Tenancy visits programme begins
This month, Stevenage Borough Council has started a detailed programme carrying out tenancy visits of all our council homes
Why do I need a tenancy visit?
A tenancy visit is required to carry out a tenancy audit, which is a survey that our housing officers need to complete. It helps us keep up-to-date information about all our tenants, their families and the property they’re living in.
It gives us an opportunity to have a look around our council homes across the town, and ensure we’re offering the right support to all our tenants.
How often will a tenancy visit take place?
We’ll be carrying these out regularly to ensure the data we hold is current. It also provides a great opportunity to get to know your housing officer.
Currently, with over 8,000 tenants, we’re hoping to visit all of them, and expect this rolling programme to take a few years to fully complete. You will be contacted by your housing officer about a suitable time for you.
What happens during a tenancy visit?
The Housing Officer will show you their identification badge when they knock at your door. You will be asked to provide ID to confirm you are the tenant – details of the ID required will be included in a letter, following confirmation of the tenancy visit.
Your Housing Officer will look around your home to check that the property is being looked after to a good standard. Tenants are expected to meet the requirements included in their tenancy agreement, and follow the conditions such as keeping gardens tidy and well-maintained, the property clean, and not breaching tenancy requirements (please refer to your tenancy agreement).
The tenancy visit will take approximately 1 hour.
There may be occasions where we identify tenancy fraud. If you would like to report any concerns this can be done through The Shared Anti-Fraud Service (SAFS).
The visits also provide an opportunity to ensure there are no safeguarding concerns, or other issues, where we can offer support and signpost the relevant agencies.
Tenants will also be asked, at the tenancy visit, if they would like to take part in any tenant engagement that can help us to shape the services we offer. If you would like to get more involved with tenant engagement, please see our Resident Involvement web pages.
Are tenancy visits the same as stock condition surveys?
Tenancy visits are designed with our tenants in mind. They’re different from the specialist stock conditions surveys. Stock condition surveys are solely concerned with the condition of council homes, including kitchens, bathrooms, roofing, walls and other structures.