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Council
housing - home insurance
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Local authorities manage and maintain tenants homes
but do not insure tenants personal belongings,
household goods and contents. However, they offer
comprehensive insurance cover for contents which is
exclusively available to its tenants. Tenants are
advised to take out home contents insurance.
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Council
housing - rents
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Every council tenant must pay rent for their
property. Rent is usually payable weekly and may
include other regular or communal charges associated
with the property. The local authority will help
tenants to claim any available assistance with paying
their rent.
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Empty
properties
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Empty
residential properties
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Empty residential properties are a target for
squatters, vandals and burglars. They could be used
to provide homes for the many people who need one.
Councils will act on reports of empty properties and
may provide grants for renovation and/or rental
schemes to encourage owners to make use of empty
properties.
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Home
improvements - disability facility grant for a
private property
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The disabled facilities grant scheme provides
financial assistance towards the cost of essential
adaptation work to make a house fit for a disabled
person.
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Home
improvements - housing renovation grant for a private
property
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A renovation grant scheme provides financial
assistance towards the cost of larger scale works
required to make a house fit for occupancy or to put
a dwelling into reasonable repair.
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Homeowners
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Housing -
clearance and re-housing
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Where a property is unfit to live in the LA may
decide to demolish it and redevelop the site (which
may mean the clearance of neighbouring property). The
council will usually offer the owners the market
value of the property and repay expenses associated
with moving plus possible compensation. Where the
property is rented tenants will be given priority for
re-housing in a council property.
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Housing -
improvement and repairs loans
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Local authorities may provide financial assistance
(in the form of a mortgage or secured loan) to
existing or prospective homeowners to enable them to
carry out improvements and repairs on their property.
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Housing -
information and advice
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Advice to tenants and landlords in the private sector
on housing related matters such as tenancies, welfare
benefits, rent, repairs etc.
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Housing -
mediation
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The council provides a mediation service to help
resolve disputes between neighbours or between
citizens and the council.
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Housing -
rent determination
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The local authority is obliged to send details of a
tenancy to the Rent Office for private tenants in
receipt of housing benefit whose tenancy commenced
after 1 January 1989, the local authority is obliged
to send details of your tenancy to the Rent Officer.
It is the responsibility of the Rent Officer to tell
us if you are being charged a reasonable rent for
your accommodation. The Rent Officer will make a
determination and advise us of the appropriate rent
to be used in your Housing Benefit assessment.
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Leaseholders
- information and advice
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Licence -
homes in multiple occupancy
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The Housing Act 2004 requires landlords of houses of
multiple occupation (with more than two households or
tenants) to be licensed by the Local Authority. In
Scotland, under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act
1982 (Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation)
Order 2000, any rented property which is occupied by
three or more unrelated people, who share a kitchen,
bathroom or toilet, must have a licence from the
local authority.
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Local
land charges - personal search
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A personal search is an inspection of the local land
charges register. It can be carried out by anyone
upon payment of the fee.
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Local
land charges search
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The Local Land Charge Section carries out all
official searches covered by the Local Land charges
Act 1975, guaranteeing comprehensive replies to the
official LLC1 (registerable charges, improvement
grants, tree preservation orders etc.) and CON29
(road schemes, planning history etc.) enquiries.
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Low
cost home ownership
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Provision and management of a scheme whereby eligible
local citizens can purchase property at a reduced
cost or participate in shared ownership schemes.
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Planning area
search service
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Area searches provide a check of the neighbourhood
surrounding a property to find out what planning
applications have been approved or refused. It
provides current and historic planning application
information for a specified area around a chosen
property.
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Private
landlords
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Private
tenants - advice and support
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A local authority may be able to provide help and
advice to existing private tenants who may be a
victim of harassment, illegal eviction or
experiencing trouble or issues with their landlord.
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Property -
searches
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Searches on individual properties - usually on behalf
of prospective purchasers - to identify any town
planning, statutory orders, highways, housing and
environmental health matters which might impact on
the property.
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Property
enquiries certificates
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A Property Enquiry Certificate is a document produced
by the council to collate various elements of
information about the status of a property. These
elements are derived from the recommendations of
bodies such as the council of Mortgage Lenders and
the Law Society of Scotland. The information
contained in the PEC is required for property
transactions. A purchaser’s solicitor will normally
request it as part of the property search for
conveyancing activities.
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Renting to
the council
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