Ending your tenancy
12.1 If we want to end your tenancy
12.1.1
If you are a secure tenant and occupying your home, we must first serve you with a Notice of Seeking Possession telling you why we want to evict you. Your tenancy can only be ended if
- we prove one of the grounds for possession in the Housing Act 1985, and
- the court considers our actions reasonable and awards a possession order.
12.1.2
If we believe you have abandoned the property or stopped using it as your main or only home, your tenancy will no longer be secure and we will give you four weeks’ written notice to end your tenancy (Notice to Quit).The tenancy will stop at the end of the four weeks.
12.1.3
If you move out of the home without telling us, we will treat the home as abandoned. We have to serve a Notice to Quit before ending the tenancy. We will charge you full rent for the 28 days. Your tenancy will then end.
12.1.4
Abandoning the home could mean you may not be entitled to another home with us – for example, if you owe rent arrears or have damaged the property.
12.1.5
We may store any furniture and belongings taken from your home, for a limited period or until you make arrangements to move them. We may charge you for this storage. We will try to contact you to arrange for you to collect the belongings. If we cannot contact you, or if you do not collect the belongings, we may sell them and use any money we get towards any of your unpaid rent or other charges, or we may otherwise dispose of them.
12.1.6
We can serve any notice, including Notice to Quit, by leaving it at your home or sending it by post to your last-known address. We will assume you have received all notices within 72 hours if we posted them, or within 24 hours if they were delivered by hand.
12.1.7
We can move you out of your home temporarily when we need to carry out redevelopment or major work to the property.
12.1.8
If you are an introductory tenant, we must first serve a Notice to Terminate before we can end your tenancy. You have the right to ask us to review the decision to seek possession within certain timescales, which the notice will state. As long as we follow the correct procedures, the court must award us possession.
12.2 If you want to end your tenancy
12.2.1
You must give us at least four weeks’ written notice, ending on a Monday. In a joint tenancy, one of the joint tenants can end the tenancy by giving us four weeks’ written notice. If you do not give proper notice, you will continue to be responsible for the rent and other payments.
12.2.2
You must pay all rent and other charges up to the date your tenancy ends.
12.2.3
You must return all keys for the property to us before 12 noon on the date the tenancy ends (called the termination date). If we do not receive your keys on time, you will be responsible for further rent and for any damage that happens because you have left the property unsecured.
12.2.4
You must give us access before the termination date to allow us to inspect your home.
12.2.5
You must leave your home in a clean and tidy condition. You must make good any damage to your home before you leave. If you do not do so, you will be responsible for the cost of repairing any damage.
12.2.6
You must make sure all fittings and fixtures you have installed and are leaving in place are in good working order.
12.2.7
You must replace with our original fittings all fittings and fixtures you have installed and are removing from the home. You must make good any damage before you leave. If you do not, we will carry out the work and charge you for doing so.
12.2.8
You must not allow anyone to remain in the property when your tenancy ends. If you do, we will evict them as they will be living there illegally.
12.2.9
You must remove all your possessions from the property. You must also remove rubbish from inside and outside the property. If you leave any belongings or rubbish in the property at the end of your tenancy, we will assume you don’t want them and will dispose of them. We will charge you if we have to clean the property or remove any rubbish.
12.2.10
You must leave at the property all furniture you rent from us. If there is any damage to the furniture, we will charge you for the repairs. If any furniture is missing, we will treat this as theft and report it to the police.
12.2.11
If you are a joint tenant, the whole tenancy will end if you or the other joint tenant ends the tenancy.
12.3 Termination of the tenancy on death
When a sole tenant dies, the tenancy ends on the Monday following their death. We will always allow representatives and relatives reasonable time to clear the property of furnishings and belongings, but we will charge for any time the property takes to clear.
12.4 Letting your home if you decide to leave
We may ask you to allow us reasonable access to show potential tenants around your home during your notice period. We may advertise your home before you leave it.