a year. In most cases this inspection will be carried out by British Gas.

Other people who live in your home

This lists the people, other than the official tenants, allowed to live in your home. It gives their names, explains what their link to you is and their age. The link to you could be family (father, mother, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, cousin etc) or you could be in a relationship with them. Or they may be a friend or carer the council has agreed can share your home.

Again they are listed so the council can be sure it knows who is living in the property. It also means it can try to make sure your home is not overcrowded, which might be unsafe and unhealthy.

How much you pay each week

This tells you how much you have to pay the council, the services you are paying for and when you have to make the payments. The biggest cost is the rent. But you may also pay a small amount to have fresh water supplied to the flat and for upkeep of the drains to take away toilet waste and dirty bath and sink water.

If you rent a garage from the council, the cost is noted here too.

The final figure in ‘gross weekly rent’ is the added up cost of your rent and all the other services you get. That is how much you should pay the council every Monday.

Explaining your tenancy conditions

Both you and the council have agreed to certain rights and responsibilities. These are designed to make sure the council is a good landlord and you are a good tenant and neighbour.

Changing your rent and service charges

The council can change the amount of rent you have to pay and the cost of any extra services, by telling you four weeks before it raises or drops the amount you have to pay.

It must do this by sending you a letter telling you what will change and how much you will soon have to pay.

Changing your tenancy conditions

The council can change any of the conditions in this section – number 2 – by telling you what it plans to do four weeks before it does so. Again, it has to do this in writing. It is allowed to do this by law.

Using the law

The council can send you a legal document, called a ‘ notice ’, giving instructions you have to obey. These can be left at your home or sent to your address through the post. It will usually only give you a notice if it has asked you to do something you had to do, by law, but you ignored it. Sending or giving (called ‘serving’) you a notice is a last resort. If you ignore the ‘notice’, it is very likely you will end up in court.

Argyle Housing Group's right to go inside your home

Argyle Housing Group has the right to make you let people working for it into your home. But it must tell you they will need to get in at least 24 hours before the person/s turn up, unless there is an emergency. If you get in touch with the council, or the people who contacted you because they are doing the work the council ordered, they may agree to come at another time if that is better for you. But they do not have to . Normally, you will get a letter letting you know someone will have to come into your home and when. But this is not needed if a worker has to get in to:

a) repair or improve the property or any other part owned or controlled by the council or to install something

b) tackle a pest or rodent problem, such as smoking out cockroaches or trapping rats or mice

c) inspect , survey and make notes of the state of home because the council is worried that it needs repairs or is being treated badly

d) inspect and make any repairs needed to the gas or electricity supply or any appliances it has installed in your home, like the boiler or heaters

e) carry out any tasks the law says the council must do to keep your home safe and in good repair

f) to put back in, patch up, take out or repair anything you, a visitor, or anyone living with you has wrongly done to your home. This could be because the property has been damaged, has not been looked after properly, or you have built on or changed the structure without getting the council to say you could, in writing.

If there is an emergency, you must let in at once anyone Argyle Housing Group sends to deal with the problem. You may not make them wait.

An emergency could be:

Fire, flood, gas or water leaks, threatened danger to anyone's safety, the risk of damage to your home, the building or any other property

If your home is empty and it is not properly locked up or protected against vandalism.

If Argyle Housing Group has to deal with any of these, and to do so needs to come into your property, it will only do whatever is needed to stop the problem becoming worse and to make the place safe . It will also make a record of what it found, the safety works carried out, and the state its workers left your property in.

Repairs and upkeep to your home

The structure of your home will be kept in good repair by the Argyle Housing Group. We will make sure all the pipes, wires and gullies that bring water, gas and electricity into and out of the building are in good condition.

It will also keep the fixtures that keep your home heated and sanitary in good working order, including any baths, basins, sinks and toilets that it has had installed.

If any of the items listed above need repairing, the council will make sure these are done in reasonable time. But first it will do any works needed to make sure people are kept healthy and safe.

Your right to privacy

As long as you do not break any part of your tenancy agreement, you should be able to enjoy the peace and privacy of your home. Neither the council or Argyle Housing Group will bother you unless it has to, or you cause other people a problem.

