Starting your tenancy

This is a legal contract that sets out the terms of your tenancy, making it clear what you are responsible for and what we are responsible for. bpha have different types of tenancy:

• Starter Tenancy
  A 12- 18 month tenancy for all new housing association tenants going into a Retirement Living property, or some types of Supported Housing. This tenancy can be brought to an end without going to court if there are any tenancy breaches.
• Protected Assured Tenancy
  Tenants who lived in a Bedford Borough Council property in 1990 and were transferred to bpha will have a protected assured tenancy. This means they may have preserved rights such as the right to buy.
• Assured Tenancy
  Most housing association tenants up until 2012 have this type of tenancy. It is the most secure kind of tenancy you may have the ‘right to buy’ if you were originally a council tenant.
• Assured Shorthold
  This tenancy is let for an initial period and then runs as a statutory periodic assured shorthold tenancy until either you or we bring it to an end.  Either party can end the tenancy by giving notice as per the tenancy agreement.
• Fixed Term Tenancy
  A 3 or 6 year assured shorthold tenancy given to all new housing association tenants. These include a 12-18 month probationary period. For tenants who have already had a non-converting starter tenancy or a fixed term tenancy, a fixed term tenancy of 2 or 5 years may be offered with no probationary period. Your suitability for the property and the tenancy will be reviewed throughout the term and at the end you will be supported into a different product or given a new fixed term tenancy.

Please keep your tenancy agreement in a safe place as it is your legal agreement. If you have any questions about contact us on 0330 100 2727 or through Mybpha

When the property is ready to let to you, we will make an appointment for you to meet your Home Agent to accept and sign the tenancy agreement. We will meet you at the property, unless another location is more appropriate. We will give you all the keys we have, we do not keep any spare keys for your home.

The property will have been inspected and be in a good state of repair.

Your rent pays for:

• Managing and repairing your home
• Repaying the money we borrow to build new homes
• Our programme of major improvements.

Your service charges pay for services such as:

• Employing a caretaker
• Cleaning shared areas, including windows, and removing dumped rubbish
• Cutting grass and looking after planted areas
• Repairs to shared facilities such as door-entry systems, television aerials and lighting
• Providing and repairing lifts, including the cost of contracts and lift insurance
• Providing fire fighting equipment, including repairing and testing emergency lighting and smoke alarms
• Providing water, electricity and gas supplies to shared areas.

Your rent and service charge payments are your responsibility and you must pay on time and in advance, this means you are paying your rent at the start of the week or month (depending on the type of tenancy you hold) you are in your home not the end.

Your benefits may be paid directly to you and it will be up you to manage the amount you are paid and ensure that your rent is paid to us. If you need any help understanding the payments you receive or how much rent to pay, please contact us.

Paying your rent: see the ways to pay your rent page.

You will receive a rent statement every three months. If you have any query about a statement, we will respond within 10 working days.

How much do I pay?

Your rent is on your rent schedule or your most recent rent review letter. If you want to pay monthly, confirm a payment arrangement or request a direct debit form, please contact us.

In arrears?

Paying your rent is essential, if you don’t you could lose your home so make it your first priority.

If you are in arrears you will receive contact from us telling you how much you owe and when you must pay. Don’t ignore it. Contact us straight away. If you don’t we will follow our arrears policy which means we could evict you from your home after we’ve been to court. You can find out more about how bpha deal with rent arrears here.

We don’t want this to happen that’s why we make it easy for you to pay. We are here to help you, so if you have money worries, contact our Financial Inclusion team who can give you advice on budgeting, debt and welfare benefits. The sooner we know you are having difficulties the easier it will be to resolve the problems and help you stay in your home. The team offers a range of free, confidential assistance including checking you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to and working with you to negotiate payments to your creditors.

Call 0330 100 0272 and ask for our Financial Inclusion Team or see our money advice page for more information.

For information about Universal Credit, visit our page.

Your rent is reviewed no more than once every 52 weeks and usually in April. Your rent can increase or decrease and you will always receive one month’s notice of this.

Whilst there is only one annual rent review, rent changes occasionally result when we improve your home. When this happens your agreement is obtained before the work is carried out and later confirmed with the date the rent change is to take effect.

You are responsible for the Council Tax and utilities at your property at all times. Even if you do not move in on the date the property is signed over to you or you are away for a period of time, you remain responsible for organising supply and for paying all bills at your address.

We will insure the structure of the property, but you will be responsible for insuring your personal contents.

Fire, flood and other disasters place severe financial pressure on people who do not have adequate insurance.

We strongly advise that you arrange to have contents insurance for your personal items, otherwise in the event of damage to your goods or burglary, you could lose all of your personal belongings, i.e. furniture and electrical equipment. bpha will not be responsible for replacing those items.

Information on a contents insurance scheme is available on our page or call us on 0330 100 0272.