Becoming a Sovereign resident

Moving home is an exciting time and we want to support you to move into your new home as safely as possible. Following Covid, we work in a slightly different way and will offer a Digital First experience for our customers to minimise the impact on your day to day life and give you access to the information you need at the right time. We’ll send you links and forms to complete and sign in your own time, via online methods on your smart phone or tablet device.

You’ll be able to see inside your new home before you move in, this will be a ‘virtual viewing’ via a video walk through of the home, showing you each room. You’ll still be able to ask questions and we’ll do our best to give you as much information as possible and talk you through your move. You’ll have a dedicated Lettings Officer working with you until you move in. When it’s time to move, we’ll give you instructions on how to collect your keys safely.

We hope you find the information on these pages useful but please feel free to ask any questions, we’re here to support you through your move. We can’t wait to welcome you into your new home.

Congratulations, you've successfully bid on one of our homes

Before you can become a tenant, there are some stages you’ll need to go through.

Steps to becoming a Sovereign resident

One of our Lettings Officers contacts you to carry out a pre-tenancy assessment. If you’re able to do some of this yourself online then we’ll ask you to do this before the meeting, and then review it with you over the phone.

What do you need to know and do next?

This assessment helps us understand your housing need and current circumstances, as well as make sure it’s the right home for you. If you’ve been able to complete the self-assessment questionnaire beforehand then it should take around 20 minutes for us to go through it with you. If you’ve not been able to do this and we need to do a full assessment with you, then this will take about an hour to complete.

Before you complete the assessment you’ll need the following information available:

• Proof of income – your last four weeks of payslips if you get paid weekly, or last two months if you get paid monthly
• If you’re going to have a joint tenancy or have other people living with you who’ll be contributing financially, they’ll also need to provide payslips
• Proof of any benefits you receive – this could be paperwork from HMRC, DWP or UK Local Authority
• National Insurance Number – you should be able to find this on your payslip or P45/P60
• Bank statements from the last two months
• Information on anyone who will be living in the property with you, including income details of anyone over 18
• Proof of identification (I.D.) – Photographic ID if you have it. This could be your passport (preferred), full or provisional UK photo driving licence, birth or adoption certificate or National Identity card
• If you’re not a UK citizen, please bring documents that evidence your existing residency permit and time limit
• Evidence of all your outgoings, including copies of credit card statements or loan agreements.
• Details of any savings you have and information on any land or property you currently own
• Details of your housing history over the past 5 years (landlord’s name, addresses and dates you lived in the properties)
• Contact details of any support workers

Please also take a look at:

• Becoming a Sovereign resident [pdf, 167kb]
• Changes to welfare benefits
• Home contents insurance
• Ways you’ll be able to pay your rent

This is your first chance to see inside what may be your new home!

Rather than doing this in person we’ll send you a video of it, showing you the layout and what all of the rooms look like. By sending you a YouTube link to this virtual walkthrough it means you can watch it as many times as you like, and share it with family and friends.

There’ll be some useful property information such as heating instructions, left in the property ready for when you move in.

In exceptional circumstances we may allow an over the threshold viewing, in which case we’ll arrange a convenient time and place to meet you at the property. This would normally only be if you need an Occupational Therapist to help check the suitability of it for your needs.

Some things to remember if we do a viewing at the property:

• If you’re currently seeing an Occupational Therapist, please let them know your viewing date so that they can come along with you.
• We can only have a maximum of two people at the viewing and they both need to be over 16, so unfortunately no children can come.
• Please wear covered footwear and flat shoes.
• Our homes are not furnished and won’t usually have carpets or white goods, so you’ll need to look at getting these.
• Finally, there may be work happening in the property, so you may not be able to see all rooms properly. We’ll be able to tell you what will be done before you move in.

If you decide you want to make the property your home, you’ll need to pay at least a week’s rent in advance (or a month’s rent if you’re going to pay monthly).

You can see your different payment options here . We don’t cover the contents of your home if they’re damaged, broken or stolen, so please think about taking out home contents insurance .

