How do I become a tenant or leaseholder with Atlantic Housing Ltd?

AHL works in partnership with local Councils and many other statutory, voluntary and local agencies in meeting housing needs. We do not have a waiting list and to access one of our social rental properties you will need to use the Homechoice scheme in Eastleigh or be nominated by your local Council elsewhere. If you are already one of our tenants you can apply for a transfer. Once registered on HomeChoice, applicants bid for vacant accommodation, which is advertised.. Details are also available on www.eastleighhomechoice.co.uk.

Properties on HomeChoice specify which type of applicant may bid for the vacancy. Details concerning the types of property applicants are eligible for and the way in which housing is let can be found in our Allocations Policy which is available by contacting our Customer Service Team on 023 8068 4300.

Although the majority of properties we own are let as affordable housing to people qualifying for a social housing tenancy, we also have Home Ownership and Market Renting properties for sale on a shared ownership/leasehold basis, or let privately on a market rented basis for . If you are interested in finding out more please contact our Private Initiatives Team on 023 8068 4359.

How do I report repairs?

You can report repairs for your home on the Repairs And Maintenance section of this Website, or by calling the freephone repair line number 0800 214806. Outside of office hours, you will receive a recorded message on this number with a telephone number to call in emergencies.

I am having difficulty paying my rent – is there any help available?

If you ever need to discuss your payments, require further details or are having difficulties in paying, please contact our Income recovery team on 02380 684347 or your local estate manager and we will do our best to help you solve any problems at an early stage.

Amongst many other agencies we have close links with, AHL’s EAST team can offer impartial, confidential advice and support to help you maintain your tenancy.

I am disabled and need some adaptations to my property – can you help?

If you, or someone living in your home is disabled, AHL may be able to undertake minor adaptations to your home, or you may qualify got a disabled facilities grant towards the costs.

Contact your local estate manager for more information.

What sort of tenancy do I have?

When you move into one of the homes owned by us you sign an agreement, which sets out rules and responsibilities relating to the occupation of the home. This will normally be a tenancy agreement or a licence agreement. Please refer to your agreement, to see which you have signed, because rights and obligations may vary. Summaries of the tenancies we issue are as bellow:

1. Protected Tenancy
   These tenancies are only held by those tenants who were tenants of Eastleigh Borough Council prior to the housing stock being transferred and who have remained as our tenants. Protected tenants are assured tenants, but as part of their tenancy have certain rights preserved under contract.These include the right-to-buy certain types of property.
2. Assured Tenancy
   Most of our long-term tenants will have an assured tenancy. If we took over your home from another landlord, your tenancy agreement may have slightly different terms to those contained in our standard tenancy. If you have an assured tenancy you will not have the right-to-buy, although you may qualify for the right-to-acquire.
3. Assured Shorthold Tenancy
   Assured shorthold tenancies are granted to tenants living in market rental accommodation or accommodation where short term lets are granted. In general, assured shorthold tenants do not have the same rights as an assured tenant. These tenancies run for a fixed period of not less than six months and you will receive a notice advising that the tenancy ends after this period.The tenancy can be re-issued for longer periods in some, but not all, cases, subject to tenancy conditions. In addition, some tenants of blocks, not owned by us, may have assured shorthold tenancies.
4. Licence Agreement
   These are granted to residents living in hostels or short-term temporary housing.

Can I Buy my home?

There are 2 schemes providing assistance to tenants wishing to buy their homes.:

• The Preserved Right to But (PRTB), and
• The Right to Acquire

The Preserved Right to Buy

To qualify for the preserved right-to-buy scheme, you must have been a secure tenant with Eastleigh Borough Council at the time the housing stock was transferred to us in March 1996, and you must have held your tenancy through the whole period since then.

If you transferred to us after March 1996, you will not qualify for the preserved right-to-buy scheme. The right-to-buy scheme offers some tenants the chance to purchase their property at a discounted price. There are some properties that are excluded from this scheme such as properties that are suitable for older people and sheltered accommodation. Also, if you are an undischarged bankrupt or you are currently in breach of the terms of a court order then you will not be eligible to exercise your right-to-buy.

