Frequently Asked Questions

What is rent?  (move back to the top)| 

The total rent is made up of the ‘net rent’ and, where applicable, service charges. Not everyone has a service charge (it depends on the services provided).

The net rent covers things like loan repayments (taken to build our properties), maintenance costs, staff costs, insurance etc.

What is a Service Charge?  (move back to the top)| 

The service charge covers the costs of providing services such as care-line, gardening etc.

If we include a service charge in your rent, we will provide you with a list of the services and an annual charge break-down (a service charge schedule).

In some cases this may include fuel and water rates where there are shared meters. This will appear on your Tenancy Agreement and service charge schedule if it applies to you.

How is the rent and service charge set? (move back to the top)| 

Connect's assured rents are calculated using the Government’s ‘target rent’ method of setting rents. The aim is to make rents affordable, fair and consistent. This means that the rent for your home will reflect the property’s size, location and condition, and the average income of people living in the same county. Fair rents are set by the Rent Officer service.

Service Charges are set by the Association to pay the costs of providing any communal services.

When is my rent due? (move back to the top)| 

Your rent is due in advance every Monday unless you have made specific arrangements to pay monthly. To do this or to confirm how much you have to pay, please speak to a Housing Services Advisor on 0113 285 0400 (Leeds) or 01484 353 530 (Huddersfield).

What are "rent payment holidays"? (move back to the top)| 

Your rent is calculated so that there are four weeks in the year when no charge is made. This is to acknowledge that these may be times of high expenditure for you and also may coincide with national holidays.

If your rent is in arrears, you should continue to make payments to your rent account during the “rent payment holiday” in order to reduce your arrears.

Can I charge someone rent if they come and live with me (i.e. take in a lodger)?    (move back to the top)| 

Yes, as long as it does not lead to overcrowding, you do not grant them a tenancy and you do not live in older person’s, adapted or supported housing. Before the intended lodger moves in you must tell us their name and date of birth.

If you want to issue a tenancy to PART (but NOT ALL) of your home i.e. sub-let, you must write and request our written permission. If we refuse, we will write to advise of our reasons. If you do not hear from us within one month, you should assume we have not given consent and should contact us for more details.

Please note: This may affect your housing benefit and your lodger/sub-let tenant cannot stay in the property when you leave.

What do I do about Insurance? (move back to the top)| 

We insure the building for fire and flood. So if you have a fire or there is a major flood, we will repair the damage caused to the building and the fixtures we supply e.g. kitchen. We do not insure your contents. You must do that.

The National Housing Federation offers a home insurance policy specifically for tenants and leaseholders. They can be contacted on 0845 337 2463 and will send you an easy to fill in application form. Click here for further information on My Home insurance|.

Do I have to pay Council Tax?(move back to the top)| 

All tenants aged 18 and above are responsible for paying Council Tax. Tell your local council tax section in your local authority that you are the new tenant. You can arrange to pay your council tax in monthly instalments. It's better to sort this out quickly as you could face a large bill later if you do nothing. You can get help to pay the charge (council tax benefit) if you are on a low income. Ask our Housing Service Advisors by calling 0113 285 0400 or 01484 35 35 30.

Do I have to pay Water Rates? (move back to the top)| 

The water rates for your home are your responsibility. Depending on the age of your home, you may or may not have a water meter. Most properties have individual meters or no meter, rather than a communal meter. Charges are payable to Yorkshire Water. You can arrange to pay them in instalments (call them on 0845 124 2424). Some properties have communal meters and water charges will be included in the rent. We will notify you if you have a communal water meter or an individual water meter when your tenancy starts.

Do I need a TV Licence? (move back to the top)| 

If you use or install television equipment to receive or record television programmes as they are being shown on TV, you need to be covered by a valid TV Licence.  Viewing television without a licence risks prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000. A colour TV Licence currently cost £145.50. A black and white TV Licence currently costs £49.00. Those aged 75 or over are entitled to a free TV Licence.

For more information about payment options and concessions, to set up Direct Debit payments or to pay by debit or credit card visit www.tvlicensing.co.uk| or call 0300 790 6112.

