Your tenancy agreement is a legal contract between you and us. It sets out the conditions you and we must keep to.

It is an important document so you should read it carefully and keep it safe.

a) Joint tenancy

If two or more names appear on the rent card, you have a joint tenancy. Each person named (joint tenant) is responsible for making sure the rent is paid and the tenancy conditions are kept to.

A joint tenant’s name cannot be taken off the tenancy agreement, and he or she cannot be forced to leave the property, without a court order.

Any joint tenant can end the whole tenancy.

If you currently have a tenancy in your own name and want to add someone to it, please discuss this with your neighbourhood housing officer.

You cannot have a joint tenancy with your children.

b) Types of tenancy

We will tell you, in writing, what type of tenancy you have. It will be:

• a temporary tenancy;
• an introductory tenancy; or
• a secure tenancy.

Temporary tenancy

We offer temporary tenancies to people who are homeless or who are threatened with being homeless.

As a temporary tenant, you do not have the same rights as others.

When you reach the top of the housing list, we will change your tenancy to an introductory one.

If you have a temporary tenancy, we can apply to repossess your home if you:

• break the tenancy agreement; or
• no longer qualify for a temporary tenancy under the rules for homelessness.

Resettlement team

You can get extra help from the Resettlement Team if you are a temporary tenant. They may be able to help you claim Housing Benefit and advise you how to get help from other organisations. To be referred to the Resettlement Team please contact your neighbourhood housing officer or homeless case worker.

Introductory tenancy

If you are on the housing list and you are not already a secure tenant or an assured tenant of a housing association, your tenancy will be an introductory one.

An introductory tenancy runs for 12 months. After this time, if there have been no problems with your behaviour or your rent payments, your tenancy will become a secure tenancy.

Introductory tenants do not have the following rights.

• The right to buy your home.
• The right to exchange your home with another tenant’s home.
• The right to take in lodgers.
• The right to sublet part of your home.
• The right to make improvements to your home.

Most people have no problems during their introductory tenancy. If problems do arise, we will act quickly to deal with them.

If you are having problems, please contact your neighbourhood housing officer to discuss them and get advice.

We will try to find solutions to your problems so you can keep your home. However, you must co-operate with us.

If we hear about a problem with your behaviour we will investigate the matter. If the problem is serious, we will send you a warning letter. If you do not co-operate with us and improve your behaviour, or if the problem is very serious, we will take action to evict you.

The process for evicting introductory tenants is more simple and much quicker than that to evict a secure tenant.

If we decide to take action against you, we will do the following.

• We will send you a notice explaining that we intend to go to court to evict you.
• You will have 14 days to ask for us to review your case.
• If you ask for a review, an independent panel of council officers (and sometimes councillors) will look at your case to make sure we have followed our procedures correctly. You will be able to give your views to the panel.
• If the panel agrees with the eviction, you cannot appeal against their decision.
• We will go to court to get a court order that will allow us to evict you. The court will give us this order if we have followed the correct procedures.

Secure tenancy

As a secure tenant, you can only be evicted if you break the conditions of your tenancy.

We may change the conditions of your tenancy (for example, by increasing your rent), but we must give you notice of any change.

After we have given you notice, we will listen to your views and take them into account when we make a decision on the change.

As a secure tenant, your rights include:

• the right to buy your home;
• the right to exchange your home with that of another tenant;
• the right to make improvements to your home;
• the right to be consulted about matters which affect you;
• the right to take in lodgers; and
• the right for someone to take over your tenancy after your death (the right of succession).

c) The right of ‘succession’

When you die, your tenancy can pass to any of the following people.

• Your husband or wife (as long as they were living with you when you died and it is their only home).
• Any remaining joint tenant.
• A close relative who had lived in your home for at least 12 months when you died.
• Your partner if you were living together as if you were married when you died.

This right of succession only applies to your original tenancy, not to any tenancies that have already been passed on to someone by succession. However, we may grant a further tenancy to someone closely related to the tenant who has died.

For further details, contact your neighbourhood housing officer.

d) Right to buy

If you have been a secure tenant for at least two years, you will probably have the right to buy your home.

If anyone offers to help you buy your home, check what’s in it for them and talk to us before you agree.

For more information on the right to buy, phone our Sales and Development team on 01793 464413, 01793 464414 or 01793 463446, or pick up a leaflet and an application form from Swindon Direct at Wat Tyler House East.

e) Temporary absence

If you are going to be away from your home for more than six weeks, please tell your neighbourhood housing officer. They may be able to keep an eye on your home, and telling us may help you if anything happens while you are away.

If you live in sheltered housing, please tell your warden if you are going to be away for a while.

If you are claiming Housing Benefit, you should let the Benefits Section know you are going to be away.

To help prevent problems when you are away, turn off the gas, electricity and water.

If you can, drain your water pipes or leave the heating on a low setting.

f) Reasons for repossessing your home

We can apply to a court for a court order to repossess your home if:

• you are behind with your rent;
• you have broken any condition of your tenancy agreement;
• you have caused a nuisance;
• you gave false information on your application for housing;
• your home is bigger than you need after you took over the tenancy by succession;
• your home is overcrowded;
• you have not left any temporary accommodation we provided;
• you no longer live in the property;
• we need to develop and improve the property; or
• the accommodation has been adapted to meet a person’s special needs, and nobody in your household has these needs.

If we repossess your home because it has been adapted or so we can redevelop and improve it, we must offer you alternative accommodation.

Before we go to court we must first give you a notice that explains why we intend to repossess your home. The notice will tell you when we intend to go to court and we must apply for the court order in the 12 months after that date.