Rights and Responsibilities
Your tenancy agreement is the legal contract between Watmos and you.
Find out below about your main rights and responsibilities as a tenant and our rights and responsibilities as your landlord.
Your tenancy agreement is the legal contract between Watmos and you.
Find out below about your main rights and responsibilities as a tenant and our rights and responsibilities as your landlord.
This section looks in detail at your main obligations as a tenant. Please refer to your copy of the tenancy agreement for more information.
You must pay your weekly rent in advance together with any other charges for your home. If you would prefer to pay on a fortnightly or monthly basis you must pay in advance. If you have a Walsall tenancy, there are two rent free weeks each year. We will inform our Walsall residents when these rent free weeks take place.
If you want to end your tenancy, you must give us at least four weeks’ notice in writing. You must also make sure that all keys to the property are handed in to Watmos no later than 12 noon on the Monday that your tenancy ends and that no-one is left living in your home (this is called giving ‘vacant possession’). You will be charged rent for your home until the end of the four weeks’ notice period.
If your home is not left in good condition you will be recharged for items damaged beyond normal wear and tear.
Although Watmos is responsible for most of the repairs in your home, you have a general duty to look after your home, not to cause damage and to report any repairs that need doing promptly. In addition you are responsible for a number of repair and maintenance jobs such as:
If you, your family or visitors to your home cause damage to Watmos property you will have broken the terms of your tenancy agreement. In these circumstances Watmos will charge you for the cost of putting the damage right and may take legal action in line with our Anti-Social Behaviour policy.
You must allow us access to carry out essential safety checks and repairs that we are responsible for .
If you have your own private garden then you are responsible for keeping it well maintained. Watmos takes responsibility for looking after communal gardens and open spaces on our estates. However, we do encourage all residents to help us in keeping communal areas clean and tidy. For example, some residents have set up gardening clubs to help improve the appearance of their estate.
You can only park your car on your front garden if you have a properly-constructed hardstanding in place. If you want to provide a hardstanding for your car you must get our written permission. Before we can give permission, you must arrange at your own expense for your local Council to install a dropped kerb. These matters are dealt with by the Highways Section at the Council.
A number of areas (Burrowes Street, Delves East, Ethelred, Metra, Thorlands and Twin Crescents) have garages or car parking spaces available for rent. If you are interested in renting a garage or car parking space, please contact us.
Most of our homes are not suitable as business premises and if you want to run a business from home you will need to get our permission. In considering an application we will need to consider whether the proposed activity can be reasonably undertaken in a residential area and whether it is likely to cause nuisance to your neighbours.
You are allowed to keep a reasonable number of normal domestic pets such as dogs and cats, as long as they are well looked after and kept under control. However, you must ask for our permission first. We do not allow you to keep non-domestic pets such as chickens, pigs, horses and goats. You can find more information in our Pets Policy or you can contact us.
Anti social behaviour is behaviour that causes or is likely to cause, alarm, distress or nuisance to others. Everyone should be able to enjoy peace, quiet and security in their home. As a tenant you must show consideration towards your neighbours and not act in a way that makes life unpleasant for others. You also have an obligation to take reasonable steps to ensure that anyone living with you or visiting you does not act in an antisocial way. Watmos give a very high priority to maintaining a good quality of life on our estates and will take action against residents who cause nuisance or behave in an antisocial way. Click here to find out more.
Harassment can take many forms and includes deliberately and repeatedly troubling or intimidating others. Your tenancy agreement states that you must not harass anyone and must take reasonable steps to ensure that anyone living with you or visiting you is not involved in harassment.
We will take action if you, anyone who lives with you or visits you is guilty of harassment. This could lead to eviction. All forms of harassment are unacceptable.
If you are suffering from any kind of harassment, please contact us to discuss the issue.
You should not allow rubbish to accumulate in your garden or on any communal areas around your home.
Please make sure that you keep all rubbish properly bagged and leave your bin/bag as appropriate out for collection on the correct day/time. If you live in a multi-story flat, please ensure that you properly bag your rubbish and put it down the chutes provided on each landing. This should only be done between 8.00 am and 8.00pm. Your Council operates a collection service for bulky items that are too large for routine collection.
Your Council may make a small charge for such collections.
If you have a problem with rats, mice, insects or other pests, you should contact your local Council’s Pest Control Team. In some instances there may be a charge but your local Council should tell you this before carrying out any work.
