Rights and Responsibilities (yours and ours)

This section looks in detail at your main obligations as a tenant. Please refer to your copy of the tenancy agreement for more information.

Paying your rent

You must pay your weekly rent in advance together with any other charges for your home. If you would prefer to pay on a fortnightly or monthly basis you must pay in advance. If you have a Walsall tenancy, there are two rent free weeks each year. We will inform our Walsall residents when these rent free weeks take place.

Ending your tenancy

If you want to end your tenancy, you must give us at least four weeks’ notice in writing. You must also make sure that all keys to the property are handed in to Watmos no later than 12 noon on the Monday that your tenancy ends and that no-one is left living in your home (this is called giving ‘vacant possession’). You will be charged rent for your home until the end of the four weeks’ notice period.
If your home is not left in good condition you will be recharged for items damaged beyond normal wear and tear.

Looking after your home

Although Watmos is responsible for most of the repairs in your home, you have a general duty to look after your home, not to cause damage and to report any repairs that need doing promptly. In addition you are responsible for a number of repair and maintenance jobs such as:

• Internal decorations
• Broken glass in windows
• Your own appliances and fixtures and fittings
• Lost keys and lock changes
• Your TV aerials and satellite dishes (you need permission to install a TV aerial or satellite dish)
• Other minor repairs such as replacing light bulbs and fitting plugs and chains to baths and basins

If you, your family or visitors to your home cause damage to Watmos property you will have broken the terms of your tenancy agreement. In these circumstances Watmos will charge you for the cost of putting the damage right and may take legal action in line with our Antisocial Behaviour policy.

Access for Safety Checks and Repairs  

You must allow us access to carry out essential safety checks and repairs that we are responsible for .  

Gardens

If you have your own private garden then you are responsible for keeping it well maintained. Watmos takes responsibility for looking after communal gardens and open spaces on our estates. However, we do encourage all residents to help us in keeping communal areas clean and tidy. For example, some residents have set up gardening clubs to help improve the appearance of their estate.

Off-road parking

You can only park your car on your front garden if you have a properly-constructed hardstanding in place. If you want to provide a hardstanding for your car you must get our written permission. Before we can give permission, you must arrange at your own expense for your local Council to install a dropped kerb. These matters are dealt with by the Highways Section at the Council.

Garages & Parking Spaces

A number of areas (Burrowes Street, Delves East, Ethelred, Metra, Thorlands and Twin Crescents) have garages or car parking spaces available for rent. If you are interested in renting a garage or car parking space, please contact us.

Running a business from home

Most of our homes are not suitable as business premises and if you want to run a business from home you will need to get our permission. In considering an application we will need to consider whether the proposed activity can be reasonably undertaken in a residential area and whether it is likely to cause nuisance to your neighbours.

Pets

You are allowed to keep a reasonable number of normal domestic pets such as dogs and cats, as long as they are well looked after and kept under control. However, you must ask for our permission first. We do not allow you to keep non-domestic pets such as chickens, pigs, horses and goats. You can find more information in our Pets Policy or you can contact us.

Antisocial behaviour and Hate Incidents

Antisocial behaviour is behaviour that causes or is likely to cause, alarm, distress or nuisance to others. Everyone should be able to enjoy peace, quiet and security in their home. As a tenant you must show consideration towards your neighbours and not act in a way that makes life unpleasant for others. You also have an obligation to take reasonable steps to ensure that anyone living with you or visiting you does not act in an antisocial way. Watmos give a very high priority to maintaining a good quality of life on our estates and will take action against residents who cause nuisance or behave in an antisocial way. You can find more information on our antisocial behaviour and hate incidents page

Harassment

Harassment can take many forms and includes deliberately and repeatedly troubling or intimidating others. Your tenancy agreement states that you must not harass anyone and must take reasonable steps to ensure that anyone living with you or visiting you is not involved in harassment.
We will take action if you, anyone who lives with you or visits you is guilty of harassment. This could lead to eviction. All forms of harassment are unacceptable.
If you are suffering from any kind of harassment, please contact us to discuss the issue.

Refuse and rubbish removal

You should not allow rubbish to accumulate in your garden or on any communal areas around your home.
Please make sure that you keep all rubbish properly bagged and leave your bin/bag as appropriate out for collection on the correct day/time. If you live in a multi-story flat, please ensure that you properly bag your rubbish and put it down the chutes provided on each landing. This should only be done between 8.00 am and 8.00pm. Your Council operates a collection service for bulky items that are too large for routine collection.
Your Council may make a small charge for such collections. 

Pest control

If you have a problem with rats, mice, insects or other pests, you should contact your local Council’s Pest Control Team. In some instances there may be a charge but your local Council should tell you this before carrying out any work.

Illegal activity

If you, someone who lives with you or a visitor to your home engages in illegal activity within your estate we may take legal action against you. We work closely with the Council and the Police to ensure that all tenants are able to enjoy a secure home in a peaceful and pleasant environment.

Violence towards staff

You must make sure that neither you, nor anyone who lives with you or visits your home, physically or verbally assaults or threatens any Watmos employees, committee members, contractors or anyone acting on behalf of Watmos.  
Abusive or threatening behaviour will not be tolerated and we will always take further appropriate action.