Congratulations on being offered a tenancy with us – we hope you’ll be very happy in your new home.

The next step is for us to let you know when your property is due to be ready and give you a tenancy start date. We’ll send you your paperwork through a service called DocuSign, which is an easy way for you to be able to sign it electronically and return it to us.

Please make sure you read the CORE Privacy Notice [pdf, 167kb] for tenants of new social housing tenancies.

On or just before your tenancy start date you’ll be asked to sign a tenancy agreement. This is a contract between us and you, setting out what you’re responsible for as a tenant, and what we’re responsible for as your landlord.

Tenancy agreements contain a lot of information, which you’ll need to read and understand before signing.

You can read a sample of your tenancy agreement – please make sure you read the one for your tenancy-type in the next section below.

Assured tenancy agreement - This is a ‘lifetime’ tenancy, which usually means you can stay in your property for the rest of your life, so long as you don’t break any rules in your tenancy agreement.

Please take a look at our assured tenancy factsheet [pdf, 75KB] for more details.

Fixed term tenancy agreement - A fixed term tenancy with us lasts for five years and is given when you’re moving into a four bed or larger home, and don’t already have an assured or secure tenancy with your current landlord.

If you’re being given a fixed term tenancy then you’re new to social housing and will need to successfully complete a one year probationary period before your tenancy becomes a fixed term tenancy.

Please take a look at our fixed term tenancy factsheet [pdf, 79KB] for more details.

Assured short hold tenancy agreement - If your accommodation is temporary, you’ll be given an assured short hold tenancy.

Please take a look at our assured shorthold tenancy factsheet [pdf, 117KB] for more details.

Before you attend your sign up meeting, you’ll need to complete the online resident induction - your formal offer email has the link to this or use the button on this page.

• Once on the induction, you’ll need to click ‘register now’ and then enter the access key IND17
• You’ll then be asked to enter your email address and agree to the data privacy statement.
• Once you’ve done that, enter your first name and surname and click ‘register’.
• Please make a note of your username and password in case you need them in the future.
• You’ll then be asked to ‘click here now to proceed to the resident induction programme’.

Once you’ve completed and passed the induction, please take a picture of your certificate on your mobile phone or print it out as you will need to bring this with you to your sign up meeting.

If you’re moving in to a newly built home, there are a few extra things you need to be aware of.

Please take a look at our our new-build home webpage for more details.

You’re nearly ready to pick up the keys to your new property! There are just a few things you need to do before you can call it home.

We’ll arrange a date for your new tenancy to start. On, or just before this, you’ll need to have:

• a screenshot for the rent you’ve paid in advance (unless you paid by phone),
• proof you’ve completed our online resident induction (if you’ve already attached this to your self-service assessment, then you don’t need to do it again),
• a stamped receipt, if relevant, for a Housing Benefit claim and Housing Benefit estimate, or Universal Credit claim reference,
• a completed Direct Debit form (if you’re paying your rent that way).
• We don’t cover the contents of your home if they’re damaged, broken or stolen, so please think about taking out home contents insurance .

Please also take a look at:

Before moving out, please make sure you’ve paid any rent you owe on your current home.

We’ll need to inspect your home before you go to make sure there aren’t repairs or works to be done.

There may be some work for you to do before you move out to avoid charges from us. You can find more information here moving tips to make it easier .

You’ll need to put the keys for your current home in the keysafe we’ve fitted there. You need to do this and then either phone or email us as agreed to let us know you’ve done this before 10am on the Monday your tenancy ends.

If you don’t hand your keys in and tell us that you have by 10am on this date, we’ll have to charge you another week’s rent.

However, if you want to keep your keys for an extra week while you move home, you can do this but you’ll have to pay another week’s rent. If this is something you’d like to do, please let us know.

You can find more information and tips about moving on our moving out page (please note that the references to returning your deposit only apply to our market rent customers).

Resident induction

Ready to begin your induction?