Your Wherry Starter Tenancy explained

Wherry Housing offer starter tenancies to all new tenants who accept a property from us. This page will help answer any questions you may have about them and how they may affect you.

What is a Starter Tenancy?

A starter tenancy is a type of assured shorthold tenancy which we offer to all new tenants accepting a property from Wherry. The starter tenancy will be in place for the first 12 months and during this trial period we will monitor that our properties are looked after, ensuring tenancy conditions are being met and that starter tenants are not causing any anti-social behaviour to their neighbourhood.

If there have not been any problems the starter tenancy will automatically convert to a full assured tenancy at the end of the 12 months. However if starter tenants have not been meeting their obligations outlined in their tenancy agreement Wherry can take further action such as extending the trial period or providing additional tenancy support.

What differences does a Starter Tenancy have?

Starter tenancy agreements have similar rights to that an assured tenancy and residents can expect the same level of service from Wherry. However during the first 12 months tenants can not;

Transfer to another property or apply for a mutual exchange (house swap).
Take in lodgers or sub-let any part of their property.
Make any property improvements.
Apply to acquire the property.

How do we assess the Starter Tenancy trial period?

We visit all new tenants at around 3 and 9 months after they have moved in. During these visits we will assess the condition of the property and garden if applicable and discuss any concerns we may have or answer any questions from residents and check their tenancy is progressing smoothly.

Should it become clear that tenancy conditions have been broken we will investigate the problem and discuss any issues with the residents involved. We will then agree steps to stop any potential problems happening again. In most cases this will resolve the matter however should the situation not be improved then we can take steps to extend the starter tenancy by up to six months. In very serious breaches of tenancy we can also take immediate steps to end the tenancy as a last resort.

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Wherry are committed to tackling problems of anti-social behaviour in our neighbourhoods and to help make our communities a pleasant place to live and work and the use of starter tenancies helps us to achieve this.

Should you require any further information about starter tenancies then please call our Neighbourhood Team on 01603 703581 or email us at wnt@circle.org.uk

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