Rights and responsibilities
Your tenancy agreement as a direct lettings tenant is a contract between you and us. We each have certain rights and responsibilities that must be met.
Your rights
You will have an assured shorthold tenancy. This means that we cannot make you leave your home without getting a possession order from the courts. The courts will not grant an order unless we have sent you a proper notice. We will always tell you the reasons why we need possession of the property.
The most common situation in which we will apply for a possession order is if you break the conditions of your tenancy (for example, if you regularly do not pay your rent or you are responsible for anti-social behaviour, or if our lease with the private owner ends.
We will always try to sort out problems without having to take legal action. However, we will take legal action if you do not cooperate with us or if you break any of the agreements we have made with you.
You also have other rights. In particular, the owner of your property cannot come into your home without permission. Unless it is an emergency, we must give you reasonable notice if we want to visit your home.
It is important that you know your rights. If you are unclear about anything in your tenancy agreement, your visiting officer will be able to explain it to you.
Your responsibilities
We expect you to look after your home as if it were your own. You may be living in the property for a long time and we need you to help us keep it in good condition.
We expect you to carry out some basic repairs yourself and to let our contractors inside if they come to your home to do any work.
We expect you to be polite to our staff and contractors. If you are having difficulties, please give us clear details as calmly as you can and use our complaints procedure if you are still not happy.
You will be breaking the conditions of your tenancy agreement if you use, or allow others to use, threatening, violent or aggressive language or behaviour against our staff or contractors.
More information
For more information on your rights and responsibilities as a direct lettings tenant, contact our Customer Services Team on 020 8357 4501 or homeoptionsrepairs@nhhg.org.uk.
