What is a tenancy audit?
A Tenancy Audit is a survey, which involves a Neighbourhoods Officer visiting you in your home to complete a short questionnaire, and take down some details about you and your household. It’s a helpful way to get to know your Neighbourhood Officer, and visits shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes.
The Officer will ask to look around the property to establish that it is not wholly let or sublet, and to ensure that it is being looked after in accordance with your Tenancy Agreement.
The tenancy audit will do a few things:
- Identify any people who may need to be re-housed due to any over-crowding or under-occupation to better match the property to the size of the family.
- Uncover any fraud.
- Sign-post people to other services that are available.
- Identify any issues with the condition of the property.
What information is being collected?
Our survey will collect and record the following information:
- ID verification
- Demographic information (e.g., age, gender, and ethnicity)
- Composition of your household
- Up to date contact details
- Income of your household, including any benefits such as universal credit
- Condition of the property
- Fire safety risks
- Proof of Identity
When we visit, we will ask you for proof of identity to guard against fraud. This will enable us to determine that the person who has the Tenancy Agreement is the person who is occupying the home. We will ask for two forms of identification, which must include one photographic form of ID.
Identification suitable for this purpose could be:
- Utility bill
- Bank statement
- Passport
- Birth certificate (for children)
- Driving Licence
- Official communication from Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) or another government body (in the past year)
As an additional check, you will also be asked to sign the completed tenancy audit survey, which will help us to verify your signature against your Tenancy Agreement.
If you have any questions about the process, please get in touch with our customer service team who will be happy to help.
Will you let me know?
We don’t usually give notice for these appointments as Tenancy Audits are designed to be unannounced. If you’re not in, we will attend at another time, which can include evenings. Your tenancy agreement states that we have the right to enter your home to carry out inspections, so as a last resort, if we can’t gain access following a number of visits, we may begin legal action such as applying for a County Court injunction to enforce access.