You can contact your local council here:
If you, someone who lives with you or a visitor to your home engages in illegal activity within your estate we may take legal action against you. We work closely with the Council and the Police to ensure that all tenants are able to enjoy a secure home in a peaceful and pleasant environment.
You must make sure that neither you, nor anyone who lives with you or visits your home, physically or verbally assaults or threatens any Watmos employees, committee members, contractors or anyone acting on behalf of Watmos .
Abusive or threatening behaviour will not be tolerated and we will always take further appropriate action .
You must not commit tenancy fraud. Tenancy fraud is a criminal offence that can lead to a fine and a prison sentence.
Tenancy fraud can be committed in different ways, but the most common offences are:
Subletting
Not being truthful to get a tenancy/ providing false information
Key Selling
Not living in the property
Tenancy Fraud is not a victimless crime. If you think someone maybe committing tenancy fraud , please report it to us in confidence and we will investigate.
You can read our Tenancy Fraud policy here
Most Watmos tenants have an Assured tenancy after an initial period with a Starter tenancy. Your Assured tenancy provides you with a range of rights; some of which are statutory rights (set out in legislation) others are contractual rights (written into the tenancy agreement).
The Regulator of Social Housing sets out the standards that it expects Registered providers of social housing in England to meet. You can find further information here: Regulatory standards for landlords - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Some of the most important rights you may have as an assured tenant are:
We will make sure that you have full possession and exclusive use of your home at the beginning of your tenancy.
Your Right to live in your home
We will not interrupt or interfere with your right to live in your home peacefully unless:
We need access after giving you 24 hours’ notice (except in emergencies) to inspect the condition of your home or to carry out repairs or other work to your home or to other properties nearby
We are entitled to possession at the end of your tenancy agreement
We have a court order to evict you from your home
We need access during the last four weeks of your tenancy (e.g. to show your home to a new tenant)
or
We need to check on your safety or welfare if we have reasonable cause for concern
You have a right to remain a tenant and live in your home as long as you keep to the conditions set out in the tenancy agreement and live in the property as your only or main home.
As an Assured tenant you have ‘security of tenure’. This means that we can only evict you in specific circumstances and must satisfy a court that this is reasonable.
The main circumstances in which you could be evicted include:
If you don’t pay your rent or consistently pay it late
If you gave a false statement to get your tenancy
If you, people living with you or visitors to your home have caused a nuisance to other people or committed criminal offence near to your home
If you, people living with you or visitors to your home have been convicted of using your home for illegal purposes
If you, people living with you or visitors to your home have caused serious damage to your home or to other W at mos property
If you have broken other terms listed in your tenancy agreement
We will always try to work with you to sort the problem out before taking court action.
The Right to Repair allows you to claim compensation from us, or to carry out certain repairs to your home. You can reclaim costs if we fail to carry out ‘qualifying repairs’ within the given timescales. Qualifying repairs are urgent small repairs which may affect your health, safety or security.
You have the right to make improvements and alterations to your home, but you must always get our permission first. You must also make sure that you get all other necessary approvals (e.g. planning permission and building regulations approval). Permission will always be on condition that the work is done to an acceptable standard. We will only refuse permission where it is reasonable to do so.
You may be able to get compensation for the improvements you make if you end your tenancy.
You have a right to information about what Watmos and how we are performing. Once a year, we will send you an annual report about these matters. In addition, during the year we will keep you informed with newsletters and other communications.
The Data Protection Act 2018 gives you the right to make sure that the personal information we hold about you on computer or in certain written records is accurate and up to date. If you would like to view our records containing personal information about you, this request must be made to us in writing. You can find more information here about data protection and your rights Data Protection | WATMOS
You have a right to be consulted on the way that Watmos manages your home and provides housing services. We are committed to involving customers in shaping and developing the services we provide.
You can find out more about how you can get involved here Getting Involved
We have policies including our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy to ensure that we treat all customers fairly. However, if we get something wrong, we have a complaints policy and procedure that you can follow. You can find out more here .
A lodger is someone who is not your dependent but who lives with you as a member of your household and shares the facilities of your home (e.g. the bathroom and the kitchen). You have a right to take in lodgers as long as this does not result in overcrowding , but you must get our written permission first.