Tenancy Fraud  

Our Tenancy Policy sets out the types of tenancies that we offer and the circumstances in which we offer them. Most Watmos tenants have an Assured tenancy after an initial period with a Starter tenancy. Your Assured tenancy provides you with a range of rights; some of which are statutory rights (set out in legislation) others are contractual rights (written into the tenancy agreement).  

The Regulator of Social Housing sets out the standards that it expects Registered providers of social housing in England to meet. You can find further information here:  Regulatory standards for landlords - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)  

Some of the most important rights you may have as an assured tenant are:   

Possession  

We will make sure that you have full possession and exclusive use of your home at the beginning of your tenancy.  

Your Right to live in your home  

We will not interrupt or interfere with your right to live in your home peacefully unless:  

• We need access after giving you 24 hours’ notice (except in emergencies) to inspect the condition of your home or to carry out repairs or other work to your home or to other properties nearby  

• We are entitled to possession at the end of your tenancy agreement

• We have a court order to evict you from your home  

• We need access during the last four weeks of your tenancy (e.g. to show your home to a new tenant)   

or  

• We need to check on your safety or welfare if we have reasonable cause for concern  

You have a right to remain a tenant and live in your home as long as you keep to the conditions set out in the tenancy agreement and live in the property as your only or main home.  

As an Assured tenant you have ‘security of tenure ’. This means that we can only evict you in specific circumstances and must satisfy a court that this is reasonable.  

The main circumstances in which you could be evicted include:  

• If you don’t pay your rent or consistently pay it late  

• If you gave a false statement to get your tenancy   

• If you, people living with you or visitors to your home have caused a nuisance to other people or committed criminal offence near to your home  

• If you, people living with you or visitors to your home have been convicted of using your home for illegal purposes  

• If you, people living with you or visitors to your home have caused serious damage to your home or to other Watmos property

• If you have broken other terms listed in your tenancy agreement   

We will always try to work with you to sort the problem out before taking court action.

The right to repair  

The Right to Repair allows you to claim compensation from us, or to carry out certain repairs to your home. You can reclaim costs if we fail to carry out ‘qualifying repairs’ within the given timescales. Qualifying repairs are urgent small repairs which may affect your health, safety or security.  

The right to make improvements  

You have the right to make improvements and alterations to your home , but you must always get our permission first. You must also make sure that you get all other necessary approvals (e.g. planning permission and building regulations approval). Permission will always be on condition that the work is done to an acceptable standard. We will only refuse permission where it is reasonable to do so.  

You may be able to get compensation for the improvements you make if you end your tenancy.   

The right to information  

You have a right to information about what Watmos and how we are performing. Once a year, we will send you an annual report about these matters. In addition, during the year we will keep you informed with newsletters and other communications.  

Personal Information  

The Data Protection Act 2018 gives you the right to make sure that the personal information we hold about you on computer or in certain written records is accurate and up to date. If you would like to view our records containing  personal information about you, this request must be made to us in writing. You can find more information here about data protection and your rights Data Protection | Watmos   

The right to consultation  

You have a right to be consulted on the way that Watmos manages your home and provides housing services. We are committed to involving customers in shaping and developing the services we provide.  
You can find out more about how you can get involved here Getting Involved  

The right to be treated fairly  

We have policies  including our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy to ensure that we treat all customers fairly. However, if we get something wrong, we have a complaints policy and procedure that you can follow. You can find out more on our Comments, Compliments and Complaints page. 

The right to take in lodgers or sublet  

A lodger is someone who is not your dependent but who lives with you as a member of your household and shares the facilities of your home (e.g. the bathroom and the kitchen). You have a right to take in lodgers as long as this does not result in overcrowding , but you must get our written permission first.

Taking in a lodger may affect the benefits you receive. You must let the Council’s Housing Benefit department/Universal Credit know about any changes to your circumstances.  

You cannot let your entire home to someone else. This would be considered to be  tenancy fraud which is a criminal offence and a breach of your tenancy agreement. You can read more on our Tenancy Fraud policy.

You can sublet part of your home with our written permission. We may refuse permission in certain circumstances, for example, if it would cause overcrowding.   

The right to pass on your tenancy  

Sometimes it is possible for a member of your family to take over your tenancy when you die. They take over all the rights and obligations that you had as a tenant. This is called succession. The circumstances where a family member is able to succeed are set out in legislation and in our tenancy agreements and policies. For further information please contact us.  

The right to exchange  

You have a right to exchange your home with another tenant including another Watmos tenant, a Council tenant or a Housing Association tenant. This is called (a ‘mutual exchange’)    
You must always get permission from us before you do this. We can only refuse a mutual exchange for a limited number of reasons that are set out in schedule 2 of your tenancy agreement. Further information can be found here:  Mutual Exchange  

The right to buy  

If you had the right to buy as a secure tenant of Walsall Council or the London Borough of Lambeth before your property transferred to Watmos, you may now have a preserved right to buy your home. In addition, you may also have the preserved right to buy if you:  

• Had the preserved right to buy and moved from a whg home to a Watmos home or had a transfer within Watmos  

• Have taken over your tenancy from a deceased relative who had the right to buy.  

The right to acquire  

If you don’t have a preserved right to buy, as an assured tenant you may have a right to acquire your home under Section 16 of the Housing Act 1996.   

For further information about any of the above rights please  contact us.