How long your tenancy can last?

The term of your Tenancy agreement is generally for a period of 3 years. You will be allowed to remain living at the property providing that it is your main home and providing you do not break any of the rules in your tenancy agreement.

If any tenant moves out and sends the council a legal document called a ‘notice to quit’, all of you persons named on the tenancy agreement will have to move out by the date given in the notice as the ‘expiry’ date.

Your home

Your property must be used as your main home or, if you sometimes stay with another person (such as a close personal friend or a relative you help care for) the main place you use as home.

If there are more people named on the tenancy as the tenants, at least one of you must use this as your only or main home. If for any reason your home is going to be empty for more than six weeks, you must contact Argyle Housing Group . This might happen if you are going overseas for work, on a long holiday, or are going into hospital. If you do not tell Argyle Housing Group why the home is empty, we might think you have abandoned the property and no longer want to live there. Unless you tell us why it is empty, we may make plans to give it to someone else.

You will also need to let Argyle Housing Group know how it or other services, like the police or fire brigade, can get into your home if there is an emergency . You must let Argyle Housing Group know at once if the people named in the tenancy agreement move out or if new people move in. It is particularly important to let Argyle Housing Group know about any new born arrivals. We need to be careful not to allow an overcrowding situation as your family grows. It might be necessary to re-house you to a larger home, say for instance you have the happy arrival of twins or more.

We ask you to treat your neighbours and fellow residents in a manner you would like them to treat you. Please be polite and thoughtful, as you might your upset your neighbours or other people living in close proximity to you. Neither Argyle Housing Group or Ealing Council will tolerate or put up with antisocial behaviour in any form and will take action against you if you act in an antisocial way.

Please remember you are responsible and have a duty to ensure your visitors who visit your home behave well and do not disturb or upset other people. This is very important – neither you, your visitors or other members of your household must break any part of your tenancy agreement and it is up to you to make sure they do not.

If any part of your tenancy agreement is broken, Argyle Housing Group or the council might start legal action against you. This could lead to a number of things:

you might lose your home

or you might lose some of your tenancy rights

or you might find the courts put strict limits on what you can do and when. If you break these, you could be arrested.

The purpose of these powers is to make the neighbourhood safe and pleasant for everyone who lives there. It is also to make sure money isn’t wasted repairing damage caused by antisocial behaviour.

Paying your rent and service charges

You must pay your rent and charges for any other services you get, once a week on the Monday of the week your rent covers. In most cases this will be to Ealing Council. Some agreements require you to pay your rent each Monday to Argyle Housing Group .

The council will make sure you know how much you have to pay and will let you know four weeks in advance if the amount is going to change.

If you do not pay your rent or service charges on time, Argyle Housing Group or the council will use the law to make sure you pay your debts. If it has to go to court to do so, you might have to pay its legal bill, which can be very expensive

Keeping your home in good repair

Because neither Argyle Housing Group or Ealing Council owns your home, you will not be allowed to change any of the decorations without the express permission in writing of Argyle Housing Group. We will need to get the Landlord to give us permission. In most cases our Landlords are generally willing to allow decoration in neutral colors. However, unless its has been agreed in writing you must not change anything.

Please remember it is your responsibility to repair or replace any items you have brought with you to your new home.

If anything goes wrong with your home and it is not a problem you are expected to repair, you must report the repair needed by phone or email to Argyle Housing Group as soon as you can. If there is a problem when the office is closed, you must wait until it reopens unless the problem is an emergency . In an emergency you should phone the out-of-hours service on 079 8974 3496

REPAIRS YOU MUST FIX YOURSELF

Repair problems you must fix yourself, or pay someone else to mend. These are usually things that need fixing because they have worn out normally or because someone in your home has been using something the wrong way:

a) unblocking any sinks, basins, toilets and the bath, if the problem is something in thedrains inside your home. This can happen if someone tries to pour or flush away things they should not

b) mending or replacing door and cupboard handles, hinges, or the letterbox

c) mending or replacing toilet seats, the plugs and chains on baths, basins and sinks, and panels on the side of a bath

d) replacing broken glass in windows. Argyle will only replace it if it was broken by vandals, or someone trying to rob your home or attack someone in your home. You must report this to the police and acquire a police crime number from them which must be presented to us prior to any works carried out.

