Our Tenancy and Neighbourhood Standard

Our Tenancy And Neighbourhood Standard

We aim to provide great quality, affordable homes where our customers want to live and feel safe and supported.

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Allocations and lettings

We will:

  • let our homes in an open, fair and transparent way to meet your housing needs
  • work with our partners to apply the appropriate priority banding based on your housing needs to ensure the tenancy is right for you
  • provide information about your rights and responsibilities and Gentoo’s responsibilities as a landlord
  • provide information about the support services available to help you sustain your
  • tenancy including how to pay rent, how to report a repair and the range of support services we offer
  • provide details of your Neighbourhood Coordinator and key contacts including partner organisations, if needed


Remember
DWP will need to know about your change of address and your new rent amount as soon as possible after signing. You will need your tenancy agreement to hand to verify your new costs.

The DWP will also need to know about any other change of circumstance during your tenancy.

HomeSwapper
You can swap your tenancy with another local authority or housing association tenant with our permission. For details on how to do this, check the HomeSwapper website

We will respond to your application within 42 working days and provide an explanation for our decision.

We will only refuse permission to exchange for a few reasons e.g. rent arrears, the property is designed for people with specific needs, the condition of the property, or if it would lead to overcrowding or under-occupation.

Tenancy management

It is our responsibility to make sure you understand your rights and responsibilities as one of our customers and know how to manage your tenancy. We will:

  • share key contacts with you about partner organisations
  • make sure you know how to pay your rent
  • give you timely information about your tenancy including when we make a change to rent or service charges
  • help you with money management
  • make sure you know how to report repairs
  • share engagement opportunities so you can get involved to help us improve
  • give you information about our low-cost content’s insurance scheme with Aviva. You are responsible for insuring your possessions including carpets, flooring and curtains against fire, theft, burst pipes and other household risks. We are responsible for insuring your building only

If you need support sustaining your tenancy, please speak to your Neighbourhood Coordinator or Support Coordinator.

MyGentoo is our 24/7 online portal to help and support you to manage your tenancy, including:

  • viewing your rent statement
  • paying rent, garage or car parking space fees
  • updating your personal information
  • reporting, cancelling or rearranging a repair

Helping you with money management
Whatever your financial situation, our Money Matters Team will work with you to give you all the support and advice you need. The team will carefully look at your situation and can assist you with:

  • claiming benefits and appealing benefit decisions
  • budget management
  • dealing with your debts and arranging repayment plans
  • saving money on utility bills or assisting with fuel debt
  • identifying opportunities for charity grants
  • accessing foodbanks

Help with money management 

Your neighbourhood

We want our neighbourhoods to be safe, welcoming places to live. As well as providing vital housing, we support our customers, residents and communities by investing in services that help people live their best possible life.

We want you to feel safe, secure and supported in your home and neighbourhood, however, there may be times when you need support. We have strong community partnerships to help prevent anti-social behaviour (ASB) and risks in your neighbourhood. If you feel concerned or at risk, then speak to us or call 101 to discuss your concerns with the police. Please call 999 if you are in immediate danger. ASB is anything that causes or is likely to cause you to feel alarmed, distressed, intimidated or harassed. It includes issues such as:

  • threatening behaviour
  • criminal or illegal activity
  • hate crime or incidents
  • serious disagreements between neighbours

We will respond quickly and decisively, investigate issues and get involved as early as possible to prevent an escalation. We will offer support, mediate disputes and involve or refer to other agencies. Any information you give us is confidential unless we are legally required to report it.

Get more information or support on ASB

Domestic abuse can happen to anyone, and your safety is our priority. We deal with all claims confidentially and as a priority. When you report domestic abuse to us, we will: 

  • act quickly and compassionately
  • put your safety first
  • make sure you are not in danger
  • offer you support and advice
  • talk with you about your options and what you want to do next
  • work with other organisations to get you the support you need

Get more information or support on domestic abuse 

Estate management and shared spaces

We’re proud of our neighbourhoods and want you to be proud too. We work hard to ensure our estates, communal areas and open spaces are clean, well-maintained and meet the needs of our neighbourhoods and communities. We will:

  • provide you with regular information about your neighbourhood
  • make sure we find and respond to all issues affecting neighbourhoods
  • invite you to take part in Neighbourhood Walks to identify areas for improvement
  • cut and mow grass in public spaces during the spring and summer months
  • prune or shape hedges and bushes
  • weed shrubs and hedges
  • plant flower beds, where possible
  • inspect every tree on Gentoo land and make sure they are healthy and well looked after
  • manage and inspect our play parks
  • offer a gardening service to vulnerable customers who need help to maintain their garden

Find out more information on maintaining the land around your home

We are committed to working together with our community partners, other landlords and customers to ensure shared spaces, such as communal playgrounds, parks, pathways and community centres are maintained and kept safe and secure. We recognise that social and community interaction and inclusion can benefit everyone and will continue to work with all partners to achieve and maintain this.

In our high-rise, communal and sheltered scheme buildings, we will:

  • make sure our buildings are safe for you to live in. This includes managing risks from fire and structural failure
  • use secure door entry systems to keep you and your building safe
  • provide a building safety induction to all new customers when they move in
  • provide building and fire safety advice including what to do in the event of a fire
  • keep communal and outside areas clean, safe and secure
  • consult with you about decisions that affect the safety of your building

If you have any concerns over the maintenance or safety of our shared spaces please call us on 0191 525 5000