Customer Obligations
The terms and conditions of the tenancy are set out within the Tenancy Agreement. It is a legal agreement which sets out the rights and responsibilities of the tenant.
Rent is a condition of the tenancy. When a tenant accepts a tenancy, they agree to pay a charge for occupying the property. The money received is used to pay for housing services, such as repairs, maintenance and cleaning, estate lighting, pest control, grounds maintenance, lifts, heating, housing management and so on. Some of the money is used to pay for improvements to tenants’ homes.
The term tenant includes both sole and joint tenants who are both jointly and individually responsible for paying rent and any arrears.
Clause 5.2(1) of the tenancy agreement states:
“The tenant will pay the rent and any other charges due under the terms of this agreement every week in advance. Any other charges or payments arising from legal proceedings in connection with this agreement will be deemed to be rent due in connection with this tenancy and may be added to the rent account for the property”.
The full rent or “gross” rent is the basic charge for the property.
Legally RBKC must give tenants 4 weeks’ notice of any rent changes. A “Rent Charge” letter is a notice of variation that is sent out before any increase can take effect.
Tenants may also be required to pay other charges as part of their tenancy agreement as follows:
Service charges
The Council levy service charges for providing and maintaining estate services such as estate cleaning, grounds maintenance, estate lighting, CCTV, hot water tank maintenance and concierge schemes.
Heating and hot water charges
Charges are added where the property benefits from a district heating and/or hot water system. These charges are not covered by Housing Benefit (HB) or Department for Work and Pension (DWP) within the housing costs element of Universal Credit (UC) but are paid for by the tenant.