e) unjamming door, lock and window hinges

f) filling minor cracks in the plaster or other decorated parts inside the home, and keeping walls and floor tiles in a good state

g) replacing keys and locks (unless you live in sheltered housing) if you or anyone else loses the keys and has to break the lock to get back in. If this damages the door, you will have to mend that too

h) mending any problems with the electricity supply if they were caused by you or another

person in your home, for example using unsuitable or faulty equipment

i) mending or replacing blown electrical fuses and faulty plugs. The council will deal with plug sockets

j) mending or replacing any doors inside your home and any broken locks on these doors

k) fitting the pipes (for both clean and waste water) needed to run washing machines and dishwashers, and fitting vents needed to run a tumble drier

l) keep gully grids clear of leaves and rubbish

If you are elderly and/or physically disabled, and there is no one in your home who can help you do any of these repairs, Argyle Housing Group may agree to do some of them for you. Please do ask.

If any part of the home is damaged by you, someone living with you, a visitor or someone you have employed, you must pay for and organise the repairs needed. This includes damage caused by the police if they have to force their way into your home.

You must make sure anyone who repairs, fits or changes electrical or gas-powered equipment or fittings in your home is properly qualified so that the works meet the legal standards for buildings. Gas fitters should be registered with CORGI, the national watchdog for gas safety. Other workers like electricians, should also be approved professionals.

If the property is damaged because equipment or tools you were using blew or broke down, you must pay for and organise the repairs.

If the council has had a smoke alarm fitted to your home, you should regularly test that it is working properly and change the batteries if they get run down.

Changing the look and structure of your home

Before you try to change anything in or about your home, stop first to check that you are allowed to do so. If you go ahead without getting approval in writing from Argyle Housing Group , you may end up having to pay for the work to be undone.

This is a list of things you cannot do to the property without the Argyle Housing Group ’s written permission.

Do not:

a) do anything to change its structure (that covers the walls, windows, roof, etc), build anything onto the outside, decorate, or otherwise change the way the property looks outside

b) take off or change doors, cupboards or any other parts the council has put up or fixed to the property

c) put up a shed, greenhouse, conservatory, lean-to or any other sort of building in or around any gardens that go with your home

d) plant any trees or shrubs that might damage your home or any other buildings near it. This is mainly because of problems caused by the roots or moisture being sucked from the ground, but also because some fast-growing trees are unstable and could fall over

e) dig up or cut down any trees in your garden or any shared gardens

f) hang up or fix to the building any satellite dish, TV aerial, advertisement of any sort, flagpole or any other solid object.

Even if you are told you can do any of the above, there will be rules limiting what you can do or how you can do them, and where they can go. And all work must be done by fully qualified, professional people.

Cleanliness and tidiness

You must keep the inside and outside of your home, and any gardens or paved areas you use, clean and tidy. You should also prevent your home from getting damp inside. Open windows when you have to dry wet clothes inside and never block air vents. You should also try not to let pests nest in or near your home. Clean regularly and be careful where food is stored to avoid encouraging rats, mice, cockroaches, etc.

If you spot pests, call or email Argyle Housing Group Tel: 020 8742 7858.

Email: info@argyle.co.uk

Rubbish

Make sure all household rubbish is taken out to be collected by the council. The bins are emptied once a week. All rubbish should be taken out in bags to the designated area.

You will have been told where this area is when you signed up.

Do not leave rubbish bins or anything else you no longer want lying anywhere outside unless it is in one of the bins the council has put there for rubbish.

If you have any items you want to throw away which are too large for the bins call the council’s fly tipping service on 020 8825 6000.

Cleaning areas you share with neighbours

You help to pay the council to clean paths, walkways, lifts and gardens you share with other tenants. But you must also make sure that you do not mess these parts. That means also making sure your visitors, any children or pets, or anyone else in your home does not drop rubbish, damage plants or the building and does not store toys, bikes, prams or other belongings in shared areas.

