Think Tank

Unravelling the terms of succession
I have an assured tenancy where the mother has died and the son is saying he has rights to succeed to the tenancy. However, according to the tenancy agreement, a succession took place some years ago when the mother's husband died. Can the son succeed if only one succession is allowed? What do I do if the circumstances are that the husband left, is not dead, but his whereabouts are unknown?

For assured tenants, the only statutory right of succession is for a spouse or cohabiting partner (s.17 Housing Act 1988). Only a tenancy agreement will give the son any rights, so it is important to check the property's tenancy agreement.

Most assured tenancies that allow a succession to a member of the family of the tenant only allow one succession. That would mean the son could not succeed. However, a few RSLs have agreements that allow for two successions, so, again, the wording of the tenancy is all-important.

Some RSLs have a policy (although no right in the tenancy agreement) that they will allow someone in the son's situation to succeed, so it is important to check policies as well as the agreement. But even if the policy helps the son, the RSL may decide the family home is too big for him and allocate a smaller property.

If the husband has left, then again it is important to find out if the agreement gives any rights to a member of the family.

Was the husband a joint tenant? If so, his tenancy still exists and on the wife's death he succeeded. If it is not his principal home, the RSL could end his tenancy by notice to quit.

It would then be a policy question on whether the son should be allowed a new tenancy.

If the mother was the sole tenant, the absent husband will not succeed by statute, as s.17 of the Housing Act 1988 requires that the husband must be living there when the tenant dies if he is to succeed. But that does not mean the son will succeed – that will depend on the tenancy agreement.
Catherine Hand

How can i speed up our maintenance work?
Our maintenance department is very slow at getting jobs done. I find this frustrating, as a lot of tenants have real difficulties, so I have been advising them to phone the environmental health department at the council, as this seems to work. My boss heard me doing this and has told me not do it again. What should I be doing?

The best strategy would be to work with the maintenance team to resolve issues but make your feelings known to them – or at a higher level, if necessary – about the impact of slow or nil repairs. Invite the maintenance workers to join you on a visit to a problem area to try to engage them in their task. Discuss with their manager the RSL's service promise and what residents can expect. Maybe suggest an inter-departmental workshop to discuss how to improve the service to residents and how each department can work more closely to reach a common goal. Agree a way forward and then invite residents to participate.
Steven Walker

Handling police matters
People report criminal activity to me because they are scared to call the police.

I sometimes call the police, especially if I have first-hand info, but they often don't seem very interested. I can think of two tenants who have been dealing drugs for years and continually get away with it. I try to follow up my enquiries, but the police never give me any information and they never seem to have anyone assigned to the case who I can speak to.

It is vital to log all information accurately, and note the name of the police officer who dealt with it. This will assist in both demonstrating the history and pattern of the reports, and will enable you to ask for that officer in future.

Liaise with the local police station to find out if it operates a beat officer scheme. If so, make contact with your beat officer – he or she will be eager to know about what's happening in your area. Bear in mind that it is often difficult for the police to feed back information as it may jeopardise a current investigation or breach confidentiality.

Information from more than one source is often helpful to the police. Setting up a Neighbourhood Watch scheme can add weight to an individual's information and give vulnerable witnesses some security.
Phillip Dinham

How do we deal with the private owners next door?
We often experience problems when our residents complain to us about antisocial neighbours who are private owners. We don't have any jurisdiction to challenge this type of behaviour if the people concerned are not subject to our tenancy agreement. How can we help our residents?

Legal advice is very unlikely to be a great deal of help. You can show your residents that you are working with other agencies, such as the police, to diminish antisocial behaviour, and explain who can apply for antisocial behaviour orders. If noise nuisance is the issue, you can tell them how to contact the environmental health department of the local authority. Some areas have mediation organisations, which seek to resolve neighbour problems. If yours does not, should you be facilitating one? If young people are at the root of the problem, can you do more to work with youth services and other agencies to find activities that will divert them from causing nuisance?
Catherine Hand

An eye on interest rates
I want to conduct a financial appraisal of a new housing development using the discounted cashflow technique. What interest rate should I use for the appraisal?

The interest rate should normally reflect your RSL's actual borrowing costs – anticipated market rate plus lending margins. You will be looking for a positive result (net present value) when cashflows are discounted over the selected period (typically 30 years for a new scheme) using this interest rate. With some types of project – non-core activities such as market rent schemes, say – you may well use a higher rate of interest to compensate for greater associated risks. You should always model the sensitivity of the forecast to changes in the interest rate and set this analysis in the context of your overall business plan, in order to assess the impact on your RSL's funding capacity.
Dermot Macroberts