Customer Support

Our housing management services are delivered by an office team and field based teams.

Our dedicated office based team of Housing Partners are available during working hours to respond to customer enquiries that our customer service centre are unable to resolve at the first point. We also run a duty system so that a Housing Partner is available to respond immediately to emergencies.

Our field-based team are responsible for all our tenancy and neighbourhood management visits for their patch. By having a dedicated office team they are able to be more present in our neighbourhoods and carry out visits to our customers 4 days a week.

A customer can request a visit from their Housing Partner by contacting us through the customer service centre. The range of services we cover in Housing Partnership include:

• Viewings
• New tenancy visits
• End of tenancy visits
• Permission requests for alterations and improvements
• Property suitability, transfers and mutual exchanges
• Tenancy support and welfare requests
• Successions and mutual exchanges
• Property inspections and property condition concerns
• Tenancy fraud and abandonment
• Estate inspections
• Estate matters – fly tipping, abandoned vehicles
• Neighbourhood improvements
• Breaches of tenancy
• Property related noise and pet nuisance
• Garden condition and boundary enquiries

We agree to:

• Repair your home and any communal areas
• Carry out mandatory gas and electrical servicing
• Arrange and pay buildings insurance (you are responsible for contents insurance)
• Give you at least 24 hours notice when we wish to access your home, except in emergencies
• Comply with GDPR with any information we hold about you and your family
• Attend emergency repairs within 24 hours of them being reported
• Respond to your emails within 5 working days

As an Abri customer, you agree to:

• Pay the rent when due
• Be responsible for paying your utilities including gas, electric, water, council tax and TV licence
• Keep your home in good condition and maintain your garden
• Report repairs quickly to prevent further problems
• Allow Abri colleagues, agents or contractors to access your home where necessary
• Get permission from Abri before you make changes to your home, get any pets or run a business from home
• Give us at least four weeks’ notice in writing when you wish to leave the property
• Be a considerate neighbour and not cause any anti social behaviour
• Pay for any damage or costs to bring your home back to

The tenancy agreement sets out our repairing obligations and the tenant’s responsibilities to report repairs and provide access for inspections.  Reasonable notice will be provided for appointments by our repairs teams for inspections and repairs and by our Housing Partnership Team for tenancy related visits and inspections.

The Housing Partnership Team has a pro-active property inspection process which focuses on visiting customers in their home to check they are managing the tenancy, and the property standard is satisfactory.  The Housing Partners are able to identify and report obvious repairs and where a more in-depth inspection is required we will request the help of our homecare colleagues.  This is also an opportunity to explore any support needs our customers might have and signpost to our inhouse tenancy support service or to external agencies.  We will support customers to make improvements where this is needed and make referrals to specialist agencies.

You can download an example of a standard assured tenancy agreement below:

Download an example Tenancy Agreement

The following are your standard rights under a standard tenancy agreement:

REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE – OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

We will:

• Keep the main structure and exterior of the property and any outbuildings we provide (including roofs, walls, floors, ceilings, window frames, outside doors, drains, gutters and outside pipes) in repair and the property fit for human habitation.
• Keep the following repaired and in proper working order:
  • Kitchen and bathroom fixtures and fittings such as basins, sinks, toilets and baths.
  • Electrical wiring and gas and water pipes.
  • Heating equipment and water-heating equipment we provide.
• Keep any shared areas around your property (such as stairs, lifts, landings, light fittings, entrance halls, paving, shared gardens, parking areas and rubbish chutes) clean and tidy and in repair.
• Do repairs within the timescales set in our policies and procedures, or if applicable, as set by law. When you report a repair, we will tell you when we aim to complete it. (This depends on how urgent it is)
• We will offer you other suitable temporary accommodation if we need you to move out formajor repairs or if we need to demolish the property.
• We will give you at least 24 hours’ notice in writing if we need to get into the property to inspect it or do work to the property or a neighbouring property. But we do not need to give this notice in an emergency (for example, a fire or a flood). or where emergency equipment is involved including but not limited to fire detection equipment or alarm equipment.

USING THE PROPERTY – YOUR RIGHTS

You have the following rights:

• You can take in lodgers, as long as you get our written permission first. We will not refuse permission unreasonably. You will also need to give us the name, age and sex of any lodger. You will be responsible for carrying out a right to rent check for your lodger. If you fail to carry out a right to rent check, this will be treated as a breach of your tenancy agreement.
• You have the right to live in the property without any interruption or interference from us (unless we need to enter the property for the reasons explained in this agreement), as long as you keep to this agreement

SUCCESSION AND ASSIGNMENT – YOUR RIGHTS

You have the following right:

13.1 Succession

• a) You have the right for this tenancy to pass to your partner if you die as long as they lived with you immediately before your death and the property was their only or principal home. Your partner is someone you are married to, your civil partner or someone living with as if you were married or were civil partners; including same-sex partners. This is known as a ‘statutory succession’. If the property is bigger than they need, or where they do not qualify for the property type in line with our policies and procedures, we may take legal action to move them out, but we will offer them another suitable property.
• The right in paragraph 13.1(a). will not apply if you took over the tenancy in the same way, in other words also by a succession. For the purposes of this agreement, a person will be treated as having taken over the tenancy by succession if they are:
  • a partner in whom this tenancy was left under this clause or a similar clause; or
  • a person who inherited the tenancy or a joint tenant who became a sole tenant as the last surviving joint tenant

