Tenants’ rights
These are your rights under Acts of Parliament and Government Regulations.
# This symbol shows that introductory and demoted tenants do not have these rights.
Handing on your tenancy #
When a tenant dies, the tenancy will automatically pass to a joint tenant. If there is no joint tenant, a partner (married or unmarried) may be able to take over the tenancy. This is called a succession. Under the law a tenancy is only handed on once.
You may be able to hand on your tenancy before you die but only under certain circumstances. See Household changes.
Sub-letting and taking in lodgers #
You can take in lodgers provided you do not overcrowd your home. A lodger is someone who shares your home as part of your household.
You can sub-let part of your home (not the whole) provided you first get our written permission. Sub-letting allows someone to have private use of a part of your home.
You should inform us of the name, age and sex of any intended lodger or sub-tenant and the part of your home they will live in.
Information and consultation
We must provide you with information about your Tenancy Agreement and about certain policies and procedures. We must also inform you about how well we are carrying out our work following standards set down by the Government.
We must consult you about any changes to your Tenancy Agreement, any modernisation or improvement planned for your home, or any changes to our housing management policies, such as repair response timescales or tenant responsibilities.
Exchanging tenancies
You can exchange (swap) homes with another Hackney tenant, or a tenant of a housing association or another council. You must get written agreement from us and any other landlord involved before you move. We will give permission except where there is a specific reason such as your rent has not been paid. See Other ways to move.
Carrying out improvements
You can carry out improvements to your home provided you have our written permission before you start work.
When you leave you may get compensation for certain improvements you have carried out. See Improvements to your home.
Buying your home #
You can buy your home from us provided you have been a tenant for at least five years.
Certain types of homes cannot normally be bought, for example housing built for people with disabilities.
You cannot apply to buy your home while you are a demoted tenant and the demoted period does not count towards any discount you might receive.
Security of tenure
No tenant can be made to leave his or her home unless ordered to do so by a court. The court will make sure that there are good reasons for ordering a ‘possession’.
Getting repairs done
You are entitled to have certain urgent repairs carried out within set times under the Right to Repair regulations. These are repairs which, if not completed on time, could seriously affect your health or safety in your home. You will be told if a repair you have reported is classified as a ‘qualifying’ repair. In certain circumstances you may get compensation if we fail to meet the regulation requirements.
Access to and control of personal information
We must treat all personal information about tenants and leaseholders as confidential. However, by law, we must share certain essential information with other public bodies.
You can see personal information relating to you held by us on file or on computer, provided you give us reasonable notice. We have the right to make an administrative charge for this.
If you are unhappy about any information or expression of opinion recorded in your files, you can ask for it to be corrected or removed.
