Moving home (council housing)

Giving notice

You must give us at least 28 days notice that you wish to end your tenancy. This also applies if you are ending a tenancy for someone who has died or gone into long-term residential care. 

You must tell us in writing and the end of the notice period must be a Monday.

After telling us you will need to fill out a tenancy termination form.

Before you leave:

• tell the council tax and Housing Benefit teams (if applicable)
• arrange for any post to be re-directed
• tell the gas, electricity and water companies and take final meter readings.

Returning the keys

To end the tenancy, you must return all keys back to us by 12pm the Monday after the tenancy has ended. If the keys are not returned we will charge you rent for every day until the keys are returned, or we take possession. If your home has pre-payment gas or electricity meters, for which you have a card or key for top-ups please also return this with your keys.

Condition of the property

You must let us have access to the property to carry out an inspection before it is left vacant. We aim to visit at a pre-arranged time within 5 working days of you giving notice to leave or being offered a property via the transfer list.

You must:

• leave the property in a clean and reasonable condition, clear of all rubbish
• leave the property empty and remove any personal property, goods, furniture and belongings - this includes all floor coverings, items in the loft, garden and outbuildings.

We will charge you if we have to:

• clear any items from the property or garden (we will dispose of them without giving you notice)
• carry out work to bring the property back to a reasonable and safe standard
• carry out work to remove or replace alterations you have made to the home for which you did not have our permission
• remove unsafe garden walls, patios or fill in ponds.

Fixtures and fittings

All fixtures and fittings, whether they have been installed by the council or by you, become property of the council when the property is vacant and they must remain.

Paying for removals and rechargeable repairs

If you leave your tenancy and work is needed to make the property ready for a new tenant, we will add the cost to your final rent account. We will do this by setting up a separate account called a sub-account.

We will send you an invoice for the cost with a list of the works needed.

If you do not pay the invoice we may:

• take legal action against you
• refuse to re-house you if you apply for housing in the future.