May 2024
This guide is designed for:
Great Places Housing Group exists to improve the lives of the people living in our 25,000 homes across the North West and Yorkshire. We are much more than a landlord, providing a wide range of vital services to our tenants and promoting partnership work to create vibrant, sustainable communities.
Great Places Housing Association is a Registered Provider of Social Housing, registered with the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).
We have tried to provide an easy-to-understand summary of your basic legal rights as a tenant in this document. It is not intended to replace your licence agreement, which is unique to you and may include additional rights. You should therefore read your licence agreement if you are unsure of your rights.
Legal documents such as licence agreements can sometimes be difficult to read and understand. If you are not sure about your rights, you can contact our Customer Hub on 0300 123 1966 – we are here to help you. You can also get independent advice from organisations such as Citizens’ Advice and Shelter England.
If you feel that you have not received the level of service that you are entitled to from us then you can make a complaint. We will accept it in any format including face to face, by email, social media, telephone, post or via our online form: Contact us – Great Places
How we handle complaints
We understand that sometimes our service doesn’t meet our tenants’ expectations and it is important that you know how you can tell us what we have got wrong.
When we receive a complaint, we follow guidelines set out in the Housing Ombudsman Service Complaint Handling Code, which is a two-stage process.
What can I expect from Great Places when I complain?
If you still do not feel that your complaint has been resolved, you can refer your case to the Housing Ombudsman Service
All tenants of Great Places Housing Association have the following basic legal rights:
Repairs
We are responsible for maintaining many of the things in (and outside) your house such as:
If there are any faults that have happened because of how your house was designed or built then we may have to fix these as well.
If your home is part of a larger building and has areas which are shared by tenants such as stairways, lobbies and communal lounges, then we are responsible for repairs to these parts of the building if they belong to or are controlled by us. However, if these parts of the building belong to another organisation, we would not be able to carry out this work and it won’t be covered in your licence agreement.
We will tell you in advance when we intend to come to your home and carry out repairs or maintenance work, or to check the condition and state of your home, unless it is an emergency. In an emergency we may need to gain access without telling you first. You must let us into your home to carry out repairs or to correct faults, and we can take legal action against you if you don’t allow us in to carry out the work.
We do not have to carry out repairs or fix faults that have happened because you have broken the terms of your licence agreement. You must tell us about any repairs that we have to carry out as soon as you know about it.
If your home is destroyed or damaged by fire, storms, floods or in the event of an unforeseen accident such as a gas explosion, we will work with you and other partners to find you somewhere else suitable to live.
If you have put in your own appliances and white goods such as fridges and freezers then we will not repair these for you if they break or are damaged.
Health and safety
The health and safety of all our tenants is our priority and there is lots of health and safety law that we must comply with, and examples of good practice that we follow including:
Asking for reasonable adjustments
The Equality Act 2010 says that any tenant who has a physical or mental disability, and is finding it difficult to live in their home because of it, can ask us to make reasonable adjustments such as changes to taps, door handles, door bells/door entry systems, and changes to the colour of a wall, door or any other surface. The Act also entitles the same tenants to ask us to make reasonable adjustments to our policies and procedures to reduce or remove the difficulty they are facing.
It is important to note that we do not have to approve every request that we receive. We will take different factors into account, including the cost.
If you have a physical or mental disability, and are experiencing difficulty living in your home, you are also entitled to ask us to make reasonable adjustments to our policies and procedures to reduce or remove the difficulty. Again, we do not have to approve every request that we receive and we are allowed to take various factors into account, including cost.
Transparency and Involvement
We must be open and transparent with residents, involve them in making decisions about housing management issues, and treat them with fairness and respect.
Appealing decisions
Depending on the nature of your supported housing scheme, you may be able to appeal against certain decisions made by the scheme managers (such as asking you to leave). If you have this right, your licence agreement will say so.
Reasonable Notice
Depending on your licence agreement, you may be entitled to be given reasonable notice to leave your accommodation. Some licensees may also be entitled under legislation to a minimum period of written notice. Some licences may require us to obtain a court order to remove you from the service when the notice has expired.
All tenants of Great Places Housing Association who have a license agreement have the right to a “decent home” as defined by the Government’s Decent Homes Standard. Your home must:
Here are some explanations that you may find helpful:
The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) promotes a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver more and better social homes.
They set standards and carry out robust regulation focusing on driving improvement in social landlords, including local authorities, and ensuring that housing associations are well-governed, financially viable and offer value for money. They can take appropriate action if the outcomes of the standards are not being delivered.
The Housing Ombudsman investigates complaints and resolves disputes involving the tenants and leaseholder of social landlords (housing associations and local authorities).
They are a free, independent and impartial service and their work is funded by annual landlord subscription fees.
Carbon Monoxide is a poisonous gas that can make you seriously ill if you breathe it in. Carbon Monoxide can be made by fires and appliances that burn gas, wood, oil or coal. It is colourless and does not smell, so you cannot tell if it is around you.
Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include:
Common household appliances used for heating and cooking can produce carbon monoxide if they are not installed properly, are faulty, or are poorly maintained.
Appliances that can cause carbon monoxide include:
Using barbeques or camping stoves inside, and turning on vehicle or lawn mower engines in your garage, can also cause a build-up of carbon monoxide.
If you think you might have carbon monoxide poisoning:
More information about Carbon Monoxide can be found on our Gas Safety page:
Legionnaires’ Disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia and everyone is susceptible to infection. The risk increases with age but some people are at higher risk including:
More information about water safety and Legionnaires’ Disease can be found on our website:
Asbestos is a natural fibrous rock. It was widely used within homes and other buildings until 1999. There are three main types:
Asbestos acts as an insulator (to keep heat in and keep out cold), has good fire protection properties and protects against corrosion. Because of this, you may find it in many construction materials and building fittings including ceiling tiles, pipe insulation, boilers and sprayed coatings. It was extensively used from the 1950s through to the mid-1980s but can be found in buildings built before the year 2000.
More information about Asbestos can be found on our website:
Building components include the home’s structure, other external elements such as the roof or chimneys, and internal services and amenities, such as kitchens or heating systems.
