Moving In

Wait until you move in before moving furniture

The date you will be given to move into your new home can change. Make sure you book any appointments, such as carpet fitting and furniture delivery, after you have moved into your home.

Start packing

Make sure you start packing in advance and look at which items you need to pack first.To avoid any last-minute stress, start packing two weeks before your moving date.

Change your address

Now you’re set up at your new home, make sure you let everyone you pay a bill to know that you have a new address:

Council
Bank/Building Society
DVLA (Driving License)
Utility companies (Gas, Electricity, Water)
Insurance (Home, contents, life)
TV (TV License)
Any other debtors (Loans, credit card)
Schools
Inland Revenue
Doctors, Dentists, Opticians
Land-line and mobile phone
Student Loans

Redirect your post

Contact the post office to get your post re-directed. A fee will apply. You can do this online here.

Sign up for Contents Insurance

We don’t insure your contents for you, so it’s important that you get cover.

We provide affordable contents insurance cover through ‘This is my home’. You can find out more about the scheme and how to sign up here.

Looking for inexpensive furniture?

Check out our guide on finding and donating furniture here.

Contact your energy suppliers

Take gas and electricity meter readings in your new property and give these to the existing gas and electricity supplier of the property. To find out who supplies the gas to your new home, phone the meter number helpline on 0870 608 1524

Make sure you vote

Keep your right to vote when you move home. Register here.

Say hello to your new neighbours

Introduce yourself to your neighbours and become part of a community.

If you have any queries or concerns once you have moved into your new home, check out the different ways you can contact us.

Moving Out

Providing Notice

If you decide you want to move out of your home you need to give us four weeks’ notice in writing or complete our notice to quit form. The four-week period will always start from a Monday.

We will let you know when the keys need to be returned to us and how much rent you need to pay to the end of your tenancy.

*Please note if the keys are not returned, you will remain liable for the rent until they are.

There are a number of things you need to do before you move:

Leave the property empty, clean and in good condition.
Carry out any repairs or redecoration that needs doing. If you don’t carry out the work, we might charge you for the cost of getting it done, and if you’re transferring to another one of our homes, we could stop the move.
Return one set of keys to the front door to your housing officer by midday on the Monday after your tenancy ends.
Let us know your new address.
Continue to pay rent until your tenancy has ended. Make sure your rent account is clear and that any other debt you have with us is paid off. If you still owe rent payments when you leave, we may have to take legal action against you.

Mutual Exchange

Once we receive both Mutual Exchange applications, we will:

contact the other landlord to exchange information and references
we will complete an inspection of your home and give a copy of this report to your exchange partner
we may ask you to complete any outstanding repairs that are your responsibility
once approved, we will complete safety checks on the day of the exchange

* Please note that from the date we receive the forms we have 42 days to give conditional consent for an exchange. This does not necessarily mean that the exchange will have taken place by this time.

We do not approve exchanges where:

Either side owes arrears
Either party has the wrong tenancy type, i.e. an assured shorthold tenancy
The accommodation is larger or smaller than is needed by the incoming party
The accommodation is designed to be suitable for a physically disabled person and if the exchange took place no such person would be living there
Either party is subject to legal action in connection with the tenancy

*This list is not exhaustive

Anti-Social Behaviour

Anti-social behaviour comes in many forms, it includes a wide range of unacceptable behaviour from everyday incidents such as noise nuisance to serious criminal acts.

What to do if your neighbour isn't a good neighbour:

We have high expectations of all of our residents and will deal quickly and firmly with any issues, but we don’t get involved in ‘tit for tat’ arguments. We want you to get on with your neighbours and if needs be, make an effort to sort out any differences you may have with them – a calm and reasonable chat will often help sort things out – without the need to get others involved.

However, if you have tried this or you do not feel able to, please get in contact with your Housing Officer or a member of the Customer Service Team on 01454 411172.

Our service will give you honest advice about what we can and can't do to put a stop to such behaviour. You should tell us immediately if you or your neighbour are suffering from any anti-social behaviour. If the behaviour is noise related, you can send us recordings of the issue through the Noise App or by completing an Incident Log and sending it to your Housing Officer.

You can also report incidents by phone, in person by talking to your Housing Officer, or by filling in the websites contact form.