Private Leasing Scheme - Information for Tenants

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If you are a tenant living in one of our privately leased properties the information on this page provides a guide to what you need to know.

The Private Leasing Scheme allows the Council to lease properties from private landlords, to rent out as temporary accommodation to homeless families and single people.

The properties range from flats and maisonettes to detached and semi-detached houses. All the properties are self-contained and they are used as move-on accommodation after bed and breakfast and hostel placements.

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It is not possible to say how long you will be in the property. This depends on your individual circumstances and it can vary a lot between households. If in the meantime you find your own accommodation, you must let us know as soon as possible.

When you sign up for your new home, you will be given a tenancy agreement - you must read it carefully and understand its contents. If there is anything you don’t understand you should contact the Private Leasing Section immediately.

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You must pay rent and other charges on time. The full charge is due on Monday every week and you will be given details of how and where to pay. Payment of rent is part of your tenancy agreement.

If you do not pay the rent, and any other charges for the property you may lose your home. This will also mean that the Council may not move you on to permanent accommodation.

If you have any problems paying your rent it is important to let the rent arrears officers know as soon as possible. You can contact them on 020 8547 5003, or you can write to them at Customer Contact Centre, Guildhall Two, High Street, Kingston KT1 1EU.

If you have a joint tenancy, each tenant is responsible for paying the rent and any other charges owed. Even if one joint tenant leaves, both tenants will still be responsible for the full weekly charges for the property and any rent that is already owed.

If one tenant does leave, changes to tenancy agreements can only be agreed by formal notice. For more details please contact the Private Leasing Section.

You may be entitled to help in paying your rent with Housing Benefit. It is important that you make your claim for Housing Benefit as soon as possible.

You can contact the Housing Benefit Department on 020 8547 5001 or by writing to them at:

Revenue and Benefits Section
Guildhall Two
Kingston
Surrey KT1 1EU

You can also send an e-mail to hsngben@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

It is your responsibility to provide the Housing Benefit Department with proof of your income and any other information they may need to assess your claim. If you have any problems please contact the rent arrears officers on 020 8547 5003.

You will be responsible for all other household bills such as Council Tax - you may be entitled to Council Tax Benefit and if this is the case you should contact the Revenue and Benefits Section as soon as possible on 020 8547 5001.

You will also be responsible for the water rates. The amount you have to pay will be stated on your tenancy agreement. Some properties will have water meters and, where this is the case, the bill will go directly to you.

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Our responsibilities:

We/the private landlord are responsible for keeping the following items in good working order:

• the structure and outside of the building, including drains, gutters and pipes
• all fittings, pipes and connections supplying water, gas and electricity
• all equipment for sinks, baths and toilets
• all equipment that provides heating or hot water.

Unless it is an emergency, we aim to make and keep appointments for all inspections and repairs.

Your responsibilities

You must let the Customer Contact Centre know when a repair that is our responsibility needs to be done. You can report a repair by phoning the Customer Contact Centre on 020 8647 5003 or by writing to:

Customer Contact Centre
Guildhall Two
High Street
Kingston KT1 1EU

If the Customer Contact Centre is closed and the repair is an emergency you should contact the Emergency Out of Hours Service on 020 8547 5003. Call out charges for non-emergency situations will be recharged to you.

Generally the following situations are regarded as an emergency:

• severe flood/bad leak
• dangerous structure
• security risk (such as a broken front door which cannot be secured in any other way)
• total failure of heating (where there is no other form of heating. This only applies to emergency calls made between 1 October to 30 April)
• total failure of electrics (which cannot be fixed using the fuse box trip switch if fitted).

Gas leak - if you smell gas or suspect that you may have a gas leak, contact Transco on Freephone 0800 111 999.

You must keep your home, including its fixtures and fittings, clean and in good condition. You must make sure that other members of your household and people visiting your home do the same.

If you or a member of your household or visitors cause any damage to communal or other areas of your home you will be charged for this.

You must allow our officers and any contractors we authorise into your home at reasonable hours to:

• inspect the state of repair of your home
• carry out any work that may be necessary.

In an emergency you must give our officers, and people we authorise, immediate access to your home. In case of an emergency please make sure that we have an up to date contact number for you.

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All faults must be reported to the Customer Contact Centre by telephoning 020 8547 5003 or in person at the Information and Advice Centre, Guildhall Two, Kingston, KT1 1EU.

A Customer Information Officer will decide who is responsible for repairing the fault. If the landlord is responsible for the repair, we will contact the landlord and make arrangements for the repair, or one of our contractors will contact you. Please note only a morning or afternoon appointment can be offered.

