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It is a condition of your tenancy that the rent is paid on time and you are personally responsible for paying your rent. Please see our Rent Page for further information.
How To Have A Fault Repaired
Telephone 01473 825757 and speak to the Council Housing Customer Service Team. (It helps us if you give your address first, then your name, and then details of the repair you need). You can also write to us but remember to include your address and say when you will be at home. You can also tell the Warden if you live at one of our sheltered schemes.
Emergency Repairs
If you have an emergency repair (e.g. burst pipe) when the council offices are closed (after working hours or during the weekend) telephone our Emergency Out of Hours Service on 01362 698384 who will deal with your problem.
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Time For Repairs
We operate a scheme in which the most urgent repairs are done first as follows:
Emergency repairs - Faults that could be a danger to life or could cause serious damage to the structure of the property if they are not dealt with immediately. To be done within 8 hours
Priority repairs - Faults that could lead to an emergency - or could cause serious inconvenience to the tenant if they are not dealt with quickly. To be done within 5 working days
General repairs - All other repairs. To be done in the order they occur, usually within 28 days.
Routine Servicing
All heating systems are serviced every year - you do not need to contact us.
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Improving Your Home
We have plans for rewiring many of our properties, updating the heating systems and replacing windows. We will paint the outside of our properties about every 10 years. If you want to know whether work will be carried out on your home, please telephone 01473 825757 and speak to a member of the Council Housing Customer Service Team.
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Going Away – For A Short Time
If you are going on holiday for a short time, shut off the water supply at the main stop valve by turning it clockwise. (If you do not know where this is, contact our Repair Section which will be able to help you.) If your holiday is in the winter months, drain the water system by closing the stop valve, turning on all the taps and flushing the toilet. To reconnect the water supply when you return, just open the stop valve by turning it anti-clockwise (remembering to turn the taps off first).
When you go away, always turn off mains gas and electricity supplies as well, (but remember to defrost your fridge/freezer first). Again, if you are not sure how to disconnect, contact our Repair Section for advice.
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Going Away – For Longer Periods
Shut off the water, gas and electricity as described above.
If you are going away for a month or more, please let us know and give us an address where you can be contacted in case of emergency. If you do not tell us that you are going, we may have to assume that you have ABANDONED your home and that you do not intend to return. This means we will take the property back.
Customer Satisfaction and Our Repair Service
We want to make sure that you, our customers, are satisfied with the repair service we provide. To keep a constant check on this, we send satisfaction survey forms to a certain number of tenants after we have done repair work. Please help us to help you by filling these in.
Remember: we want to know if things do not go right, as we are constantly striving to improve our service to you. If you do not tell us, we will not know.
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The Right To Buy
Most secure tenants have the right to buy their home. For further information, please see our Right To Buy page.
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Right To Manage
The Right to Manage exists to those tenants who have formed tenants organisations on their estate. This would mean a tenant’s organisation taking control, for example: of managing repairs, rents and estate management. For further advice, please contact the Housing Office.
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Right To Repair
We are required to attend to various repairs described as "qualifying repairs" within a set down period. If we do not attend within this period you can request us to appoint a different Contractor. If the second Contractor does not carry out the work within the 'prescribed period', you may be entitled to some compensation.
Right To Compensation
You may be entitled to some compensation for improvements you carry out during your tenancy after 1st April 1994. The Right to Compensation applies to the following improvements:
- bath or shower, wash hand basin and toilet;
- kitchen sink and work surfaces for preparing food;
- storage cupboards in bathroom or kitchen;
- central heating, hot water boilers and other types of heating;
- thermostatic radiator valves;
- pipe, water tank or cylinder insulation;
- loft and cavity wall insulation;
- draught-proofing of external doors or windows;
- double-glazing or other window replacement or secondary glazing;
- rewiring, or the provision of power and lighting or other electrical fittings (including smoke detectors); and
- security measures (excluding burglar alarms).
Please contact the Housing Office for further advice.
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Insurance
We arrange insurance for the structure of all our properties. We do not insure any house contents. as this is your responsibility.
In our experience, tenants can suffer severe hardship through failing to insure their furniture, clothing and personal belongings against loss or damage by fire, theft, storm, burst pipes and so on. So we strongly recommend that you arrange suitable insurance cover.
Please remember that the Tenancy Agreement says you must look after your home and that includes taking all reasonable steps to prevent damage, including damage caused by frost. If there is no lagging to any pipework in your home please let us know.
You may find insurance premiums may be reduced if you fit a smoke detector.
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Identity Cards
All Council Officers carry identity cards. Always ask for identification before letting anyone into your home. If you have any doubts please ring the Housing Department to check if an officer has been asked to call.
Improving The Service
If you ever have any comments or suggestions about how we can improve our housing service, please tell us.
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Help With Your Move
If you need to move to a smaller Council property but cannot afford to, we may be able to help you with the cost of moving house.
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Harassment
We take our responsibilities under Section 71 of the Race Relations Act seriously. We want our tenants to enjoy their tenancy: free of fear of intimidation, abuse or assault. Where it can be proved that one tenant is harassing another we are prepared to take whatever action is necessary to reduce this.
