Property Questions

To qualify, the property you live in must have been built or purchased by Orwell Housing on or after 1st April 1997 and must have been funded using Social Housing Grant provided by the Homes and Communities Agency or a local authority.

As well as occupying a qualifying property, you must also have been a council or housing association tenant for a certain time depending on when your first tenancy commenced. You will not be eligible if you are bankrupt or have a bankrupt petition pending against you, are the subject of a possession order served by the court or subject to a formal creditors agreement made under the Insolvency Act.

The discounts you would receive are fixed by the Government and the amount you receive will depend on where you live. The discounts currently range from £9,000 to £16,000.

Homes and Communities Agency on 0300 1234 500.

When a tenant dies and leaves members of the family living in the property, it is possible for certain family members to succeed to the tenancy. Strict rules apply, however. These are laid out in Section C3 of the Tenants' Handbook and will be specified in your agreement.

Please click here to view the Associations Tenants handbook.

You are allowed to keep, without permission, a guide dog for the blind, or a small household pet for example hamster, budgerigar or goldfish.

Where the Premises have an individual private garden which is securely fenced, you will be permitted to keep a cat or dog only if you have received prior written consent from the Association.

It is your responsibility to ensure that any permitted animal is kept under proper control and does not cause a nuisance, annoyance or disturbance.

If you see an empty Orwell property, and wonder why no-one is living there, it may be because work is being carried out on the property, or people have moved out but their tenancy has not yet ended. It may also be because someone has just left without telling Orwell, if you suspect this may be the case, please let your Housing officer know, there will always be someone who needs the property.

Please click here to contact your Housing officer.

If you are going to have additional members in your household, you will have to contact your Local Authority and inform them of your change in circumstance. They will advise you what will happen next. The Association would be grateful if you could also advise your housing officer of any such changes to your household.

Please see here for details on the Local Authorities for all the areas where Orwell own properties.

You must give one calendar month's notice to end your tenancy. An appropriate form can be found in section C3 of your Tenants' Handbook.

Please click here to view the Associations Handbook.

If noise nuisance is a problem, please contact the Environmental Health department at your local council.

For other Anti-Social Behaviour, your local police station is the best port of call.

If the problem persists, speak to your Housing Officer and they will do their best to help. You can download a copy of our Neighbour Complaint Log form to keep a record of any incidents

For further advice in the Ipswich area, the Anti-Social Behaviour Network is contactable on 0800 138 6570 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can pick up a form at any Co-op store to report Anti-Social Behaviour, or visit www.oneipswich.com for more information.

If you live outside the Ipswich area , see the Citizens Advice Bureau Advice Guide for further advice.