Important information: New Tenancy Agreement
We're making some updates
Over the last few months, we've been working through the process of reviewing our Secure Tenancy Agreement in light of the many changes in Fire and Safety regulations, as well as new legislation around Anti-Social Behaviour.
We have taken this opportunity to incorporate the Secure Tenancy Agreements currently in place for our Independent Living Schemes and General Needs accommodation. The agreement is currently with our legal partners for their review but will be put online in the near future for all residents to view and comment.
Further to this, we will carry out a consultation so that you are able to review and comment on the changes and to talk to your Neighbourhood Housing Team with any questions you might have.
You will not be required to sign a new agreement, but you will be bound by the new conditions once the new agreement has been approved and after a 28-day notice period.
If you have any immediate questions that you would like to raise, please email the Neighbourhood Housing Team at neighbourhoodhousing@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk putting 'New Tenancy Agreement' in the subject line.
Protect your home this winter
Don’t leave it empty in the cold and avoid burst pipes
Leaving your home unoccupied during cold weather may seem harmless, but it can lead to a big problem - burst pipes. When the temperature drops, the water inside pipes can freeze, causing them to expand and burst. This can result in damage to your home and belongings. Let’s explore why leaving houses empty in the cold can be risky and how you can prevent burst pipes.
The danger of cold weather
Cold weather can be a real threat to your home’s plumbing system. Water expands when it freezes and if it happened inside you pipes, the pressure can lead to cracks and bursts. Burst pipes can cause flooding, structural damage, and even mould growth, making it important to try to stop pipes bursting in the first place.
Some prevention tips
Keep the heat on
- Maintain a consistent indoor temperature, especially if you're planning to leave your home empty during the winter.
- Set your thermostat to at least 13 degrees centigrade to prevent freezing.
Empty and turn off your water supply
- Disconnect your water at the stop cock. If you don’t know where this is, it’s usually underneath your kitchen sink or by your washing machine fixing.
Ask a neighbour for help
- If possible, ask a trustworthy neighbour to check on your home regularly. They can let you know if there are any issues and make sure that your heating system is working properly.
A day of fun and connection at All Saints View
Community information event for tenants
There was plenty of fun and great conversation at All Saints View Independent Living Scheme on Saturday 15 November.
After the success of our summer tenant open day, Housing Services held another community information event, inviting tenants to come along, meet the team, and chat about the services we provide, what they love about their homes, and life in their community.
Colleagues from Housing were there to answer questions and share information, and we were delighted to be joined by partners from Houghton Helpers, TPAS (Tenant Participation Advisory Service), and Beds RCC who help with digital inclusion.
One of the highlights of the day was seeing the younger family members draw pictures of what they love about their home.
Tenants described the event as welcoming, relaxed, engaging, and informative.
Events like this show how powerful it can be when tenants, staff, and partners come together helping us build stronger connections where everyone feels they are heard.
Opportunities to talk to us!
Upcoming events for our tenants - get involved!
Staying connected with our tenants is incredibly important to us. These drop-in sessions are a chance for you to chat with the housing team in a relaxed, friendly setting. Whether you have a question, need some advice, or just want to say hello, we’re always happy to listen and help wherever we can.
We know that sometimes a quick conversation can make a big difference, so please do pop in if you’re nearby. You don’t need an appointment – just come along, have a chat, and let us know how things are going for you.
We’re really looking forward to meeting you at one of our upcoming sessions!
Monday 5 January 2026, 2pm to 3pm
Coffee Meeting, Gale Court, Hexton Road, Barton-le-Clay, MK45 4LH
Tuesday 13 January 2026, 11am to midday
Chatty Cafe at Tactic, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 1EZ
Stay connected and make a difference
Visit our website for information and updates about getting involved as a tenant.
You can be involved as much, or as little, as you like. Join our Tenant Involvement Register to take part in focus groups and discussions that shape the housing services you use.
Email tenant.involvement@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk to find out more.
