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Home Improvements - Temporary Accomodation
Most times, when we need to improve your home we can do it without you having to move out. But in some circumstances, either because we have to do a lot of work or because of health and safety, we may have to ask you to move out while we complete the work.
If we need you to move out, we will try to meet your needs as best as we can. You can arrange your own temporary accommodation with family or friends, but if you can't we will arrange temporary accommodation for you. We will pay for any costs linked to your moving. For example furniture removal, mail redirection and so on.
If we have to find you a temporary home it is usually one of our empty homes, although for very short periods of time, hotel accommodation may be offered.
If you move into one of our temporary homes, you will still be the tenant of your own home and you will still have to pay rent. But we will charge you the lower of the rents, for example if your home is £45 per week and the transit home is £52 per week, you will pay £45 per week.
You cannot stay permanently in the temporary home. You will have to move back into your own home when we have completed all the improvements.
If you find your own temporary home we will not charge you rent for the time you move out.
We would need to agree to any temporary home that you find for yourself and we cannot guarantee refunding you any additional costs that we haven't agreed to before you move.
If we need to improve your home and you need to move out for us to do it, we will fully discuss all the options with you. We will take into account your personal circumstances and your health and we will do what we can to make the temporary move as easy as possible.
We will arrange as much as we can for you and you will have a contact for one of our officers who you can contact to help solve any problems that may happen.
Before you move out we will tell you how long you are likely to be in the temporary home. While we are doing the improvement work we will keep you up to date with all the progress and tell you if there are any delays. Due to Health and Safety legislation, once you move out of your home, the contractor is responsible for your property. If you need to gain access to your property for any reason, you must inform the contractor and be accompanied by them.
Helplines
We will give you a helpline phone number as soon as we have made arrangements for the work to be completed. This will be the direct phone number of the officer who will be looking after you during the improvements.
For any general enquiries you can contact us through Barnsley Connects on 01226 775555. All offices are open Monday to Friday from 9.00 am to 5.00pm.
While you are in your temporary home you can report any emergency repairs that happen out of office hours to the usual out of hours service on (01226) 730798.
How you can help us
If you move out of your home for work to be completed you may be entitled to a refund of the cost of any additional expense you have had. For example - mail redirection.
Please keep copies of any receipts that you think you can claim for.
Useful leaflets
We have a Home Improvements information pack which we will give to you as soon as we know that you will have to move out of your home for us to complete the work. This information pack explains in more detail what will happen.
If you want us to post you a copy of our leaflets then please email CustomerServices@berneslaihomes.co.uk
Legislation
We will complete any improvement to your home in line with the following legislation:
- 1996 Housing Act.
- 1985 Housing Act.
Response times / steps
If we need you to move out while we do improvements we will tell you how long we expect the improvements to take. We will keep you informed of the progress. Our aim is to get you back in the property as soon as possible.
Frequently asked questions
Q I have to move out while you improve my home but I really want to move permanently - can I?
A In some instances we may agree to you moving permanently. But we will only usually agree to this after careful consideration of the situation and if a permanent move will significantly benefit you or us.
Some examples are:
- If you have severe medical problems and had already asked to move to more suitable housing.
- If the improvements are going to take a very long time and we have a property available for you to move into.
- If we need your home to become a transit property.
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