Know your rights as a social housing resident

As a social housing landlord, we have a legal duty to provide safe and habitable properties for our customers that meet health and safety legislation.

This includes ensuring that your home is free from serious hazards, including damp and mould, as required by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), the Housing Act 2004, and the Social Housing Regulation Act 2023.

More information relating to the Housing Act and Safety Rating system can be found here:

• Tap here for details on the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) - guidance for landlords and property-related professionals (opens in a new tab).
• Tap here for details on The Housing Act 2004 (opens in a new tab).
• Tap here for details on The Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2024 (opens in a new tab).

We adhere to the requirements of the Fitness for Human Habitation Act 2018, which is designed to ensure that all rented accommodation is fit for human habitation and to strengthen tenants’ means of redress against the minority of landlords, who do not fulfil their legal obligations to keep their properties safe. More information relating to the Fitness for Human Habitation Act 2018 can be found by tapping here (opens in a new tab).

We also have to comply with The Building Safety Act 2022, which offers customers living in buildings over seven storeys or 18 metres tall more rights and protections. It ensures that buildings are properly maintained and faults are fixed whilst protecting customers from costs. This offers customers greater peace of mind in a safe and secure home. More information relating to The Building Safety Act 2022 can be found by tapping here (opens in a new tab).

Important advice and guidance on staying safe at home

For access to advice and guidance on a range of home safety topics, including fire, gas, electricity, asbestos, and more, tap here to visit our online Home and Building Safety Hub.

As your landlord, we're committed to keeping your home in good repair and ensuring that our neighbourhoods are looked after and are good places to live, work, visit, and play.

We'll provide you with notice of any visits to carry out repairs or maintenance or to view the condition and state of repair of the premises.

• If you need to report a repair, you can tap here for further information on how to do it.
• For more information on how we tackle and resolve neighbourhood nuisance, antisocial behaviour (ASB) and Hate Crime, tap here.
• For information on our approach to maintaining our land, tap here.
• For details on how our Safeguarding Team can help if you're concerned about yourself or someone else, tap here.
• For information on home adaptations and our Care and Repair service, tap here.
• For information on garages and car parking, tap here.

We're committed to being a transparent landlord and showing our customers how we're performing in various areas.

We publish information relating to a number of service areas, including repairs, complaints, safety, and how we spend the money we generate, so you can hold us to account.

Our website contains lots of readily available information you can access, including our annual report:

• You can tap here to read our annual report and other corporate documents
• You can tap here to see our key performance information

You have the right to have your complaints dealt with promptly and fairly, with access to the Housing Ombudsman (who will give you swift and fair redress when needed)

We want you to be happy with the services you receive and we value your feedback. We welcome both positive and negative comments as they help us to improve and learn from our experiences. We want to:

• listen to your feedback, good or bad,
• deal with complaints efficiently and effectively,
• keep you up to date with progress,
• and be open and honest about the process.

If we fail to deliver on our promises, you may wish to complain. If you'd like:

• steps on how to make a complaint, leave a compliment, or make a suggestion,
• details on how we're learning and improving,
• and details on how to approach the Housing Ombudsman (if you still aren't satisfied with how we've dealt with your complaint)..

..please tap here to visit our Complaints, compliments, and suggestions page.

External information on complaints and the Housing Ombudsman

• The Housing Ombudsman is a free service that helps resolve disputes between tenants and landlords and you can read more about it here: www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk (opens in a new tab).
   
• Our approach to handling complaints is compliant with the Housing Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code, which you can read by tapping here (opens in a new tab).
   
• The UK government website also provides information for social housing tenants, including how to complain, and you can access it by tapping here (opens in a new tab).

We're committed to treating all our customers with respect, and we have a range of mechanisms in place that support us to do so.

• Together with Tenants is a sector-wide initiative focused on strengthening the relationship between residents and housing association landlords. To read the six commitments we've made as part of the Together with Tenants charter, tap here.
   
• We have to demonstrate that we meet the strict requirements contained within the Regulator of Social Housing’s Consumer Standards. The Regulator of Social Housing’s latest Consumer Standards can be found by tapping here (opens in a new tab).
   
• Before we attend your home to carry out a repair or check the condition of the property, you'll receive notice from us. Appointments can be confirmed in a number of ways, including, but not limited to, the use of text messages and letters.

We want to give you more opportunities to share your views to help us improve our services.

Tap here for a full list of ways you can be involved and shape our decision making.

Buying your property through the Right to Buy or Right to Acquire schemes:

If you became our tenant before 28 March 2011: you may qualify for the 'Right to Buy' scheme. Please tap here to visit the gov.uk site for more information on the Right to Buy scheme (opens in a new tab). If you'd like a rough idea of the discount that you may be eligible for under the 'Right to Buy' scheme, tap here (opens in a new tab).

If you became our tenant after 28 March 2011: you only qualify for the ‘Right to Acquire’ scheme. Please tap here to learn more about the 'Right to Acquire' scheme on the government website (opens in a new tab).

For more information on buying your Bolton at Home property through the 'Right to Buy' or 'Right to Acquire' schemes, please phone our Home Ownership Team on 01204 328000 or email:  homeownership@boltonathome.org.uk.

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We also have other options if you're interested in owning a home:

Rent to Buy:

Rent to Buy helps tenants in England save for a deposit to buy a home by offering properties at a discount. For more information on how Rent to Buy works and eligibility, tap here to visit the gov.uk website (opens in a new tab).

Shared Ownership:

Put simply, shared ownership is a cross between buying and renting a home. You buy a share of the property, usually between a quarter and three quarters, and then rent the part you don’t own at a reduced rate. You then have the option to buy a bigger share in the property in future.

For further information on our Shared Ownership offer (through our 'Stonecross Homes' brand), tap here.

You can find more specific information on your rights and responsibilities in your Tenancy Agreement. It will detail things like rent and service charges, repairs, and acceptable behaviour.

• If you'd like to see our most frequently-asked questions regarding your tenancy, please tap here.
• For more information on how we're governed, please tap here.
• If you'd like details on how to access personal data held by Bolton at Home, please tap here.

Here are some additional resources to support you to understand your rights

Social housing providers are regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing, which ensures social housing providers are financially stable, well-managed, and meet these obligations. For more information on the Regulator of Social Housing, please tap here (opens in a new tab).

Housing Rights is a charity that offers advice on social housing rights: tap here to learn more about social housing tenants' rights and responsibilities on the Housing Rights website (opens in a new tab).

Shelter (also a UK charity) have a page to help you understand your tenancy rights - tap here to view it (opens in a new tab).

Shelter also have a page on using the 'right to repair' scheme where certain qualifying repairs have not been completed within a prescribed period - tap here to view it (opens in a new tab).

The gov.uk website has a page explaining the Regulator of Social Housing's role and what happens when they receive a complaint or a referral - tap here to view it (opens in a new tab).

The gov.uk website also has a page that clarifies the support you can expect if you're a tenant experiencing antisocial behaviour - tap here to view it (opens in a new tab).