Mediation Service
A Mediation Service is available to those tenants in dispute with their neighbours, particularly disputes involving noise and other anti-social behaviour.
Mediation seeks to explore and resolve the reasons behind conflict through face-to-face meetings or by acting as a go-between and then bringing those involved together to attempt to resolve differences.
Further details about a Mediation Service is available from the Housing Office on 01473 825757.
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You may want to move home for a number of reasons. Perhaps you would like a larger property or you want to live in another part of the district. Or maybe you would like to move out of Babergh altogether. Whatever the reason, we may be able to help.
Transferring To Another Council Home In Babergh
If you are already a Council tenant and you wish to move to a different type of Council property, you should come onto our Transfer List.
We will always try to move you to a different property if necessary. We will give priority for a move if one or more of the following situations apply:
- Lack of bedroom space - overcrowding
- Spare bedrooms - too much space
- Medical problems and the property is unsuitable
- Social problems
- Children in properties without access to a garden
Your rent account must be clear before you move and you must make sure your home is in good order before leaving it - if not, the transfer will not be approved.
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Exchanging Your Home With Another Council Tenant
Another way of moving is by arranging a 'mutual exchange'. This is where a tenant finds another tenant to 'swap' homes with.
There is a 'Swap Book’ for you to look at in the Housing Reception Area at our offices in Hadleigh to help tenants find others who want to move.
The tenants must get permission to 'swap' houses before the move can go ahead.
Be careful about 'swapping' your home for another. You take on the new property in its present condition and any repairs or problems the previous tenant was responsible for, including all inside decorations and 'improvements' that they did.
For further information, please see our Mutual Exchange page.
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Housing Associations
Housing Associations have many houses in our District, which are available for rent. Very often we can recommend who will be the tenant. If you are interested, please contact the Housing Office. We are very active in encouraging and supporting Housing Associations to develop housing both for rent and to buy on shared ownership terms. Council tenants and Waiting List applicants can be considered for such a move. Please ask for details at the Housing Office.
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Do It Yourself Shared Ownership
Do it yourself shared ownership is a social scheme which allows you to part-buy and part-rent a home of your own. Successful applicants will pay a small mortgage based upon the proportion of interest in the home they buy and a rent to a Housing Association who administer the scheme.
For further information, please telephone the Housing Services Section.
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Passing Your Tenancy On To Your Family
If you are a secure tenant, another member of your family may have the right to take over your tenancy if you die. Your spouse can take over your tenancy as long as they have been living in the property with you. Other members of your family, over the age of 18, can take over the tenancy when you die as long as:
- they have lived with you for 12 months before your death; and
- the house is their main home; and
- the property is suitable for their needs.
This applies to your parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, nephew or niece as well as unmarried partners.
A joint tenant can also take over as the sole tenant if the other joint tenant dies.
This 'Automatic Succession' of a tenancy can only occur once.
You must tell us about any changes that might affect the tenancy details - for example, the death of a tenant, marriage, re-marriage, someone leaving or moving in, change of name and so on.
Any person lodging with you at the time you die may not necessarily have a right to succession.
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Your Right To Have A Say
We will consult you on all major matters that affect your home or any changes to the Tenancy Agreement.
Consultation will cover many things including:
- major alterations, repairs and improvements to your home;
- changes to the terms of the Tenancy Agreement; and
- introduction of new services or facilities.
We will always tell you in writing of any proposed changes, and will ask for your views.
We will then consider all the comments we receive before making a decision. Once a decision is made, we will give you at least 4 weeks' notice before the change takes place and we will explain the new terms and the effects they will have.
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We operate an 'open access to information' policy. This means you can check that information you have given us about your home and other matters has been properly recorded.
Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985
Under this Act you can do the following:
- You can attend meetings of the Council and its Committees, Sub-Committees and other groups that carry out our business. However, where confidential matters will be discussed, members of the public will not be allowed to stay in the meeting.
- You can inspect copies of agendas and reports of meetings except where 'confidential' or 'exempt' information is involved.
- You can inspect details of meetings after they have been held, except reports of any proceedings that were held in private. This information will be available for up to 6 years.
- You can inspect and copy background papers used by the Housing Department to prepare reports (except where these disclose confidential or exempt information). This information will be available for up to 4 years.
For more information, contact the Committee Section on 01473 825720.
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We own about 800 garages spread throughout the district. These garages are available for rent to our tenants who always get priority, but non-Council tenants may also apply.
For further information, please see our Garages page.
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We promise:
- To find out what services our tenants want
- To provide services effectively with good value for money
- To respond swiftly to tenants and improve the quality of service
In short, we aim to put you, our Tenant, first.
We will do this by:
- Listening
to what our tenants have to say (using surveys, questionnaires and other market research)
- Informing
our tenants and communicating more freely with them;
- Improving access
to us, our services and our buildings;
- Making sure
that all Council Members and staff are committed to giving our customers a friendly and helpful service.
Our Complaints and Compliments page explains this further.
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If you would like advice and assistance on matters such as transfers, mutual exchanges, tenancy changes or general matters relating to your tenancy, type in your question on the Online Queries Form and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
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