Tenant Responsibilities-How to care for your home

Tenant responsibilities are important to remember once you have moved into your new home, especially if you want to get the most out of your tenancy. Please follow the guidelines below to ensure that your property remains in good condition and no fees will be charged as a result.

Things to do when you move in 

1. Report any damages within 48 hours

*Please send any requests or issues to us by email. Please note that we have 30 days from the move in date to address these issues. (see point 4.32 of contract).

2. Inform utility suppliers that you have moved in and provide meter readings

*If you are unsure of your supplier please call the Meter Point Administration Service on 0800 326 5524

 Tenant responsibilities: 

• relighting a boiler pilot light
• light bulb replacement
• replacement of smoke detector and doorbell batteries
• hoover belt and bag replacement
• blocked sinks and drains
• replacement of plug fuses
• refuse removals
• cleanliness of outside space
• maintaining adequate ventilation is important, most of all in the kitchen and bathroom due to the moisture sources

Please remember that it is your responsibility to keep the property in an acceptable state of cleanliness and repair. We carry out periodic inspections to enforce this and you will be charged for any professional cleaning or maintenance required.

Anti social behaviour and noise disturbance is not tolerated and therefore excessive noise is a breach of the tenancy agreement.

For more information please take a look at our other blog posts on Tenant Responsibilities.

Looking after your home

The law implies a condition into every tenancy agreement that the tenant must use their home in a ‘tenant-like’ way. This applies whether you have a written or an oral tenancy agreement.

Using your home in a tenant-like way generally means:

• doing minor repairs yourself, such as changing fuses and light bulbs
• keeping your home reasonably clean
• not causing any damage to the property and making sure your visitors don’t cause any damage
• using any fixtures and fittings properly, for example, not blocking a toilet by flushing something unsuitable down it.

Your tenancy agreement may also set out some express terms on what your responsibilities are for repairs, for example, that you are responsible for decorating your home.

Your landlord cannot include a term in your agreement that would pass on any of their repair responsibilities to you, for example, that you are responsible for repairs to the roof. This type of term would not have any force in law.

Where to go for help
The Tenancy Agreement Service is a great resource with plenty of information on tenant and landlord responsibilities. For advice on what to if you cause damage to the property the Citizens Advice website is helpful. Or if you want to know more about taking care of a property the Shelter website can be very useful.