Can Connect come into my home without my permission? Do you keep keys to my home? (move back to the top)| 

No, on both counts, while you are living there.

We only keep keys to communal areas (so if you lose your keys, we can't cut you a spare set - always keep spare keys with friends or family).

We can enter your home without your permission if the courts grant us an Order to do so.

When do you have the right to ask me to leave my home? (move back to the top)| 

You have ‘security of tenure’ which means that we cannot just ask you to leave. It means that we have to do the following if we want you to leave your home:

• If we think that you have left without telling us (surrender) or if you die and there has been no-one living with you who has the right to take on the tenancy, we can end this agreement by serving a 4-week “Notice to Quit” at your address. In the case of surrender, you have the 4-week period to make contact with us to advise us that you have not surrendered your tenancy. If you do not, the tenancy is ended and we will take possession of your home.

• If you break this agreement e.g. you do not pay your rent or you cause anti-social behaviour etc. and you refuse to come to an agreement with us, we may serve a “Notice of seeking possession” (which is normally 4 weeks). If you do not come to an agreement with us during this time, we may apply to court to obtain a court order for possession on one of the grounds listed in your agreement. The court may grant:

  ~ A suspended possession order which will require you to do some-thing to avoid losing your home e.g. pay the rent. If you do not do what is required, we may apply to evict you.

  ~ An immediate possession order which will end the tenancy immediately (or within a specified number of days). At this point you should leave your home. If you do not leave, we will apply to evict you. 

Assured Shorthold tenancies maybe ended by serving a two months’ notice.

Please be assured that eviction is the last resort and we will try to work with you to avoid it. Please NEVER ignore our letters or telephone calls. It may be a difficult period for you and you may be worried about speaking to us, but we want to help.

  How do I change the name on my tenancy agreement and the records you hold?    (move back to the top)| 

Call in to see a Housing Services Acvisor with legal proof of your change of name e.g. your marriage certificate or deed poll notification. We cannot do this without legal documentation.

Before you get a pet you must write to Connect and get written permission from us.

If you want to work from home permanently, especially if you want to run a business from home, you must write to us with the details and get our written consent. If we do give permission and your business disturbs your neighbours (e.g. car parking, noise, visitors etc.), we may require you to stop.  

In the unfortunate event of your death, various things can happen.

• If you lived alone, the Tenancy will end but, by law, we have to formally serve notice on your estate to officially end the Tenancy. We will serve a “Notice to Quit” at your address which will give your family or executors of your will four weeks to clear your home of your belongings. The estate will be liable for the rent during that time. Your family/friends must remove all of your possessions and leave the property clean and tidy. They should return all of the keys to our office. If they discuss it with us, we may be able to accept the return of the keys and end the rent liability before the four weeks has expired.
• If you are a joint tenant, and the other tenant survives, they can bring a copy of your death certificate to us and we will remove your name from the Tenancy and our records, creating a sole tenancy. This is classed as succession.
• If you have a husband, wife, partner or civil partner who was not a joint tenant and if s/he lives in your home as his or her only or main home when you die (and has done for the previous 12 months), as long as you did not get the tenancy through the death of a partner or family member, they can take on the tenancy. This is called “Succession”. They must notify us immediately (within one month) and bring a copy of the death certificate into our offices. 
• If you are a sole tenant and you are not married nor have a partner living with you but you do have a close family member (e.g. son/daughter/parent/ brother/sister/granddaughter—over 18) who lived with you for at least 12 months ending with the date of your death and lives in your home as their only or main home when you die, then we will consider granting a new tenancy of your home to him/her, as long as you did not get the tenancy through the death of a partner or family member. They must ask us to consider this immediately (within one month) and bring a copy of the death certificate. There is only one Right of Succession for each tenancy.

Is the information I give you confidential?  (move back to the top)| 

Can I look at the information you hold about me?  (move back to the top)|

Yes. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you can write to request to look at information about you which we have (except for information provided to us in confidence). We will arrange a date for you to come into the office and may charge an administration fee (because we have to remove third party correspondence) which we will advise you of. You can correct or record any disagreement with any information held by us but cannot remove it. Please note that the Freedom of Information Act 2000 does not apply to Housing Associations.