Your Tenancy

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Your Tenancy, Your Rights

All new tenants to Ashton Pioneer Homes are issued with a Starter Tenancy or Assured Shorthold Tenancy this lasts for the first twelve months of your occupation of a property.

Your rights are very similar to those of an Assured Tenant except that you do not have the right to:

• Carry out improvements, alterations or additions to the property
• Buy or acquire your home
• Exchange or transfer your home
• Assign your tenancy

All your rights and obligations as a tenant will be explained to you when you sign your tenancy agreement.

We cannot help you with the cost of moving. However, under certain circumstances you may be able to get help from the Tameside Support For Independent Living (TSIL) team.

How a Starter Tenancy Works

Having a Starter Tenancy means that you are a resident of Ashton Pioneer Homes for a trial period of one year.  During your Starter Tenancy, your Housing Officer will visit you at home to make sure that you are keeping to the terms of your tenancy. They will check that you are

• Paying your rent,
• Looking after your property
• Not engaging in anti-social behaviour or causing a nuisance to other residents.
• Adhering to all APH policies including e.g. the Pet Policy

What happens after twelve months?

If you have conducted your tenancy satisfactorily, we will convert your tenancy to a full Assured Tenancy at the end of the qualifying 12 month period.  In exceptional circumstances, we may decide to extend your Starter Tenancy period, giving you more time to take any action we request.

After this extension is over, we will review our decision.

Your responsibilities

We want all Starter Tenants to become full Assured Tenants with Ashton Pioneer Homes. Please remember that you, as the tenant, are responsible for not only your own behaviour but also that of anyone living with you and any visitors you have. If you, or someone who visits you, behave in an unsatisfactory way you will breach your tenancy agreement.

If we receive complaints about you from other residents, we will investigate and try to resolve the situation. If the situation is serious, we will talk to you about what steps you can take to improve matters. We may send you a written warning confirming what action we wish you to take or we may take legal action to end your Starter Tenancy.

If we have issued warnings and you have not taken the action we require, we will write to you stating that your tenancy is to end and giving the reasons why. We will also serve you with a Notice of our intention to end your tenancy, which is the first stage in the legal process.

Appeals process

Details of how to appeal will be sent to you with the letter informing you of our decision. We will tell you about the appeals process and send you an appeal form. You will have 14 days to appeal from the day you receive the notice of our intention to end your tenancy.

Further information;If you have any questions or problems, please telephone us on: 0161 343 8128 and ask to speak to your Housing Officer.

Tenancy Obligations

When you become a tenant of Ashton Pioneer Homes you will sign a legal contract known as a Tenancy Agreement. This is a legal document which sets out the terms and conditions of your tenancy. It explains your rights and responsibilities, as well as those of Ashton Pioneer Homes.

The terms and conditions of your tenancy are very important. We use them to protect all tenants so that we can deal effectively with any problems that may arise. Below is a summary of tenancy obligations.

Your responsibilities as a tenant of Ashton Pioneer Homes

• Your property must be your only and principle home
• You cannot run a business from the property
• You must adhere to all APH’s policies (such as the Pet Policy)
• You must pay your rent in advance. If you are eligible for Housing Benefit it is up to you to complete and return your benefit application forms. Any changes of circumstances that may affect entitlement must be reported to APH
• You must not cause or allow your visitors to cause nuisance or anti-social behaviour
• You must report faults or damage to your property as soon as it occurs
• If you wish to end your tenancy you must give a minimum of 4 week’s notice in writing

Our responsibilities

• You must receive at least one calendar month’s notice of any rent or service charge increase
• You have a right to occupy the property where you are the legal tenant. APH will give you possession from the start of your tenancy and we must not interfere with your right to live there peacefully. This also means giving you reasonable notice should we wish to inspect your tenancy
• APH must keep the structure and exterior of your tenancy in good condition, and maintain kitchen & bathroom fittings, as well as heating and electrical systems
• APH will consult you and give you all relevant information before we make changes to the way we manage your tenancy, and before we carry out any major improvements

Service Charges

A service charge is the payment made by a tenant towards the cost of additional services and benefits provided by the landlord.

At Ashton Pioneer Homes, examples of these additional benefits are

• A Neighbourhood Services Team
• An Estates Services Team
• A cleaning service to estates and common parts
• Lighting to each estate and common parts
• A community alarm system
• Communal TV aerials & operational CCTV system
• Car park gate maintenance
• Vehicle operational costs
• Protective clothing
• Bulk item waste disposal
• Pest control
• Grounds maintenance
• Playground equipment
• Maintenance of equipment
• Administrative costs
• Some furniture & soft furnishings

The above is not a complete list and items charged may vary from property to property as appropriate.