If you are responsible for the repair and a council contractor completes the work you will be charged for this service.

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• You are responsible for the behaviour of all members of your household, including your children and visitors. As well as within your home this also applies to shared parts of the building and the surrounding area.
• You are not allowed to sub-let any part of your home.
• You or any member of your household may not run a business from your home.
• You must live in one property as your only home.

You must keep to the terms of your tenancy and must not disturb your neighbours.

You and any members of your household must not do anything which causes, or is likely to cause, a nuisance or is likely to annoy someone else. We will investigate any complaints of nuisance or harassment and take appropriate action.

Examples of activities which cause nuisance and annoyance include:

• loud music/noise from televisions and radios
• loud music from music systems and musical instruments
• noisy parties
• loud and continuous noises caused by DIY
• shouting and swearing
• door slamming
• dumping rubbish
• vandalism and graffiti
• noisy activities in shared areas
• drunken and anti-social behaviour in public places
• feeding pigeons.

You and any members of your household must not harass or threaten any other person because of race, colour, sex, nationality, religion, age, mental illness, disability, sexuality or for any other reason.

Examples of harassment include:

• violence or threats of violence
• using abusive words or behaviour
• writing abusive graffiti
• damaging property
• stalking any person.

In addition, you and any members of your household:

• Must not use your home or any shared areas for illegal activity such as using drugs, cultivating drugs, drug dealing or prostitution.
• Must not use, or threaten to use, violence by using physical, mental, emotional or sexual abuse against anyone legally entitled to live either in your home or in another of our properties.
• Must co-operate with us and your neighbours to keep any shared areas clean, tidy and clear of obstructions.
• Must not damage or deface our property. You are responsible for paying for any repairs that you or any members of your household cause, or replacing items that you, or they, damage.
• Must not interfere with any security equipment such as door entry systems or closed circuit television equipment. Doors must not be jammed open. Strangers must not be let in without showing identification and having reasonable cause to visit
  the property.
• Must not install a satellite dish or cable TV without our permission.
• Must not assault or threaten any of our employees or agents or anyone else in the building or surrounding area.
• Must only use the property to live in and not for any business or other purpose, unless we, as your landlord, have given you prior written permission. No permission will be granted which would result in a breach of Planning Regulations or cause nuisance or annoyance to neighbours or persons in the locality.
• Must not keep a dog, bird or other animal in your home without our permission (see the Pets section further down the page).
• Must not keep liquid petroleum gas or any other flammable or explosive substance in your home or shared areas. You must not do or keep anything in these areas which might affect our insurance of the property.

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You must ask for our permission in writing if you want to install an automatic washing machine. Please write to:

Customer Contact Centre
Guildhall Two
High Street
Kingston KT1 1EU

Any work will be at your expense and must be done by a professional plumber. You will also be responsible for the cost of reinstating the original plumbing – the washing machine water connections must be professionally capped off on leaving the accommodation. Any leaks or damage caused will be recharged to you.

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You must ask for our permission in writing before you carry out any improvements or alterations to your home. Please write to:

Customer Contact Centre
Guildhall Two
High Street
Kingston KT1 1EU

You must give full details of the work you want to do.

You will also need written permission to decorate any rooms in your home. The Private Leasing Section will let you know if it is possible and what colours you can use. In general they should be light and neutral.

You will be recharged for any alterations that do not meet the general standards.

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If you have any large items of rubbish, you can dispose of them at the Council Recycling/Waste Depot at Villiers Road Civic Amenity Site, Kingston. Do not leave them in the property or in the garden - the cost of taking away any rubbish that is left at the end of your tenancy will be recharged to you. Household rubbish must always be put in any bins provided and disposed of in an appropriate manner. Contact Waste Management on 020 8547 5002 for further information.

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If you are moving into private lease accommodation the gas and electricity boards need 3 clear working days notice of your plans to move. This will give them time to take away any previous debts from their meters. If you do not give them three days notice you may have to pay for the gas/electricity a previous tenant may have used.

As the tenant you are responsible for paying these charges. We advise you take gas and electricity readings at the start of the new tenancy and to take further readings when it ends. If you smell gas or suspect that you have a gas leak, contact Transco on Freephone 0800 111 999.