Taking in a lodger may affect the benefits you receive. You must let the Council’s Housing Benefit department/Universal Credit know about any changes to your circumstances.
You cannot let your entire home to someone else. This would be considered to be tenancy fraud which is a criminal offence and a breach of your tenancy agreement. You can read our Tenancy Fraud policy here .
You can sublet part of your home with our written permission. We may refuse permission in certain circumstances, for example, if it would cause overcrowding.
Sometimes it is possible for a member of your family to take over your tenancy when you die. They take over all the rights and obligations that you had as a tenant. This is called succession. The circumstances where a family member is able to succeed are set out in legislation and in our tenancy agreements and policies. For further information please contact us.
You have a right to exchange your home with another tenant including another Watmos tenant, a Council tenant or a Housing Association tenant. This is called (a ‘mutual exchange’)
You must always get permission from us before you do this. We can only refuse a mutual exchange for a limited number of reasons that are set out in schedule 2 of your tenancy agreement. Further information can be found here: Mutual Exchange
If you had the right to buy as a secure tenant of Walsall Council or the London Borough of Lambeth before your property transferred to Watmos, you may now have a preserved right to buy your home. In addition, you may also have the preserved right to buy if you:
Had the preserved right to buy and moved from a whg home to a Watmos home or had a transfer within Watmos
Have taken over your tenancy from a deceased relative who had the right to buy.
If you don’t have a preserved right to buy, as an assured tenant you may have a right to acquire your home under Section 16 of the Housing Act 1996.
For further information about any of the above rights please contact us.
We will make sure that you have full possession and exclusive use of your home at the beginning of your tenancy.
Your right to live in your home
We will not interrupt or interfere with your right to live in your home peacefully unless:
We need access after giving you 24 hours’ notice (except in emergencies) to inspect the condition of your home or to carry out repairs or other work to your home or to other properties nearby
We are entitled to possession at the end of your tenancy agreement
We have a court order to evict you from your home
We need access during the last four weeks of your tenancy (e.g. to show your home to a new tenant)
or
We need to check on your safety or welfare if we have reasonable cause for concern
We will keep the structure and outside of your property in good repair including external decorations on a planned programme . However, we are not responsible for any repair or replacement needed because of damage to or neglect of your home caused by you, anyone living with you or your visitors.
We will repair and maintain any installations we have provided for heating, water heating and sanitation and for supplying water, gas and electricity. We are not responsible for any repair or replacement needed because of damage to or neglect of your home caused by you, anyone living with you or your visitors.
We will take reasonable care to repair and maintain any shared facilities including lifts, stairways, halls, shared lighting, rubbish chutes and any other shared areas.
Apart from general repairs for which you are responsible we will carry out all repairs within reasonable timescales. You can find further information here .
We must comply with the regulatory standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing. You can find more information here
When dealing with complaints we must comply with the Complaint Handling Code set by the Housing Ombudsman. You can find out more here
We will comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 2018 & the UK Data Protection Act .
We will provide the services agreed with you. We will consult with you and take your views into about significant changes to our services .
We will insure your home (the building not the fixtures and fittings) for a sum we feel is appropriate . Please note that we do not insure your furniture and personal provisions. We would encourage you to take out con tents insurance for this. Watmos is part of a tenant contents insurance scheme. Our staff can provide you with more information about this, alternatively you can find out more here whg Home Contents Insurance 24.pdf 413KB
We can end your tenancy but only by getting a court order using specific reasons clearly listed in your tenancy agreement. The main reasons are:
If you do not pay your rent or you consistently pay it late
If you, or anyone living with you or visiting your home, have been causing a nuisance or annoying others
If you deliberately made false statements in order to get the tenancy
If you, or anyone living with you or visiting your home, have broken or failed to perform any one or more of the conditions of tenancy
If your tenancy stops being an assured tenancy, we may end it by giving you four weeks’ notice in writing. For example, the tenancy may stop being an assured tenancy if you are no longer living in the property as your only or main home.
In addition to or instead of taking possession proceedings against you, we can get an injunction which is a court order for you to keep to, or to stop you breaking your obligations under your tenancy agreement.
Our employees or agents acting for us may enter your home to undertake essential works. We will normally give you reasonable notice, except in emergencies where we may have to gain entry to your home immediately. If you do not allow access to your home in an emergency, we may enter your home using force if this is necessary. We also have a right to enter your home to carry out improvements.