Aims and objectives
- Stock condition: ensure our homes are maintained to a good standard.
- Health and safety: reduce or remove hazards caused by clutter, waste and poor property conditions.
- Nuisance: prevent properties becoming a nuisance to neighbours and promote wellbeing of wider community.
- Compliance: ensure compliance with regulatory standards, legislation and codes of guidance.
- Sustainability: address individual needs and ensure support is in place so that the tenant can maintain their tenancy obligations.
- Equality: ensure the council meets its obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
Legislative context
The following have been considered when developing the policy:
- The Housing Act 2004
- Building Regulations 2010 and the Building (Approved Inspectors) Regulations 2010
- The Secure Tenants of Local Authorities (Compensation for Improvements) Regulations 1994
- Town and Country Planning Act 1990
- Highways Act 1980
- Fire safety order 2005
- Housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS)
- Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018
Strategic context
The following have been taken into consideration in developing the policy:
- Best City Ambition
- The Housing Strategy
- Housing Leeds Asset Management Strategy
- Housing Leeds Fire Policy
Scope / definitions
This policy applies to secure tenants living in rented properties where Leeds City Council is the landlord. It does not apply to leaseholders or freeholders.
Introductory tenants do not have the right to make alterations or improvements.
Tenants with an active right to buy application will not usually be granted permission to make improvements.
The definition of an improvement made by a tenant to their home is set out in section 97 of the Housing Act.
Policy statement
It is the policy of Leeds City Council to grant permission to secure tenants to make improvements to the property, unless there is a good reason not to. For instance, the alteration or improvement is a potential danger / nuisance to other tenants or is detrimental to the property, including the ability to re-let the property. Generally, permission will be refused where there will be an ongoing cost to the council.
This would include permanent structural requests such as but not limited to; porches, conservatories, extensions, loft conversions and hard standings.
In some cases, improvements that we would provide as part of our normal service, such as kitchens, bathrooms, doors or windows, will be adopted and maintained by Leeds City Council. Where the improvement is not adopted, the tenant may be required to remove this on termination of tenancy.
Improvements will not be adopted in PFI properties due to their existing contract arrangements.
There are some improvements that may be eligible for compensation for the tenant when they leave the property; subject to certain criteria being met.
Rights and responsibilities of LCC / tenants
Tenants' rights and responsibilities around improvements are covered in the following sections of the Tenancy Agreement:10.20, 10.21,10.22,10.23,10.24 to 10.24.
Housing Leeds will seek to minimize interventions and enforcement of the policy by:
- communicating this policy to tenants through the Offer, Viewing and Welcome to Your Tenancy procedure
- communicating tenant responsibilities on the council’s website and through social media
- undertaking regular Home Visits to communicate tenant responsibilities and identify improvements made without permission
The council may consider granting retrospective permission for improvements in line with the policy. Housing Leeds will follow the Permission for Improvements Enforcement Procedure when it is identified that an improvement has been done without permission.
The individual needs of the tenant will be considered when deciding the most appropriate action to take. The case will be reviewed regularly by a manager to ensure that the tenant has been offered support and has had opportunity to comply with the policy before enforcement action is taken.
Prevention
Housing teams will try to prevent any issues with tenant improvements by discussing permissions on Home Visits and looking out for any signs that there have been any permission breaches.
Information is shared with tenants via the website and regular communication such as tenant emails and social media.
The permission request form details what should be required for permission to be granted, for example, drawings, plans, other permissions, insurances.
Intervention
Secure tenants have the right to make improvements to the property; however, it is a condition of the tenancy agreement that written permission be obtained prior to any work being started.
Tenants can request written permission from their local housing office prior to undertaking any improvement using the tenant self-service portal or the Permission Request Form.
Housing Officers check if any improvements have been made without permission on Hone Visits.
In the case of work being done without permission, retrospective permission would be required. Where permission is not requested, even retrospectively, Housing Officers can mitigate this by advising the tenant that they must remove the work before any formal enforcement takes place.
Enforcement of the policy
If informal attempts to rectify the issue fail, the council will take enforcement action as set out in the Enforcement Procedure to require the tenant to reinstate the property to its original condition at their cost. The council may undertake works to reinstate the property to its original condition and recharge the tenant.
Equality and individual needs
Where a tenant has individual needs, this will be considered in the initial decision making for any requests received but also in the decision whether to adopt the improvement and whether to enforce where there has been a breach. Some tenants may not have understood the policy, may need support or may have required the improvement due to health needs.
Where health is a factor, this will be considered. A referral / self-referral will be made for an Occupational Therapist to assess whether the proposed improvement meets the adaptation eligibility criteria. Where an adaptation is not required, we would usually refuse the request. This will be considered on a case by case basis and permission would only be granted in exceptional circumstances.
Some minor adaptations can be raised by housing teams without the need for a referral. These would also fall outside of the scope of this policy.
For requests related to overcrowding for example loft conversions or extensions, support should be given to the tenant to ensure that a live housing application is in place and advice provided to aid in rehousing via the lettings policy or by promoting mutual exchange.
For tenants in rent arrears, the council would not usually grant permission for improvement requests. This is because the tenancy is at risk due to non-payment of rent and the rent payments should be prioritised for tenancy sustainment before any spending for improvements can be approved. The definition of rent arrears for the purpose of this policy is 6 weeks rent or more owed.
Where a tenant has no rent arrears but owes money to Leeds City Council in other ways such as former tenancy arrears or council tax, we would not normally grant permission for improvement requests until these debts have been cleared.
Resident engagement
Engagement with residents has been completed using an online survey on Commonplace to explain the changes brought forward in the latest version of the policy, the reasons why and whether the process is clear and understandable to tenants.
Results of this consultation were generally supportive of the policy.
Feedback from residents will be sought during the life of the policy to ensure that the policy is delivering the required outcomes and meeting the needs of vulnerable tenants. This could include regular transactional satisfaction surveys, learning from complaints, use of Tenant Voice Panel, Commonplace or other policy specific consultations carried out through digital or other channels.
Partnership approach
This policy requires Housing teams to work closely with Property Management and technical teams. In some cases, requests from tenants will be referred by housing teams to the technical teams for a decision.
Communication of the policy
A version of this policy is available on the LCC website. It is also available for staff and employees on the internal SharePoint site. Printed copies can be made available at community Hubs.
Key messages and changes are communicated through the tenant email and social media.
Delivering of policy / monitoring of policy outcomes
This policy will be delivered by local housing teams and property management including repairs, gas and electrical teams. It may also include other teams such as the fire safety team and highways where applicable.
Performance will be measured by housing area managers, housing managers and team leaders by monitoring the following:
- Home visits – permissions checked and recorded.
- Cx cases used to manage permission requests / enforcement.
- Any tenancy breaches recorded and escalated.
- Cx alerts updated.
- Inspections carried out by property management when the work is complete.