Useful phone numbers:

• Seeboard Energy Customer Services: Freephone 0800 096 9696
• London Energy Customer Services: Freephone 0800 096 9000
• British Gas Customer Services: 0845 609 1122

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Most of the properties we use do not have any furniture or floor covering in them. We only have to provide a cooker so this means that there may be no fridge, beds, carpets etc. We can refer you to second hand furniture projects such as Shaftesbury and Community Furniture, or alternatively there are a range of charity shops selling second hand furniture. Listed here are two examples:

Princess Alice Hospice
34-36 Old London Road
Kingston
Tel: 020 8547 2710

Mental Aid Project
426/428 Ewell Road
Tolworth
Tel: 020 8399 3136

If there is any furniture or floor covering left in the property it must not be removed without our authority.

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Please do not try to gain access to any garages, sheds or lofts. They are not part of your lease agreement and to use them is trespass.

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Where there is a garden we will arrange for the lawns to be cut four times a year between April-October by a contractor, but it is still your responsibility as tenant of the property to keep gardens in a tidy and manageable condition.

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It is your responsibility to insure your possessions and we strongly recommend that you arrange adequate contents insurance cover. It is the landlord’s responsibility to insure the building.

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No locks to the property are to be changed without first contacting the Private Leasing Section. If permission is granted, you must provide (at your expense) two full sets for the Council.

When you leave the property, all keys must be returned within 24 hours of the end of the tenancy. If the keys are not returned and a lock change is needed, you will be charged the cost of the work. You will continue to be charged rent until the keys are returned.

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Parking facilities vary from property to property. It is your responsibility to keep to any local rules regarding parking in your area.

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Dogs (except for Guide Dogs) are not allowed in private leasing scheme properties. You may be allowed to keep certain pets such as small caged birds, fish in tanks or small caged rodents but you must ask for our permission first. Any pets you have must be kept in clean and hygienic surroundings and must not cause a nuisance to anyone else.

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Removals can be organised and booked for you, using our authorised removals contractor, for a  which needs to be paid in advance.

If you would like us to organise removals for you, contact our Temporary Accommodation Admissions Section on 020 8547 5003 and ask to speak to an Admissions Officer in the first instance and they will provide you with further details.

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If you want to use the telephone you are responsible for paying the bills and any connection/deposit charges.

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The landlord of the property does not have the right of access while you live in the property unless they have made prior arrangements with the Private Leasing Section. If we consider that the landlord’s reasons are justified, we will contact you to agree a time and date for the landlord to visit the property.

Where access is required to carry out works relating to the issue of the landlord’s gas safety certificate, please remember that gas certificates are a legal requirement so appointments must be kept. You will be charged for abortive calls.

When you have settled into the property, a housing officer from the Private Leasing Section may visit you to make sure everything is OK. All Council staff carry ID cards - always ask to see their ID before letting them in the property.

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If you want to end your tenancy you must let the Private Leasing Section know, in writing, at least four weeks before you want it to end. This four week period must end on a Monday.

On the Monday your tenancy ends, you must return your keys including gas cards and electric meter keys to Private Leasing Section, 5-8 Tadlow (Housing Office), Washington Road, Kingston, Surrey KT1 3JL before 12 noon. If you return your keys later than this, we will charge you the full weekly charges for the property until the end of the week in which you return them.

If the Monday your tenancy ends is a Bank Holiday you must return your keys before 12 noon on the Tuesday after the Bank Holiday.

You must take all your belongings and leave the property and fixture and fittings in a reasonable state of repair.  All properties will be inspected at the end of the tenancy.

We will charge you for the cost of removing any belongings that you leave behind, or for any work that needs to be done because you haven't left the property clean and in a good state of repair.

You must not leave anyone occupying the property, for any reason, when you move out. If you do, we will take Court proceedings to remove them from the property and will recover the costs of doing this back from you.

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If you break any of your tenancy conditions we may decide to take steps to end your tenancy.

If you break your tenancy conditions we will serve you with a Notice to Quit. The letter with the Notice will say that the Court will be asked to make an Order for Possession, and will give one reason why the action is being taken. It will also tell you the date after which possession proceedings will start. This will be at least four weeks after the Notice was served.

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You must live in the property as your only or main home.

If you do not do this, for example, if you abandon the property, we will take action to end the tenancy by serving you with a Notice to Quit. This condition gives us the right to serve Notice on the property if you cannot be traced or to serve the Notice on you personally. This will give you at least four clear weeks’ written notice ending on a Monday.

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For enquiries on your tenancy or repairs:

Telephone: 020 8547 5003
Email: housingcontactcentre@rbk.kingston.gov.uk

Office hours:
Monday to Thursday 8.45am to 5.00pm
Friday, 8.45am to 4.45pm

or write to:

Customer Contact Centre
Guildhall Two
High Street
Kingston

Emergency Out of Hours Repairs:
Telephone: 020 8547 5003

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