Your 'Tenancy Agreement' provides you with the right to carry out improvements and alterations, once you are a secure tenant, but you must get written permission from us first.
Please send us the application form at least 28 days before you plan to start work.
We may need to visit your home and check that the work would be safe, assess the effect on the property and other people and advise you about getting planning and building permission where applicable.
Please do not start work until you have got all the permissions and approvals you need. Failure to do so could result in you having to put it all back again.
What happens next?
We will write to you letting you know whether we agree to the work. If we agree to your improvements and you have got the other permissions needed, you can go ahead and do the work.
If we do not agree you must not do the work.
When the work is finished
When the work is finished you must let us know. We will arrange to visit your home to check the work. If the work is not up to standard we will ask you to put things right or restore the property to how it was before.
You will be responsible for any future repairs and maintenance to the improvements that you make.
If you leave your home, you may be able to take your improvements with you – new cupboards for example. However, if you remove your improvements you will be expected to put things right by filling holes or repainting, for example.
If you leave the improvements behind when you leave the property because they are an essential part of the home you may be eligible for compensation. To qualify for compensation, the improvement or alteration must be approved by us and be one of the following improvements.
- Bath or shower
- Wash hand basin
- Toilet
- Kitchen sink
- Storage cupboards
- Kitchen work surface
- Central heating or water heating
- Thermostatic radiator valves
- Insulation of pipes
- Loft Insulation
- Cavity wall Insulation
- Draught proofing of external doors or windows
- Double glazing, secondary glazing, window replacement
- Rewiring or electrical fittings
- Any security improvements – except burglar alarms
You will only qualify for compensation if the work was done at your own expense. We will not compensate you if you replaced something that was in a satisfactory condition.
You should keep and supply all receipts for the improvements, otherwise we will estimate how much the work would cost. We will assess the value of the work completed and deduct an amount for depreciation (a fall in value).
To qualify for compensation the improvement or alteration must be valued at greater than £150.00. The maximum amount of compensation is £2500.00
If your improvement is listed above and you wish to apply for compensation please complete a claims form.
