Introduction
As a responsible social housing landlord, the Council is committed to keeping you safe in your home. This will sometimes mean it needs to move you out of your home temporarily.
Keeping disruption to a minimum
Moving you out of your home will always be a last resort and the time out of your home will be kept to a minimum.
The Council commits to working you to find a suitable temporary alternative home within the Borough unless you agree to move away.
Moving home is a stressful experience, we want to make sure all temporary relocations are carried out appropriately, efficiently, within agreed timescales where possible, and with the minimum of stress and difficulty.
Support provided by the Council
The Council commit to offer the same size accommodation as currently being occupied or smaller if you agree, if the household is under-occupying, particularly if this will speed up the process of finding an alternative property.
There is a difficult balance to strike between moving you out quickly so that the Council can ensure your safety and finding a temporary home that fully meets your household’s needs.
The Council will make removal arrangements or cover the costs. If you prefer and are able we will ask that you pack for yourself. We will also pay and arrange for storage of any items you are not going to take with you. At the end we’ll meet all of the costs, and arrange for moving you back in.
The Council will provide additional financial support:
Disturbance payments - redirection of mail, reconnection of telephone landlines, reconnection of broadband and appliances, extra utility costs where a fixed price contract cannot be moved.
Discretionary payments - will be considered so that you are not out of pocket as a result of the move, for example, covering extra transport costs to get to work or school, if no cooking facilities are provided or available at the hotel accommodation, a food allowance per day of £20 per adult and £15 per child.
None of the above payments shall be used to pay off any debts or arrears you owe.
Do I still need to pay rent for my home?
Yes, it’s still your home, and you still need to keep paying your rent. You do not need to pay rent for the temporary property, we meet those costs. We will explain everything when we get you to sign a licence agreement for your temporary property.
Keeping you informed
We will share the initial scope of work, and keep you updated on the progress in your home.
See our full Temporary Relocations Policy
See our Temporary Relocations Policy Equality Impact Assessment