Living in your home
Decorating
At the start of your tenancy, the home that we offer you will be
decorated to a reasonable standard. We will either have done any
decorating that needed doing or we will give you an allowance so
that you can do the decorating yourself. However, if you and
another tenant exchange homes, you agree to accept the property in
the condition left by the previous tenant. You will be responsible
for any decorating needed to bring the property to a reasonable
standard.
During your tenancy, you must keep the inside of your home clean
and tidy and decorated to a reasonable standard. When you do the
decorating, you must not put polystyrene coverings on ceilings or
artex on walls. You will have to pay any costs that we run up by
putting right damage caused if you do this.
Security
It is our policy to fit all front doors with 5-lever mortise
deadlocks, or another deadlock which provides the same level of
security. Many of our older properties were fitted with less secure
locks. If you have moved into a property which has never been
upgraded, or you have never asked us to upgrade your lock, please
contact us.
However, we cannot fit mortise deadlocks to doors in our
sheltered housing because the resident manager may need to get in
in an emergency. If you live in sheltered housing and are worried
about security, please ask us for advice.
We cannot fit mortise deadlocks to the shared entrance doors of
blocks of flats. Many blocks now have door-entry systems fitted for
extra security. We will fit a door-entry system at any block which
does not already have one so long as at least 75 per cent or
residents agree. We will pay for the cost of the system but we will
get it back over 10 years by adding a small amount to every
resident's service charge each week.
It is also our policy to provide every home with at least one
smoke detector. Some smoke detectors are wired into the mains
electricty supply with a battery for backup in case of a power cut.
Others are powered by batteries and are simply fitted to an
appropriate wall or ceiling.
Both types of smoke detector have a battery and, for obvious
reasons, you must not take the battery out. Also, you must put a
new battery in when the old one runs out.
Fitting carpets
It is important that you consider the care of the floor surfaces
in your home before you have carpets fitted. When you have carpets
fitted, please make sure that they are not glued down because
carpet glue is very hard to get off the floor later. On
floorboards, chipboard or concrete floors, use double-sided tape or
'carpet grippers'. Do not use carpet grippers on tile floors.
We will charge you the cost of repairing any damage caused to
the floor by negligent or careless carpet fitting.
Pets
You must always keep your pets under control. You must always
keep dogs on a lead in shared areas and you must prevent them from
fouling shared areas. You must not let them disturb your neighbours
by barking persistently.
If you have a private garden and let your dog out, you are
responsible for keeping your dog in your garden. Your neighbours
are not responsible for keeping your dog out of their gardens.