We've had our first meeting of the Landlord Assurance Board
Working together to improve our housing service
November was a big moment for us in changing how we share performance information with tenants and open up our services to greater scrutiny.
For the first time tenants and councillors sat together as a Landlord Assurance Board to talk about how they will work together to hold the landlord service to account.
We have been busy working with the tenant involvement experts, TPAS, to recruit tenant members to the board. We have recruited two tenants so far and are looking to recruit the remaining three vacancies in the New Year. So, if you’d like to find out more please email housinginfo@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.
We’re looking for tenants who understand the communities we serve and who can use their lived experience to ask questions and offer insights that improve our services. So, if you have the passion to make a difference in your community and want to influence how we run our services - please get in touch.
The Board will meet every two months to discuss how well the Council is performing as a landlord. Board members will be able to ask senior managers how well we are dealing with repairs, building safety, anti-social behaviour, complaints and much more.
The next meeting is in January, and we’ll keep you up to date on what is being discussed through this Housing Matters newsletter.
Safety policies: looking out for us all
The safety of both residents and officers is very important to us
As visiting members of staff, we sometimes find ourselves in volatile situations which can include threatening behaviour towards us and yourselves. To try to protect both residents and staff from unwanted behaviour, we are looking at introducing body cameras and improving the information we collect and store. This will help capture behaviour as it happens - which could be used as evidence in certain circumstances - and help prevent some incidents from occurring in the first instance.
Bodycam devices
The first policy concerns the use of bodycam devices, with the aim of de-escalating difficult situations, keeping officers safe and providing reassurance for residents.
Read the draft bodycam policy.
Information recording
The second policy is about how we update our system following an incident or the receipt of information which means our officers may need to take additional precautions when interacting with residents. The purpose is to ensure our information recording is objective, consistent, proportionate and only stored for as long as necessary.
Read the draft information recording policy.
You can comment on either policy by emailing: incomemanagementteam@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.
Budgeting over Christmas
Support is available
With Christmas fast approaching, we understand that finding the money to pay your rent can be difficult, but it is one of the most important bills you need to pay.
For help and support with household budgeting or if you would like to discuss your rent payments, you can call the financial inclusion team on 0300 300 8042 and one of our friendly officers will be happy to speak with you
How we helped a resident get back on track
Working together to make their home safe again
The role of a Housing Officer is very varied, but much of our work focuses on supporting residents. Many of the cases we manage are complex and require patience and close partnership with other services.
In 2024, concerns were raised by a Council service about a tenant. Around the same time, one of our Neighbourhood Housing Officers had become worried about the growing number of items outside the resident’s front door.
After several attempts to make contact, the tenant eventually let staff in. It became clear that their home had become unsafe due to hoarding. Although the tenant initially engaged, they later withdrew and would only communicate by text, as they were worried about losing their home.
Working together, our housing team, Social Services and Tenancy Support Officers gradually built a supportive relationship with the resident and gained their trust.
After a year of steady progress, we were able to arrange a deep clean of the property and complete essential repairs. We also supported the tenant to purchase new furniture, and they will soon have regular help from a support worker to maintain their home. Our Neighbourhood Housing Officer will continue to check in with them and provide ongoing support.
This case shows how important it is for services to work together and to take the time to understand what residents are going through. With steady support and patience, the tenant now has a safer home and ongoing help in place to maintain it. Complex cases like this can take time, but they remind us how much difference the right support can make.
Direct Debit: a secure, trusted, convenient, reliable and flexible way to pay
Direct Debit is the hassle-free way to pay all your rent, whether it is for your home, garage or Careline
We offer monthly collections, any day from the 1st to the 28th of the month or weekly collections each Monday, and you can still take advantage of ‘rent free weeks’.
If the payment date falls on a weekend, we will take the payment on the next working day. You can still pay by Direct Debit if you receive some housing benefit all you need is a bank account.
It’s simple to arrange, just have your bank account details to hand and we will do the rest.
