Tenancy agreement

Plymouth City Council has varied the terms and conditions for residential tenancies with effect from 30 May 2005.

The new tenancy agreement can be viewed in the documents below. Individual sections of the agreement can be viewed by following the links on the right.

What is a tenancy agreement?

Your tenancy agreement is a legally binding contract between you and Plymouth City Council. It sets out the rights and responsibilities of both of us.

Some of your rights and responsibilities are set by law. For example, as a secure tenant, you may have the right to:

• pass on your tenancy when you die (succession)
• exchange your home with another tenant
• buy your home
• repair your home if we fail to do so
• improve your home
• be consulted
• take in lodgers
• sub-let part of your home

If you have an introductory tenancy, you do not have certain rights including the right to exchange, buy, sub-let, take in lodgers, to improve your home, or to vote prior to transfer to a new landlord.

If you have an introductory tenancy, your agreement will show when the tenancy will end. Your introductory tenancy is a trial period. You must show us that you are responsible enough to keep the property. To do this you must:

• not behave anti-socially, cause a nuisance or harass other people
• pay your rent on time
• look after the property

Unless we take action to end your introductory tenancy, you will automatically become a secure tenant on the date written on the agreement.

If you have an introductory tenancy, we can end the tenancy only if we get a court order. A notice of termination of tenancy will need to be served before any legal action can begin. You can ask the Council to review their decision to end your tenancy, but if that fails, the Council will apply to the court to end your introductory tenancy - the court will grant the order providing the proper procedure has been followed.

If you are transferring from another Plymouth City Council property as a secure tenant or if you are transferring as an assured tenant of a registered social landlord, such as a housing association, your tenancy will be secure straight away; you will not have to be an introductory tenant.

If you have a secure tenancy, we can end the tenancy only if we get a court order (known as a possession order). The reasons we can get this type of order are set by law. A notice seeking possession will need to be served before any legal action can begin to end your tenancy.

If you are a joint tenant, you have the same rights and obligations as the other joint tenant or (tenants). Your rights and responsibilities cannot be split or shared between you. If one of you breaks the tenancy agreement it affects all joint tenants. If one joint tenant gives notice to end the tenancy, it ends for all of you.

Your tenancy starts on the date set out in your tenancy agreement. It continues from week to week until you or we end it.

As long as you pay your rent and keep to your tenancy agreement and these conditions, we will not normally ask the court for a possession order, unless, for example, we need to move you to redevelop your home.

Your Council tenancy must be your only or main home. If you have or acquire another home, you may stop being a secure tenant and we can ask the court for a possession order so we can evict you.

Documents

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Tenancy agreement - effective 30 May 2005. File format Adobe Acrobat (pdf) - 997KB

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