Page 4, 5 - July 2023
Our tenant charter
Our vision for the housing service is:
To create an excellent, digitally enabled service that is easy to deal with and where tenants are at the heart of everything we do.
As your landlord, we will:
- Provide you with a safe and secure home. We will aim to respond to all reasonable repair requests in an appropriate time frame and we will treat health and safety issues as a priority.
- Provide you with a good quality home and keep it in a good state of repair. We will also look to invest in and improve our neighbourhoods through environmental improvement programmes and regular surveying for modernisation, repair and compliance work.
- Be open and honest about how we are performing. We will publish our performance data quarterly, which will include how well we are doing on repairs, complaints and health and safety. We will report annually on where your rent money is being spent.
- Deal promptly and fairly with any complaints you make. If we can’t resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, we will tell you how you can access the Housing Ombudsman Service.
- Treat you with respect as a valued customer. We actively work towards improved consumer standards for our tenants.
- Give all tenants a range of ways to have your voices heard and be able to hold us to account as your landlord. This includes our website, social media, face-to-face meetings, forums and panels. We will also send you newsletters and bulletins to update you on things that affect you as a tenant.
In return, we ask you to:
- Pay your rent and any service charges on time, and let us know if you are struggling to do this and need any help or advice.
- Use the property as your main home and not sublet it.
- Keep us informed about who lives in your home.
- Make sure you, your family and visitors don’t cause a nuisance or harass your neighbours.
- Report any anti-social behaviour to us so we can deal with it promptly
- Look after your home and carry out any repairs you are responsible for – this includes keeping your home in a good state of decoration
- If you have a garden keep it well maintained
- Tell us about any repairs or faults we are responsible for as soon as you are aware of them
- Let us into your home to carry out important health and safety checks such as gas and electrical safety which we are legally required to carry out. Also let us in for repairs and inspections so we can make sure you are safe in your home.
- Dispose of your rubbish in the correct bins for recycling, food, residual (landfill) and garden waste, or take large items to a Household Waste Recycling Centre.
- Ask for our permission to keep a pet, and look after it responsibly.
- Ask for our permission if you want to run a business from your home
- Tell us if you are going to be away from home for an extended period of time, otherwise we might think you have abandoned the property
- Give us at least four weeks’ notice in writing if you want to end your tenancy. You must leave the property in good condition and make sure you have a clear rent account before you move out.
The tenant charter summarises your tenancy agreement by setting out our promises to you and what we ask in return.
To get this right, we worked with the Strategic Tenant Advisory Panel and staff across the housing service on what should be included. We have used their feedback to create this charter.
In particular, we’d be really grateful if you could help us keep your home well maintained by reporting any repairs we are responsible for as soon as you become aware of them. Please also make sure any repairs you are responsible for are done promptly.
You can find all the information you need about your tenancy, including your rights and responsibilities and what the council is responsible for, at folkestone-hythe.gov.uk/council-tenancy.
Need to report a repair?
Please contact the following to report any repairs:
Call 0800 313 4740 for Mears day-to-day repairs or email housing.service@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk to book an inspection with your neighbourhood surveyor.