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Latest news and updates from Safer Housing at Nottingham City Council
The Council may be the regulator but we also work to support tenants and landlords and make sure both parties understand their ‘rights and responsibilities’. At the Council we often support tenants or landlords with impartial advice on their legal requirements for things like:
- Evictions
- ASB concerns
- Landlord or tenant tensions
If there are issues in a tenancy, we would always encourage both parties to discuss these and try to resolve them before escalating.
We have seen our casework rise and the types of cases we are dealing have changed to reflect heightened COVID related tensions. This has included rent arrears due to the insufficient financial support, and a lack of ways to sort any issues through legal processes.
Whilst most landlords will work with their tenants, there are a small number who are ruining the reputation of others by doing things like trying to illegally evict their tenants. We have a team who will work to support landlords and tenants to try to stop these issues from happening.
If you, as a landlord would like a referral to the Tenancy Matters team, then please email as much details as possible to SaferHousing@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
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Positive cases of Covid-19 are increasing in the 18 to 21-year-old age range and some of these will be students. This is leading to an increasing number of households self-isolating.
This is affecting some tenancy changeovers, with some having to isolate beyond the final date of their tenancy agreement and incoming tenants being unable to move in on the agreed date.
It is recommended that landlords keep in close contact with outgoing and incoming tenants to ensure that any change of circumstances is communicated and can be managed as safely as possible.
Unipol has created a dedicated Coronavirus support page for tenants and landlords/agents and this includes FAQs on moving in and out of properties and questions about the disruption to the tenancy changeover period.
Read more here - https://www.unipol.org.uk/advice/students/coronavirus-advice-for-students-and-landlords.
Unipol update this link regularly when guidance changes, so keep this to hand.
As it's end of term for university students, we are working with both Uni’s to educate and advise students on waste management. However, we are seeing increased problems in some areas, such as Forest Fields, Arboretum, Lenton Triangle and the Drives
The University of Nottingham has created this dedicated page for students moving out, so you may want to share this with tenants, even if they are Trent Uni students, most of the advice will help them. See the guidance here.
Most students and young professional house-sharers will be heading off to spend the summer with their families, however some do stay over the summer months.
As a landlord you can help by;
- Checking in with tenants on any issues
An end of term inspection can be a good idea to address concerns and organise essential maintenance.
Please check you licence conditions for your responsibilities dealing with rubbish, also record your visit and any remedial actions to satisfy your licence condition that requires you to carry out a property inspection at least every six months.
- Make security a priority
Burglars will take advantage of any empty home, but you can give your tenants tips - like making sure windows and doors are locked, security lights are on, internal security alarms are enabled and a light is left on or on a timer.
- Checking in with the neighbours
If you see the neighbours have a chat with them and introduce yourself, give them your contact number, a good neighbour can help you manage your property and let you know if there are any problems.
- Put together an emergency action plan
The last thing you need is a call from the security alarm as the key holder or other general issues. Speak to all your maintenance team – Gas Safe registered engineers, plumbers, electricians, etc. and make sure they are available for an emergency call-out.
- Start planning for the tenant’s return
You might want to refresh your tenancy information pack to ensure it’s up to date and is compliant with your licence conditions.
We are still open over the summer period. Should you need HMO housing support during this period, you can contact the HMO team here at HMO@nottinghamcity.gov.uk anytime or call the Customer Hub on 0115 915 5555 between 9am and 5pm. We will try to get back to you as quickly as possible.
We have been out and about in neighbourhoods over the last month as part of Days of Actions with partners.
They are being held to tackle issues that mean the most to local residents and we have been focusing on property standards and targeted inspections amongst other activities.
So far we have been out in Mapperley, Dales, St Ann’s and Aspley. Whilst we found a lot of well looked after properties, we also found internal and external issues with a number of homes and we are writing to landlords to address these.
There are more Days of Action happening over the next year and we will be coming to each neighbourhood in the city, find more details here.
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Do you need to order a new bin, a replacement bin or are you looking to book a bulky waste collection at your property?
There is a dedicated team at Nottingham City Council who deal with waste. You can find more details and sort most of your waste issues on their dedicated page
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The Landlord and Managing Agents Liaison Groups were held last month.
You can read the minutes and see the actions from these meetings under the May section here.
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