13.2 Assignment

• a) You may have the right to exchange this tenancy with a tenant of another registered provider. An exchange may take place either by mutual assignment of the tenancies or by a surrender and re-grant of each tenancy in accordance with the relevant legal and regulatory provision and also each landlord’s own policies and procedures. There are some grounds upon which we can refuse an exchange or surrender and re-grant and we will explain these to you if we have to refuse.
• b) If the right for your tenancy to be passed on has been made by a court order as part of proceedings after the breakdown of your relationship, you would need to tell us about any application to transfer the tenancy. We have the right to object to such an application.
• c) Subject to you not owing any arrears of rent, you have the right to assign your tenancy, if you are joint tenants wishing for one of the tenants to take over the whole tenancy in their sole name or you are spouses, civil partners or cohabitees (but not including cohabitees who have lived together for less than 12 months) wishing to become joint tenants.
• d) Where this tenancy is granted to joint tenants and one of the joint tenants leaves the property and cannot be traced, the remaining joint tenant shall, subject to our consent, be entitled to assign this tenancy by way of mutual exchange by themselves and as agent for the departed joint tenant provided that they can satisfy us on the balance of probabilities that the departed joint tenant has no intention of returning. Each joint tenant hereby agrees to appoint the other as their agent for the purposes of this clause, such appointment to continue for the term of this tenancy.
• e) Except as provided for under paragraphs 13.2 (a)-(c) you must not assign the tenancy of the property, either in whole or in part.

You can find copies of our housing and tenacy policies on our main Policies page.

The rent increase is set by government policy linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for social rents or Retail Price Index (RPI) for shared ownership rents.

CPI measures the average change in the cost of consumer goods and services over time (in this case, over a year). Simply put, CPI looks at how much we’re paying for everyday items, whether that’s the food we buy or things like getting our hair cut.

RPI is a measure of inflation, which means the rate that prices for goods and services are rising over time (in this case, over a year).

You can find the exact amount you’ll pay each week in the letter we sent you explaining your new rent and other charges. You can also visit our customer portal, MyAbri, to check your rent statement and manage your account.

Abri is a not-for-profit organisation. This means that we don’t make a profit from your rent payments. We use your rent to invest in the things that you and our other customers have told us are most important. This includes delivering and improving our services, maintaining your home and building new homes to create communities where people can grow and thrive.

For example, we’re investing £689 million in our existing homes over the next ten years to improve building safety and to make them more energy efficient. We’re also planning to build 10,000 new homes by 2030.

If we offer a service, like cleaning or maintaining a building where you live (for example, lifts and CCTV) it costs us money. So we ask that through service charges, you help us keep these services going. We don’t make any money from this.

We estimate costs for the next year by looking at how much it cost last year and other changes such as VAT, the level of service or a contractor’s prices.

We understand that any increase in your rent is worrying. If you’re struggling, please contact us. We’re here to help and have lots of support available. Our online cost-of-living hub has a lot of support and guidance, including:

• calculators to check what welfare benefits you might be entitled to. You can also check your pension and state pension allowances
• information on local food saving schemes, including community pantries, mobile pantries and supermarket discount schemes
• budgeting advice, including debt management
• Guides on understanding your energy bills and how you can get support in paying them.

Visit our Cost of Living hub to see what’s available.

We also offer free employment support which can help you with everything from writing a CV to interview preparation, and advice on how to access training or apprenticeships. Whether you’ve been out of work for a while and are looking to build up your confidence, or are thinking about a career change, our friendly team can support you in achieving your goals.

Finally, please be aware that we have specialist teams who are on hand to listen, advise and support you. All you need to do is get in touch. You can do that by logging onto the customer portal, My Abri, and sending us a message. Or if you prefer to have a chat over the phone, please give us a call on 0300 123 1567.

It’s our mission to provide safe, warm and affordable homes. But if you don’t pay your rent, you could be at risk of losing your home. We really don’t want that, and we’re here to support you if you’re struggling financially. It’s really important that you get in touch with us if you’re finding it difficult to pay your rent. We have support available which you can find out more about above, but we can also check that you’re receiving any benefits that you might be entitled to and help maximise your income.

If you’re worried about the cost of living, we can help. We’ve made a Cost of Living Hub that brings lots of useful information together in one place.

Make sure you’re accessing all the financial support your entitled too. Find information on:

• How our team can help you
• Support available to help with energy bills
• Financial support available to you
• Benefits and budgeting advice
• Debt and financial advice
• Grants available to you
• Money saving advice

Take a look at the site

Worried about debt?

Please contact us if you are worried about debt. You can also use our Budgeting Calculator or contact one of the following organisations for free and independent financial advice: 

• CitizensAdvice
• National Debtline
• StepChange Debt Charity
• Payplan

There's also lots more information on the Cost of Living Hub

More debt and financial advice

Our Tenancy Sustainment Officers are here to help you.

Perhaps it's your first ever tenancy? Or you're not sure what benefits you're able to access. Or you might just have a few questions.

If you've got any tenancy related problems, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

The team can help you with:

• Budgeting and money management
• Benefit advice and help with forms
• Learning and developing essential life skills
• Sign posting to other agencies as appropriate Tenancy related advice including rent arrears and nuisance issues

Please contact us on 0300 123 1 567 or email hello@abri.co.uk

If you need help with managing your finances or budgeting, we might be able to help with:  

• Money management (such as budgeting)  
• Grants or charity applications (like furniture or white goods) 
• Support with Discretionary Housing Payment Applications through your Local Authority (your council) for help with the bedroom tax or benefit cap. 
• Opening bank accounts 

If we can’t help you, we can let you know about other organisations who will be able to help, such as debt management agencies. 

More benefits and budgeting advice

There's financial support available to help you pay your energy bills, from government support to charities and the team at Abri.

We've created a list of grants you might be eligible for on our Cost of Living Hub.

Or if you'd prefer to chat with one of the team, give us a call on 0300 123 1 567 or email hello@abri.co.uk

Take a look at financial support