You will have to pay an extra clean-up cost if someone from your home or a visitor is found to have:

a) dirtied or fouled shared areas or lifts, including graffiti

b) blocked a rubbish chute by trying to put something down it which was too large or was

sure to get stuck

c) dropped rubbish anywhere you share with other people.

Emergency repairs

If people working for the council or emergency services need to get in to deal with a problem caused by you or anyone in or visiting your home, you will be charged for the ‘reasonable cost’ of any repairs needed to the property. You should check with a lawyer or citizens advice bureau if this happens to you and you think you have been treated unfairly.

Parking and motor repairs

You must obey the parking rules set by the council, and must make sure others living with you or visiting do the same. You must make sure that you do not block other people’s way into the property, the road or anywhere emergency vehicles, like fire engines or ambulances, may need to go.

You may not park anywhere on council-owned land any vehicle which does not have an up-to-date road tax badge or which is not fit for use on public roads.

You will need the council’s permission, in writing, before you can park a caravan, boat, trailer etc, or a truck or van used for carrying heavy goods or for industrial use. You must not, or let members of your household or visitors, carry out repairs to a car or other motor vehicle on land owned by the council. This includes any part of a housing estate, including roads.

Gardens and patios

If you have an outside area, like a garden, patio or balcony, you must make sure they are kept neat and tidy. Planted areas, trees, hedges, shrubs, and window boxes must not be full of weeds or overgrown, and patios, fencing and gates must be in a fair state. You must repair or replace fencing or gates that you are responsible for if they get worn out or fall down and keep private garden paths in good repair.

Pets and other animals

You cannot keep a pet or any other animal in your home or elsewhere in or on the property unless Argyle Housing Group says you can, in writing . Even then, there are strict rules about the sort of animal you can keep, how you care for it and control where it goes. There are also strict rules to make sure it does not cause any nuisance to your neighbours. If you are given permission to keep a pet, you will be expected to make sure it is under control 24-hours-a-day.

If the council decides you are not keeping your pet or other animal under control, or it is causing a health hazard or other nuisance, it can force you to find a new home for it.

Handing on or sharing your home

You are totally forbidden to rent out your home to anyone else, no matter what your reason. If you do this, the council will use its legal powers to end your tenancy and you will lose all right to live in it.

What you cannot do in your home

These rules are set to stop you doing anything which might make your home unsafe or cause a problem for your neighbours. You cannot:

use your home to do anything which is illegal – such as dealing drugs or storing stolen goods – or immoral – like prostitution

store any gas bottles or cylinders, cans of petrol or anything else which might explode or easily catch fire. This includes Calor gas or paraffin heaters

keep guns or any other illegal weapons

use your home to run a business, or let anyone else run it, unless the council/ Argyle Housing Group says you can, in writing, and the council's planning department has also said you can

put up advertisements or any other notices or displays advertising a business unless the council writes to you saying you can.

Antisocial and other insulting behaviour

Ealing Council and Argyle Housing Group do not allow antisocial behaviour in or on their property and take the issue very seriously. It is up to you to make sure that you and anyone living in or visiting your home is well behaved towards other people, both in your home, in other parts of the property owned by the council, and in the neighbourhood.

If you, the people who live in your home, or your visitors act in any way that upsets, pesters or disturbs other people nearby you will be breaking your tenancy agreement and will be in danger of losing your home.

In particular, you must make sure there is no:

a) harassing, pestering or abusing someone because you or someone else does not like or approve of their age, race, religion, culture or sex, a physical disability, or their being gay or lesbian

b) violence, or threat of violence – to anyone

c) abuse, either in words or actions

d) damage – actual or just threatened, to either the council’s property or that belonging to anyone else

e) graffiti

f) very loud noise or annoying and repeated noise made at times when it may upset other people

g) criminal activity of any kind

h) act of any sort, or failure to do something, which you know will cause problems for other people or disturb their peace and privacy.

If you, or any of your visitors, act in any of the above ways, Argyle Housing Group will take action.

If you ignore their warnings you may be evicted and lose your home.

Violence in the home

You must not be violent or threaten anyone in your home, and you must not allow anyone else in your home to do so. This is called domestic violence and it is a serious crime. If you are the one carrying out this abuse or even if you sit back and let it happen to someone else, the council will use all the powers the law gives it to evict you.

