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A. Neighbourliness

Your Tenancy Agreement states that you, anyone else in your household or your visitors, must not cause nuisance to their neighbours. If this happens you are in breach of the Agreement. If you do not respond to complaints we will get involved. We will try to resolve the matter with you but if the nuisance does not stop, we will take action which may result in you and your family being made to leave your home.

Nuisance includes persistent and excessive noise, disturbance or abusive behaviour, which causes distress to others including these examples:
• Sound. Control the volume of sound from radios, music systems and televisions. Do not put these systems against shared walls. Where possible, use headphones.
• Housework. Make sure you mow lawns, use washing machines and do housework at reasonable times of the day.
• Dogs. If you have a dog, do not leave it barking constantly in the home or out in the garden, and clear up any mess it makes.
• DIY. Warn neighbours when you are going to do something noisy such as drilling or hammering.
• Cars. Try to be quiet when returning home late or setting off early; do not rev engines, hoot
horns or slam doors.

Noise can penetrate easily between floors and walls in adjoining properties. Many tenants do not realise how much noise is heard elsewhere in the building. Try to approach the neighbour and explain politely to them how much they are disturbing you. If noise becomes excessive and persistent you should contact us. We have well developed ways of dealing with complaints about noise and nuisance. Your local authority may also be able to help. To support your complaint you need to keep a diary of events and we have a form you can use for this. Under the terms of the Tenancy Agreement, neighbours are expected to be tolerant of different lifestyles but should not have to put up with excessive and persistent noise, disturbance, or abusive or threatening behaviour.

B.Anti Social Behaviour

Anti-social behaviour is any behaviour which harms the quality of life of residents causing distress or alarm. Harassment is the deliberate interference with the peace, comfort or safety of any person. This includes graffiti, damage to property, abuse, threats, drug dealing, theft and vandalism. You are breaking your Tenancy Agreement if you harass anyone on grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

We will take action against anti-social behaviour in or around the areas where we own properties. We consider this a high priority. We will work with other agencies such as the Police or Local Authority to deal with such behaviour. If it is one of our tenants, we can take legal tenancy enforcement action or, alternatively, we can apply to court for an injunction which is an order requiring someone to stop doing a particular action. We will need details of any problem, so you should keep a diary of events. You can take private action against the person but you will need to contact a solicitor to do this. If a problem is between neighbouring Co-op tenants and it is clear that one of them has broken their Tenancy Agreement, we can take legal action against that tenant.

C. Condensation, mould and damp

If, despite following the advice below, you have a problem with mould or damp we want to know. When you report a problem to us we’ll arrange for one of our surveyors to attend your home and carry out an investigation. We aim to carry out this first inspection promptly. We have produced a separate leaflet, a copy of which is on our website and is available on request, which sets out typical timescales taken to resolve problems depending on their source and severity.
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Condensation starts as moisture that is produced by cooking, washing, or drying clothes indoors on radiators. This moist air condenses on cool surfaces such as walls, mirrors, wall tiles and windows, and even some clothes. When the moist air is warm it rises and often ends up on ceilings and in upstairs rooms and then forms mould. If mould forms wipe it off immediately with water. You can use anti-fungicidal mould remover, which you can purchase from most supermarkets and DIY stores. Always remember to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Wear protective gloves and wash your hands thoroughly when you have finished.

Condensation can occur in any home. You can take steps to prevent it by closing kitchen and bathroom doors to prevent steam going into other colder rooms and keeping window trickle vents open. You can open kitchen and bathroom windows when cooking or washing so that steam can escape, or use an extractor fan which uses very little electricity. Also open some windows in other rooms for a while each day to allow a change of air. Do not use bottled gas heaters which produce a lot of moisture. Wipe down surfaces where moisture settles to prevent mould forming and do not block air vents. To produce less moisture dry clothes outdoors whenever possible, otherwise use well-ventilated rooms, cover pans when cooking and vent any tumble driers to the outside. Try to keep your house warm, take steps to prevent heat loss and maintain low background heat.

Mould is formed of very small plants which thrive in the conditions produced by condensation. The spores are very small and exist in the air. They will colonise a suitable habitat very quickly and produce more spores, so if left untreated, it is common for entire rooms to be covered. Prevention is always best but if you do get a patch of mould, please wipe away and mop up any moisture appearing on walls, windows, windowsills and other surfaces. Wring out the cloth into a sink rather than leaving it to drip dry.

There are a number of different potential sources of damp. These include:
• Condensation damp – This type of damp is caused by having a significant amount of moisture in the air from a variety of sources such as cooking and bathing.
• Penetrating damp – this can be from roofs, chimneys, parapet walls, and indeed any wall or building feature above ground. This can be caused by a rainwater defects and weather penetrating the fabric of the building.
• Plumbing leak damp – Dampness caused by pipework leaking internally such as broken pipes or a failed stopcock.
• Rising damp – This occurs when moisture travels upwards against the forces of gravity, typically up a wall or through a floor, from its source below the ground.

D. Pets

You can keep most normal domestic pets in your house or flat though you do have to get our permission to keep a dog. You must ensure that your pets do not escape or cause nuisance, danger or a health hazard to other residents or our employees. If you are not a responsible owner, we can withdraw permission for you to keep a pet.

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