The Right-to-Acquire Scheme

This scheme is available to assured tenants who have an existing tenancy of two years or more and whose home was built or acquired using Social Housing Grant after 1st April 1997. This scheme offers the property at a discounted price. However, the discounts available are lower than those available under the right-to-buy scheme.

Both the preserved right-to-buy and right-to-acquire schemes have complicated rules and regulations associated with them. Applications for either scheme will have to satisfy these rules and you will need to be in a position to instruct a solicitor/conveyancer to handle the purchase for you.

For more information on the two schemes please contact our Private Initiatives Team on 023 8068 4359.

Can I sublet my home or take in lodgers?

Yes, unless this would cause overcrowding, or if we intended to carry out improvement works which would affect the part to be occupied by the sub-tenant. You must obtain written permission from us. If you are under-occupying your home (eg, it is too large for you), you may prefer to move to a smaller home.

Can I pass my tenancy on to a family member?

When a tenant dies a member of the family living with the tenant at the time of their death may be able to succeed to the tenancy. However, only a husband or wife can succeed to an assured or assured shorthold tenancy, and there can only be one succession to a tenancy.

Can I sign over my tenancy to someone else?

Signing over of a tenancy from one named tenant to another person is called assignment. We do not usually grant permission to residents to assign their tenancy to someone else. The only exceptions are assignment by way of a mutual exchange or under a Court Order in the case of a relationship breakdown. In certain other cases, we may grant you permission to assign your tenancy. Please contact you Local estate manager for further details about this.

What happens to my tenancy if my relationship breaks down?

If your relationship with your partner breaks down and you can no longer live together, you may become involved in a dispute about which of you will remain in the property. If this happens, you should seek independent legal advice regarding your occupancy rights. The laws surrounding this matter are complex but you should note that in the case of divorce or where there are children involved, sometimes the Courts can decide who keeps the tenancy. In such cases it is not always the tenant but the tenant’s spouse who is awarded the tenancy.

What happens if I change my name?

You should notify your Local Estate manager in writing and attach a copy of any relevant documents, e.g. marriage certificate or deed poll certificate.

I want to end my tenancy, what do I do?

You need to give 4 weeks clear notice in writing in writing, by email, or by completing a standard form, available from us. Your rent account must be paid up to date; the property left clear of furniture, personal belongings or rubbish and vacant possession must be given. We will charge for the removal, of any items left in the property.

Can I make improvements to my home?

Yes, but you must apply in writing or by email to your local estate manager and provide us with information we will need such as assurances of professional quality workmanship (especially for gas and electrical work) , building or planning regulation approval from the local council, and detailed

What are AHL doing about anti social behaviour and harassment?

AHL takes anti social behaviour very seriously and we aim to tackle, not tolerate persistent anti social behaviour by any of our tenants, their family members, guests or visitors to the property.

If you are experiencing problems with your neighbours, and after speaking to them, problems persist, you should contact your Local Estate Manager who will provide you with advice and assistance to resolve the problem where possible.

Alternatively, we have funded and established an anti social behaviour helpline you can contact for impartial advice, and AHL were founding partners of SHAARP – a dedicated team set up jointly between 11 housing associations to provide specialist work such as surveillance.

Please refer to documents below

Anti-Social Booklet

SHAARP Briefing July 2005

My neighbour is not looking after their garden and it is badly overgrown, can you help?

Depending on the circumstances – yes. Let your Local Estates Manager know and they will visit the neighbour concerned in order to discuss what steps could be taken to have the garden tidied. However, we cannot get involved if the property has been sold as we have no jurisdiction over owner occupied properties, but if it is a leasehold property there may be some conditions contained in the lease concerning the condition of the garden. If the garden is infested with rats or vermin Environmental Health should be informed. It is important to recognise that people have different standards and expectations and that the garden would need to be seriously overgrown to form a breach tenancy.

People are leaving rubbish in the communal area and not using the bins proved what can be done?

Such behaviour may be in breach of tenancy agreements and tenants responsibilities. Contact your Local estate Manager, with the details of the residents that may be responsible for doing this, and they will investigate and review with those responsible.

