Below are some of the main points within your tenancy agreement, a more detailed explanation of your rights and responsibilities as a tenant along with the rights and responsibilities of Wigan Council as a landlord will be given when you sign for a property.
Your tenancy
Your tenancy agreement is a written agreement between you and your landlord, Wigan Council, setting your rights and responsibilities. Along with our responsibilities as your landlord, it includes:
- Start date and details of who is signing for the tenancy
- Rent amount and when its due
- Any additional charges
- The type of tenancy, i.e. introductory or secure
- A list of responsibilities, e.g. keeping your home and garden tidy, reporting repairs, paying your rent.
Introductory tenancies
If you are joining Wigan Council as a new tenant, you will be an introductory tenant for the first 12 months. We can extend introductory tenancies for a further 6 months if we are not satisfied with how, the tenancy is being conducted and tenancies can be ended more easily if you break your tenancy conditions, you will be notified of this prior if we have concerns. The tenancy will automatically turn secure after the 12 months, and you will not be required to sign a new tenancy agreement.
Secure tenancies
As a secure tenant, a tenant can normally live in the property for the rest of their life, if they do not break the conditions of the tenancy agreement. Secure tenants also have additional rights, you can mutually exchange your property with another council tenant or tenant of a registered social landlord, further information can be found on Mutual exchange - swapping your home. After a period of three years you can apply to purchase your council property, further information can be found on right to buy.
New tenancy visit
If you are a new tenant of Wigan Council or have transferred properties, a new tenancy visit will normally be undertaken within the first few weeks of you signing for your property. The purpose of the visit is to make sure you are settling in and to address any concerns you may have.
Tenancy fraud
If council tenants are found to commit housing fraud, legal action will be taken against them to take back possession of the property. Your housing officer will carry out periodic tenancy audits. If tenants are found to have committed tenancy fraud it is also likely to prevent their right to council housing in the future and in cases involving illegal subletting this could also lead to criminal proceedings. If you wish to report tenancy fraud please complete our online enquiry form.
Abandoned properties
We recognise that tenants may not be at their home for a period of time, and this may be for a variety of reasons. Our tenancy agreement states that customers must notify us in writing if they intend to be away from home for 28 days or more if you are away from your property for more than 28 days then make sure you let us know by completing our online enquiry form. Where we believe that the tenant(s) may have abandoned a property, we will open an abandoned property investigation.
If you wish to report and abandoned property, please report a council owned housing / tenancy issue.
Taking care of your property and gardens
All tenants are made aware at the start of their tenancy the importance of taking care of their property and garden’s and are also aware of their responsibilities. Tenants must ensure that their property is clean and that any repairs are reported promptly. We will routinely inspect gardens when visiting our estates and whilst visiting your home should we find your property to be in an unacceptable condition we will ask that you bring it back to a reasonable standard.
If you wish to report an untidy garden or council property, please report a council owned housing / tenancy issue.
Pets
Whilst we understand pets are important to many people unfortunately not all our properties are suitable to house them, when available properties are advertised, it will state if pets are not allowed. Generally, if the property is over two storeys high, we will not allow pets. We encourage anyone who is considering applying for a Wigan council property to check the advert prior to bidding. It states in your tenancy agreement that you must advise Wigan council of any animals you are intending to keep at the property this includes assistance dogs. Pets are not allowed in any communal areas and any fouling should be cleared up promptly and must not cause any nuisance or annoyance to neighbours. Pets and animals are discussed in more detail at the sign-up process if you are unsure, please speak with your neighbourhood tenant officer.
If you wish to report an issue regarding pets or animals, please report a council owned housing / tenancy issue.
Alterations and improvements
If you are a secure tenant you are allowed to make alterations to your home, but you must ask for permissions from Wigan Council prior to any works being completed. You will be required to complete an application form detailing the works you wish to complete. If you complete any alterations without prior permission and works are considered unsuitable, a breached planning regulations or unsafe you will be asked to remedy this. Failure to comply will result in legal action being taken against you.
Access
As a landlord we respect the privacy of our tenants, however there are times when Wigan Council are required to access your home to carry out repairs, check the condition and state of repair of the property and to carry out the annual gas service and periodical electrical test to ensure your home is safe. As stated in the tenancy agreement we will aim to give 24 hours notice of these visits unless it is an emergency, failure to allow access could result in Wigan Council seeking an access injunction to allow staff and / or contractor’s access to carry out their duties.