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What you must do as a tenant

There are a number of conditions that you must stick to as one of our tenants.

While you have a number of rights, you also have a number of responsiblities. If you do not carry out your tenancy in a responsible manner, we will take action against you. This could lead to eviction.

A summary is given below.

Your rent

• Rent is due every week on the Monday and you must pay it on time. You can do this every week, fortnight or monthly as long as you pay up to date. You can also pay an amount off your arrears at this time.
• We will give you four weeks' notice if we intend to change the amount of rent you have to pay. This is separate from any changes that may happen if you are claiming housing benefit.

More information on your rent is given in the section called 'paying your rent'.

Housing or council tax benefit

• you must tell the benefit secion of Nottingham City Council immediately if any of your circumstances change as this may affect your entitlement to benefit.

More information on housing and council tax benefit is on Nottingham City Council's website.

Repairs

• you must tell the repairs contact centre (0115 915 2222) as soon as you need a repair doing to stop it from becoming a bigger problem if unreported
• if the repair is needed because of some damage you have caused, you will be charged for the work
• you are responsible for doing some minor repairs to your home

More information on your repairs is given in the section called 'your repairs'.

Access to and conduct in your home

• you must allow our staff and contractors into your home to carry out repairs, the yearly gas service and interviews. You must also let staff from utility companies such as gas and water into your home
• you must not smoke in your home when anyone is carrying out work
• damage to your home will be recharged
• you cannot run a business from your home unless you get written permission from us. We will not unreasonably refuse, but if we think that the business may cause nuisance to other residents such as extra noise, extra parking of cars, deliveries at unreasonable times, we may refuse
• do not allow your home to be overcrowded by allowing other people to come and live there
• your home must be your only place of residence. You need to tell us if you intend to be away from your home for 28 days or more. If you do not, we may think that your home has been abandonded and serve a notice to quit
• you must not let your family or visitors to your home cause any kind of nuisance or annoyance to anyone living nearby. More about this is explained in our section on anti-social behaviour
• you must not let your family or any visitors to your home take or deal in any drugs. More about this is explained in our section on anti-social behaviour
• clean up after your pets both inside and outside your home. This incudes your garden and anywhere outside your home, for example, pavements. Do not allow them to disturb your neighbours and do not mistreat them.

Decoration and cleanliness inside and outside your home

• you must keep the inside of your home clean and tidy. You are responsible for decoration and painting
• you must keep all hedges clipped to a maximum of 1.8 m (6 ft) at the back and 1.4m (4 ft 6 inches) at the front. Both sides of your hedge must be cut if it borders onto of alleyway
• you must mow your lawns and keep the plants tidy. If you cannot do this, please contact your patch manager at your local housing office who will be able to give you advice on how to get this done. You may qualify for the garden assistance scheme if you are elderly and/or disabled
• you must use the appropriate bin to get rid of household and garden waste and not put items such as syringes in them. These need to be disposed of in the proper way
• you must not use your garden as a dumping ground for old furniture, car parts or anything else that would not normally be there. Take them to the local tip, put small items in your bin or call Nottingham City Council's refuse section who will remove them for a small charge. If you leave large items in your garden, you may be charged for their removal if they have been there for a long time.

There are extra conditions if you live in a flat