There is a car abandoned in my road, what can you do about it?

We need to establish the ownership of the land the vehicle is parked on. If the vehicle is on the highway or in the lay-by, the land is likely to be the responsibly of your local council . You should contact the council concerned with the following details: -

• Car Make
• Registration Number
• If the vehicle is taxed or not
• Colour

If the car is on land owned or managed by Atlantic Housing Limited the Local Estate Manager will need the details of the vehicle so that investigations can commence with regard to ownership. Occasionally, it can take some time for these queries to be resolved, as any notice left on the vehicle by our staff will not expire for 28 days, and written confirmation of ownership needs to be obtained from the DVLA.

I need a parking permit, where do I get one?

Parking Permits may be available from your local Council.

What’s the difference between a mutual exchange and a transfer?

If you are a current AHL assured or secure tenant, a transfer is where you can apply to transfer to another AHL home via the HomeChoice scheme. A mutual exchange is where you can exchange homes with another AHL tenant or a resident of a local authority or other housing association. We need to be sure that the exchange will not lead to overcrowding and other problems and you need to get our consent and the other landlords before going ahead with any exchange. Our office keeps a list of all exchange requests from AHL and other local housing associations tenants, and you are welcome to get in touch to see if we know of anything that might suit you.

I want to move to sheltered accommodation, do I qualify?

To qualify for Sheltered Housing you need to be 60 years of age or over, and applications are assessed through the Homechoice scheme.

How does the HomeChoice Scheme Work?

The Homechoice scheme is open to anyone over the age of 16 who wishes to be considered for accommodation within the Eastleigh borough area whether they are applying for accommodation for the first time or looking to transfer to alternative accommodation. Atlantic Housing Limtied only offer tenancies to over 18’s. Applicants must complete an application form to join the the register and once registered they will be issued with vouchers to enable them to bid for vacant properties which are advertised each week on the :-

Homechoice Website - www.eastleighhomechoice.co.uk
At various locations throughout the borough
Eastleigh Homechoice (telephone hotline 0845 6024582)


Each application to the Homechoice register is assessed and allocated one of three priorities according to need:
Urgent
Needing
Wanting

The vacancies are advertised so that Homechoice applicants can choose which properties to apply for and applicants can apply for as many properties as they wish as long as they are eligible by the closing date for each property and there are no penalties for refusing a property that is offered There are still rules on eligibility so that accommodation that is allocated meets the needs of the applicant, this would prevent a three bedroom house being let to a single person for example. The advertised properties will be labelled to indicate the eligible house hold size. Once the closing dates have been passed and the bids received, for a property they will be assessed according to the applicants priority banding and time waiting on the Homechoice list.

Can I have an Ariel or satellite dish installed in my flat?

You must obtain our permission, and that of your local authority (if necessary), before installing an aerial or satellite dish where there isn’t already one . The work must be undertaken by qualified contractors who are suitably covered by insurance. Most blocks of flats have a communal TV aerial, the maintenance cost of which is covered by your service charge.

What is a service charge?

When a service is provided with your tenancy, eg, gardening, lighting to communal areas, or warden or caretaking services, you will be required to pay a service charge to cover the cost of providing it. The service charge is included in the total rent charge of both Assured and Secure tenancies. It will be shown as a separate figure and totalled with the rent due each week/month.

Annual review of service charges
The majority of our properties now have what is known as a variable service charge which means that the figure reflects the actual cost of providing the services. These costs are reviewed every year and a service charge budget is drawn up. Residents are advised of any increase 28 days before the new figure takes effect on the first Monday in April of each year. However, for Secure tenants with a fixed service charge, this figure will be reviewed at the same time as the two-year re-registration of the rent with the Rent Officer Service as previously mentioned.

Service charge statements
Every year a statement will be sent to you detailing actual expenditure in providing the services included in the service charge for the previous financial year. Any surplus or deficit is normally carried forward to the next financial year.

Got a question we haven’t covered here?

You’ll find more detailed information in our Leaseholders Handbook and Tenants Handbook, or alternatively, email us at info@atlantichousing.co.uk