Cash for leaving homes clean and cleared
Friday 16 October 2009
Homes for Haringey in partnership with Haringey Council will offer a payment to tenants who give four weeks notice when vacating a property. To qualify, they must remove all belongings and leave the property empty, clean and in good condition.
To get the payment tenants would also be expected to have no rent arrears, return all keys, allow viewings to be held whilst they are still residing and give vacant possession of the property. The payment is part of the new Tenancy Termination Incentive Scheme adopted by the council this week in order to speed up re letting properties and save cleaning costs.
Jackie Thomas, Executive Director of Housing Management, said: “We have introduced this scheme to improve the condition in which properties are handed back. Recharging will help pay the costs of putting things right that are the tenants’ responsibility and to help reduce the amount of time between the tenancy termination and when the property is re let.The amount of money charged will vary depending on the state of the property and the amount of things that were not carried out.”
Under the new scheme, a payment of up to £250 will be sent out to tenants if they meet the conditions. However, if they fail to meet these conditions without good reason, they will be re charged for the work required to bring the property up to the required standard. Payments will be split into two parts of £100 and/or £150 so that tenants who cannot meet the survey and viewings requirement criteria, still have an incentive to leave the property in a good condition.
Cllr John Bevan, cabinet member for housing, said: "Most of our tenants look after their homes and leave them in good order when they go. However, a significant number of them do not. This incentive scheme will encourage these tenants to maintain their properties to an acceptable standard and will reward those who take a bit of time cleaning up before they leave. "If we can get four weeks notice on tenancy terminations this will assist us in reducing the time it takes to re let the property, speeding up the waiting time for those in temporary accommodation or those needing transfers.
"It's not fair when tenants leave a property in a mess and with little notice given to the council. This prevents us offering the property to prospective tenants and slows down the whole chain. Also, cleaning up the mess left by tenants can cost a lot of money. Those who don't take care of their properties or who fail to clean up will be re- charged for that failure and for forcing the council to incur clean up or repair costs on their home."
The Audit Commission has also praised similar schemes in other authorities, saying they save money and re let times.
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