Notice Period
We need at least four full weeks notice in writing to terminate a Council tenancy as stated in your Tenancy Agreement either by completing a Notice To Quit or a signed letter providing a forwarding address.
The notice period ends on a Sunday and all keys must be returned on the Monday following before noon. You do have the option to withdraw your notice before the tenancy end date, however, we may have already advertised your property on our CBL system. Any offers made on your property will be withdrawn.
Pre-Termination Visit
To enable us to re-allocate the property as quickly as possible, it would be helpful if you would let us have a date and time (during office hours) when a member of staff could complete a pre-termination visit.
This will help to ensure that you are not held responsible for any damage, which may occur after you have left if a dispute should arise about when damage took place. We will discuss your rent account and explain what you need to do before you leave the property.
Condition of Property and Garden
When you are due to leave your property, all household furniture, rubbish, carpets and your own white goods should be removed from the property, attic, garden and shed/outhouse and all should be left in a clean and tidy condition. There will be a charge if we have to arrange to remove any items before it can be re-let. You are strongly advised to arrange the removal yourself with the Bulk Waste Collection by ringing 01325 388777.
You must repair or replace any parts of your home that have been damaged while you have lived there. We will charge you if you do not make these repairs.
If you have rented a white goods package, please let us know you have left all the goods in the property when you hand in your keys.
Don't forget to take meter readings and advise your energy suppliers, turn the water off at the stopcock and close the windows and lock the outside doors.
You may qualify for a Golden Goodbye if you have conducted a good tenancy and kept to the conditions of your Tenancy Agreement.
Decoration Allowance
If you are leaving the property and moving into another council property owned by us, your previous address will be assessed for a decorating allowance, which will be given to the incoming tenant.
Please note any allowances awarded will be deducted from a decoration allowance awarded to your new property.
Rent
If you leave your property and give us back the keys before your four weeks notice ends, you may still be charged rent up until the end of your notice.
If you have paid rent up until the end of your notice and have handed in your keys, and we re-let the property out in the meantime, you will be offered a partial rebate.
Housing Benefit
If you are an existing council house tenant and you move to another council house within the Borough, Housing Benefit will be paid to the Sunday on your old address and start from the Monday on your new address. There will be no break in your entitlement for your Housing Benefit.
Should you leave your tenancy and move to another address, which is not a local authority property, your Housing Benefit will end on the day that you move out, however it is important that you note that full rent will be due until the Sunday.
For example:
You get a new privately rented property and decide to move on a Wednesday, your Housing Benefit will end on the Wednesday, but full rent will be charged until the Sunday following your move.
There are no changes to tenants terminating their tenancies due to going into care, moving out of the Borough or through their death.
If you wish to discuss this further please contact Customer Services on 01325 388542.
Keys
All keys must be returned after noon on the Monday following the termination date, rent will be charged up to and including the Sunday following their receipt. This includes front and back door keys, window keys, any shed keys, keys for shared gates, and any fobs. If we have to change the locks because you have not returned your keys/fobs we will charge you for this.
All keys should be handed in to Customer Services at the Town Hall. Keys should be labelled with the property address and any garages keys should be labelled separately.
Compensation for improvements
If you have obtained written permission for improvements you have undertaken at the property after 1st April 1994, you may be eligible for compensation. If you wish to make a claim you will be required to complete a Compensation for Tenant Improvement Scheme form [pdf document].
Claims must be made between 28 days before and 14 days after your tenancy ending. If you have made any unauthorised or unsatisfactory alterations to your accommodation you may be charged if we have to put them right.
Joint Tenancies
If you are joint tenants, any one of you can end the tenancy by giving four weeks notice. We do not legally have to allow the other joint tenant to stay in the home, this would depend on circumstances and whether the property could be more suitable for another type of household. Your tenancy would not be ended without good reason.
Download a copy of the tenancy termination agreement [24kb pdf document]
Death of tenant
Housing Benefit stops immediately when a tenant dies. Full rent will be charged until the person dealing with the deceased's estate hands in the keys for the property.
We will need the details of the next of kin, the address of the person dealing with the deceased tenants affairs and the date the keys will be handed in.
When a tenant dies, the tenancy may pass to a spouse or partner if they lived in the property at the time of death. If there is not a joint tenant, the home may be taken over by another member of the family as long as he or she has lived in the home for at least 12 months immediately before the tenant's death. This is called a ‘succession of tenancy’. Please note by law, a second succession is not possible.
The home may not be suitable for the person who ‘succeeds’ to the tenancy. For example, it may be too big for them or it may be adapted for a person with disabilities. If this is the case, we may offer alternative accommodation.