The list of actions it bans includes any act or behaviour that hurts or terrifies your partner – married or not – or members of your or their family. This includes threatening them with violence, hurtful or humiliating sex attacks, taking or controlling their money or anything else you know will seriously frighten them.

Illegal drugs

You can use drugs you have been prescribed by a GP or other doctor registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). These must be for your own use and you should not let other people use them, or buy them.

But you, or anyone else living or visiting your home, cannot use, store, sell or advertise any illegal drugs, or those prescribed by a doctor for someone else, in your home or anywhere else nearby.

The council and Argyle Housing Group will call or help the police if it thinks this rule is being broken.

Staff safety

We expect you, others living with you and your visitors to treat our staff and other people working for us as you would like us to treat you.

If you are rude or abusive or threaten to hurt, or worse still, do hurt any member of staff or anyone paid by us to carry out a service, you may end up banned from coming into or near our offices or anywhere near our staff or other people working for us. Our response will depend on how serious a threat we think you are to the safety of our workers. If we think it is needed, we will use our legal powers to end your tenancy.

Ending your tenancy

You can end your tenancy agreement whenever you want. All you need to do is give us a letter stating that you plan to end your tenancy four weeks before you want to move out. In the four weeks before you hand back the keys, you must let one of our staff inside your home so we can check its state.

On the other hand, if we have taken legal action against you and the courts have said we can evict you, you will normally get a letter from us telling you how long you have left in the property before you must leave.

If the council took you to court over antisocial behaviour or the courts agreed we could take away some of your tenancy rights, or even end your tenancy, the court would decide the date.

When you move out

Before you leave you must:

pay off any rent or other unpaid bills you owe the council or Argyle Housing Group, linked to your tenancy

clean up any dirt and throw away any rubbish

leave behind anything in the property that the council put in, including baths, sinks, cupboards, the boiler, and so on

take out anything you own or that belongs to anyone else other than the council, including any carpets you have put in If you don’t leave the home clean, or leave rubbish inside, you will have to pay us for any cleaning needed or to remove the rubbish.

If you owe any money from debts you ran up renting another property from the council or Argyle Housing Group you must pay these back too.

You must make sure the decorating in the property is in a reasonable state, cleaning up and repairing any damage caused by people living in or visiting your home.

Check to see what parts of the property it is the Landlords job to repair and those you are supposed to get fixed. Make sure anything you were expected to look after is properly repaired. You will be charged for any damage not fixed to a proper standard.

If while you were living in the property you took out anything the Landlord had installed, such as a bath or cupboard, you must leave behind anything you replaced these with or get fittings put back in that are as good as those the Landlord provided.

If you and the Landlord agree the changes you made were a lot better, you might be able to get a contribution for at least part of what you spent.

On the day you leave, or before, you must hand back to Argyle Housing Group all the keys you have for your home. These need to be taken back to our office. If you don’t hand back the keys, Argyle Housing Group or the council can go on demanding rent payments from you until you give back the keys. You will be charged.

If you leave anything behind after your tenancy ends – either belongings or rubbish – Argyle Housing Group may throw them away.

You will have to pay for anything Argyle Housing Group has to do to repair or clean the property if it was caused by your breaking any part of this tenancy agreement. So you can expect a bill if you damaged the home or didn’t clean it up properly.

You will also have to pay if the council has to treat the property for a pest infestation (eg rats, fleas etc), to repair or replace any broken or missing items, or to put right any changes you made without permission.

If after you move, anyone who was living with you or visiting refuses to move and Argyle Housing Group or the council has to pay for legal action to get them out, you can expect to be charged.

This part of the agreement is where you and anyone else sharing your tenancy formally agree that you will keep to all the rules in this contract.

The names, signatures and dates are all important and may be needed if there is a disagreement or court case later on.

The second box details all parts of your home that you need a key to get into or to lock up, the number of keys you were given when you signed the agreement and who gave them to you.

The final part – next of kin details – is so the council knows who to contact if there is an emergency, you are seriously ill, or you die. You do not need to fill this in if you do not want to.

To submit your 'next of kin' details please click here and complete the form.