Your responsibilities as a tenant

As a tenant, you are responsible for:

  • living in the property as your main home and paying the rent and any other charges in full when they are due
  • taking care of the property
  • keeping the inside properly decorated, and do any repairs you are responsible for
  • making sure that members of your household, guests, visitors or pets do not cause nuisance or annoy neighbours and behave in a reasonable way
  • making sure there is no harassment or threatening behaviour towards anyone, including our staff and contractors
  • informing us when you are going to be away from your home for more than 4 weeks, for example if you are going into hospital
  • giving us 4 weeks written notice of wanting to move out of the property (except for transfers) and leaving it in good condition when you leave

Find out which repairs you are responsible for.

Permission to make changes to your home

If you would like any changes or modifications to your home, you first need to request permission.

We have created an online form to make the process easier. Once submitted, one of our team will review this and get back to you on whether this has been approved.

Please fill out the form with as much detail as possible to give our team a good idea of the works you’re planning.

NPH’s role in your tenancy

We are responsible for:

  • consulting with you before we make any changes to your tenancy
  • keeping your home in good repair (including internal communal areas and garages)

Types of tenancy

Your Tenancy Agreement may be a secure tenancy or an introductory tenancy (which will be followed by a secure tenancy as long as all tenancy conditions have been met).

If you hold a joint tenancy then both parties are responsible for all of the terms of the tenancy agreement being met, such as paying the rent and not causing a nuisance and annoyance to others. There may be a time when you want us to consider changing your sole tenancy into a joint tenancy with another person. We will consider such requests to include your relationship with the other person, whether they live with you and, if so, how long that has been.

If you want us to consider another person being added to your tenancy then you may request this by emailing neighbourhoods@nph.org.uk with the following details:

  • your name
  • address
  • phone number
  • email address
  • who you would like to add to the tenancy

We will also need the full name, address and contact details for the person you would like to add to the tenancy. We will then contact you to make an appointment.

View your NPH Tenancy Agreement

What is an introductory tenancy?

New tenants will initially be offered an introductory tenancy for 12 months.

If you have an introductory tenancy you must:

  • pay your rent on time
  • look after your home
  • abide by your conditions of your tenancy agreement
  • not behave anti-socially, cause a nuisance or harass other people, our staff or contractors – this includes other household members, guests and visitors.

While you have an introductory tenancy you cannot:

  • buy your home
  • take in lodgers or sub-let part of your home
  • make alterations
  • exchange your home with another tenant (a mutual exchange)

We will monitor your tenancy and if there are no problems in the introductory period, the tenancy automatically becomes secure. If the tenancy is not conducted in a satisfactory manner, because of breaches of tenancy conditions, we can extend your introductory tenancy for a further 6 months or begin proceedings for repossession of your property. This means you could be evicted.

If you have an introductory tenancy and are struggling to pay your rent, it is really important that you talk to us as any level of arrears can lead to the loss of an introductory tenancy.

What is a secure tenancy?

A secure tenancy has no fixed end date and you are entitled to stay in your home for as long as you keep to the terms of your tenancy agreement.

You will have additional rights such as the Right to Buy and being able to exchange your home.

If you are offered a secure tenancy, it will become secure after the introductory period if there has been no breach of tenancy.

If you had a secure or assured tenancy with another council or a housing association immediately before you moved into your current home it is likely you will be given a secure tenancy from the start.

Tenancy fraud

We take tenancy fraud very seriously. Tenancy fraud is illegal and action will be taken against people who are caught abusing the system. In some cases we can take re-possession of the property if there is evidence of fraud.

This includes when a home is occupied by someone who should not be living there or where the tenancy has been obtained fraudulently.

If you suspect someone is committing tenancy fraud, please let us know by emailing tenancyfraud@nph.org.uk. It could make a home available to an individual or family in genuine need.

All information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Types of tenancy fraud

Tenancy Fraud includes:

  • Unlawful Subletting – subletting the whole of the property without the landlord’s permission.
  • Succession Fraud – when someone continues to live in a property after the tenant has died, falsely claiming to have been resident in order to obtain the tenancy.
  • Allocation Fraud – when false information is used on a Housing Application in order to obtain a tenancy.
  • Right to Buy Fraud – when false statements are made in order to purchase a property.
  • Abandonment – when a tenant is no longer living in the property.
  • Key Selling – when a tenant vacates a property and passes on the keys in return for a one off lump sum payment or favour.
  • Unauthorised Mutual Exchanges – when tenants swap properties without the landlord’s permission.

Being a tenant