Housing Advice – Fylde Council

Fylde Council provides housing and homelessness advice to all residents living within the borough of Fylde.

You can contact the Housing and Homelessness Team by completing an online form where a housing officer will assess your needs and contact you with advice.

The Housing and Homelessness service is open during the following hours:

Day	Opening time	Closing time
Monday	9am	4.15pm
Tuesday	9am	4.15pm
Wednesday	9am	4.15pm
Thursday	9am	4.15pm
Friday	9am	3.30pm

You can also contact the Housing Team via email at housing@fylde.gov.uk

If outside of these hours you become homeless, contact the Emergency Duty Team by telephoning 0333 3204 555 / 01253 642111

As the Housing and Homelessness is a busy service it may be difficult to get through on the phone. If you wish to email the Housing Team, the mailbox is checked regularly. All non-urgent enquiries will be responded to within 3 working days.

Private sector and social housing tenant information

If you rent your property from a private or social landlord you have rights that protect you from illegal eviction, harassment, and live in a home free from disrepair. As a tenant you have responsibilities when renting your home. Below is a brief overview of those rights and responsibilities and where you can go for advice.

As a tenant you have the right to live in a home free from disrepair this means your landlord should keep up with routine maintenance and carry out all reported repairs within a timely manner. Your landlord must provide you with copies of safety documentation after service or repair of gas or electric.

Private Sector Rights

Private Sector Tenants’ rights

As a tenant, you have the right to know who your landlord is if you do not know this you can request this information from your letting agent. For periodic tenancies (week-by-week or month-by-month), landlords can typically raise the rent once a year without your agreement. you have the right to challenge excessively high charges.

To report disrepair to your landlord or agent you must put this in writing either by email or letter and allow two weeks for a response, if they have failed to act after this time you can report the disrepair complaint to Housing Enforcement here Property details | Housing Enforcement Complaint | Fylde Borough Council (servicebuilder.co.uk)

Private Sector Tenants’ responsibilities

As a tenant you have responsibilities to ensure the property you live in is kept to a good standard and that you pay for any damage caused by you, your family, or friends. You must ensure that any charges such as council tax or utilities are paid for regularly and on time, and you must pay the agreed rent, even if repairs are needed or you’re in dispute with your landlord.

You should give your landlord access to the property to inspect it or carry out repairs. Your landlord must give you at least 24 hours’ notice and visit at a reasonable time of day unless it’s an emergency and they need immediate access. Your landlord has the right to take legal action to evict you if you do not meet your responsibilities. As a tenant you will be protected from unfair eviction and unfair rent increases.

Social Housing Tenants

Types of social tenancies

Social tenants can be introductory tenants or secure tenants. An introductory tenancy is a trial tenancy before you have all the rights of a secure tenant.

Introductory tenants

You’re an introductory tenant for the first year of your tenancy. If you stick to your tenancy agreement for one year you become a secure tenant. If you’re an introductory tenant, you cannot apply for a transfer, swap, or exchange your home, make big changes to your home, or receive compensation if your landlord does not do repairs.

Secure tenants

Secure tenants have lived in a social tenancy for at least a year. If you’re a secure tenant, you have much stronger legal rights than an introductory tenant.

Social tenants’ rights

Your tenancy agreement and tenant handbook explain the rights you have as a tenant. But there are some rights that apply to all social tenants.

If your landlord plans to make changes to how they manage your tenancy, they must give you information about the changes and ask you for your opinion on their proposals and explain how they take your views into account.

If you’re a secure tenant and you transfer to another social tenancy, you’re still a secure tenant. A social landlord must follow the proper process to evict a tenant. But it’s easier for a landlord to evict an introductory tenant than a secure tenant.

Social tenants’ responsibilities

There are things you must do to keep your tenancy. If you do not, your landlord may try to evict you. As a social tenant, you must look after your home, replace items you damage, and do any repairs that are your responsibility. You must report any disrepair that your landlord is responsible as soon as possible.

Rent and rates should be paid on time and not allowed to fall into arrears should you be experiencing hardship you should inform your landlord the sooner you act the less likely it is that you’ll be evicted, if you are worried about debt there are links below that can offer support.

Help and Advice

If you have received an eviction notice, have been threatened with an illegal eviction, or feel you are being harassed by your landlord then you can speak with a Housing Officer from Fylde Council Housing Services Team by logging an enquiry here (link to enquiry). Alternatively, you can use one of the links below for further information and advice.

For more information on renting privately or through social housing use the links below which will take you to the government webpages on renting.