Housing policies

Policies set out how we do things here at Ongo Homes. They make sure we are always fair and consistent.

All tenants and staff get the chance to comment on policies before they are agreed because your views really matter to us.

The policies here are all customer related and, after taking on board your comments, they have been approved. We also have other policies on how the organisation is run, which we can provide you if you ask us to.

We will post any new policies on our website in the Get Involved section when we would like to hear from you. Get in touch, we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Copies of all our policies are available in larger print, Braille, audio or other languages. Just ask us and we will be happy to help.

Managing our homes
Living in your home
Customer care
Getting involved

Managing our homes
There are a few different types of tenancies that we can grant, depending on the purpose of the home, the needs of the tenant and the suitability of the community. These are outlined in our Tenure Policy.
- We have two different levels of rent: social and affordable - you'll be told before you take on a tenancy, which rent you'll be charged. If you want to know more you can read our Rent and Service Charge Setting Policy tells you more about how we set rents for our properties and garages.
- We want to provide an effective, efficient and friendly lettings service and provide customers with homes they want to live in. Our Lettings Policy along with the associated appendices (A, B & C) tells you more about how we will do this.
- We also offer some Rent to Buy homes. Our Policy tells you all about this.
- As well as letting our homes, we also have homes which are leased to customers. As a result, we have a Leasehold Management Policy which explains how this process happens and how we maintain leasehold homes. Our Leasehold Service Charge Arrears Policy may also be of interest to leaseholders!
- We ask contractors to carry out some of the work on our homes and also to build new ones on our behalf. Like our staff, we expect them to act in a certain way so we've created a Contractors Code of Conduct.
Living in your home
We believe everyone should feel safe and secure and be able to enjoy their home without experiencing the anti-social behaviour (ASB) of others.
- Before we allocate our homes, we will bring them up to the approved Lettable Standard.
- Here's how we can work together to tackle ASB and our Anti-social Behaviour Policy.
  To make sure your environment is safe, clean and well maintained, we have a Neighbourhood Management Policy and a new Tree Policy for you.
- The day to day management of your tenancy is defined in our Tenancy Management Policy.
- If pets are properly looked after, they can be a wonderful addition to your neighbourhood. Our Pet Policy sets out what we expect of pet owners.
- Wherever possible we want to do our very best to help keep you living an independent lifestyle in your home. Sometimes you need aids and adaptions to your home to help this happen. This policy explains how we work with our partners to adapt your home to suit your needs.
- Sometimes your home needs repairing - our Maintenance Services Policy sets out how this happens, in a safe environment and in an effective, efficient and cost effect way. Sometimes we may charge you for the cost of the repair if something is broken, damaged or missing - for more info see our Recharge Policy.
- Legally we have to undertake annual gas checks - our Gas Safety Policy tells you how we'll do this.
- If you fall behind with our rent, our Income Collection Policy tells you more about the approach we'll take.
- If you want to know the rules around mobility scooters, check out our Scooter Policy.
- We have consolidated our legal and other applicable requirements with regards to inspection and testing across our assets into an integrated Inspection & Testing Policy.
Customer care
- We sat down with our customers to agree upon a set of Commitments that set out how you think we should work to meet your needs.
- It's important you have your say, when you want to complain, pay us a compliment or just let us know something. We have a Complaints Policy specific to our Ongo Homes Tenants, a Commercial Complaints Policy that is specific to Ashbridge Roofing and Hales & Coultas, our commercial companies, and a Group Complaints Policy that applies to all other areas of the Ongo Partnership. You might also want to take a look at our Compensation Policy too.
- Sometimes, in exceptional circumstances, we may need to limit how and when customers can contact us if their behaviour has been unacceptable. For an explanation as to what sort of behaviour this would cover, you can read our Unacceptable Behaviour Policy.
- We have a number of policies in place which aim to support our customers in different circumstances: Domestic Abuse Policy, Vulnerable Persons' Policy and our Safeguarding Policy.
- We have a Risk Assessment & Support Planning Policy, which helps to establish the support needs of our more vulnerable customers.
Getting involved
- There are different ways that tenants can get involved in shaping our business. One of these is to become a Shareholder. As a Shareholder you can have a say in major decisions about Ongo Homes, attend and vote at our Ongo Homes Annual General Meeting and apply to become a tenant board member. This policy explains more.
- If you want to become a volunteer with us, our Customer Engagement Expenses Policy tells you more about the sort of costs we are able to cover. We also have a Code of Conduct for our volunteers to sign up to detailing the behaviour we expect of our volunteers.
- We can provide financial support to recognised local community gorups and resident associations - read our Funding Policy to find out more.