Call us on the following numbers with your bank details:
- 0300 300 6652 weekly/fortnightly/4 weekly collection on a Monday
- 0300 300 5186 for the 1st to 7th of each month
- 0300 300 5640 for the 8th to 14th of each month
- 0300 300 6855 for the 15th to 21st of each month
- 0300 300 8418 22nd to 28th of each month
If we are unavailable, please email your contact details to housingbusinessteam@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk and we will contact you at the earliest opportunity.
All banks and building societies operate a Direct Debit Guarantee as set out below:
If the amounts to be paid or the payment dates change, Central Bedfordshire Council will notify you at least 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed.
If an error is made by your bank or Central Bedfordshire Council you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund of the amount paid.
You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by writing to your bank or building society. Please also send a copy of your letter to us. You would need to make alternative arrangements to pay if you still owe weekly rent.
The tenant involvement team have been out and about talking rubbish!
Chatting about communal spaces
At the end of November, our Tenant Involvement Team spent time out and about in Leighton Linslade North, meeting residents living in local blocks to talk about their communal outdoor spaces.
As part of our ongoing commitment to improving the visual look and feel of the community, the team carried out short surveys with tenants to better understand where they would like to see improvements being made.
A key focus of the conversations was waste and recycling. We asked residents about their waste habits, the types of waste being disposed of, and their views on the current waste management arrangements.
By gathering this information directly from the people who use the space every day, we aim to build a clearer picture of what’s working well and where changes are needed.
The findings from these surveys will help us identify practical improvements for the future. In 2026 we aim to update waste facilities, refining collection points, offering clearer guidance on recycling and waste disposal.
Understanding how waste is managed at block level is an important step in keeping communal areas clean, attractive, and enjoyable for everyone.
We’d like to thank all the residents who took the time to speak with us. Your feedback plays a vital role in shaping the ongoing enhancement of your neighbourhood, and we look forward to sharing next steps as the work continues.
A new way to manage your home online
Housing One is coming soon
We will soon be launching a new online customer portal, called Housing One. This system will make it faster and easier for you to manage your home, and it will be available 24/7 to help you raise items outside of regular office hours.
You’ll be able to take care of important tasks online, without needing to call or wait for office hours. At a time and place that suits you, Housing One will let you:
- pay your rent instantly and keep track of your payments
- book and track repairs so you know exactly what’s happening
- report tenancy issues, like anti-social behaviour, quickly and easily
This is a big step forward. Our old system has been in place for around 10 years and hasn’t allowed tenants to self-serve. With Housing One, you’ll have 24/7 access from day 1, meaning less time waiting on the phone, fewer forms to fill out, and more time for the things that matter to you.
We have built the system with the future in mind, so it’s designed to grow with your needs. And while the online portal is the fastest way to get things done, other methods of contacting the Housing team will still be available if you need them.
When Housing One launches, you’ll need to sign up to start using it. You’ll need your tenancy number and your registered email address to set up a password, but we’ll share more details soon.
We’ve carried out extensive work behind the scenes to get Housing One ready, including training and testing to make sure the system works the way you need it to. But, as with any big change, there may be a few hiccups in the early days.
We will keep you updated, but please bear with us should there be any issues, and if something doesn’t quite work as expected, please let us know. Your feedback will help us make improvements quickly.
Share your views with us!
Help us continue to improve our housing service
Contacting us
We want to make sure you can contact us in the way that works best for you, and your views are essential to this process.
Take our short survey and tell us how you prefer to communicate. Whether you're happy with how things are now, or you think we could do better, we want to hear from you. Take part in the survey.
We’re always looking for ways to improve, but we can’t fix what we don’t know about. Your feedback helps us make things better for everyone.
Comments, compliments, complaints and service requests
Having your voice heard and providing your feedback is valuable to us. There are lots of ways that you can have your say about our housing service.
Comments
Often people want to suggest improvements to services. If you make a suggestion, we will record this as a comment.
Compliments
If you tell us about a service that has been good or a member of staff who has been helpful, we will record this as a compliment and share your praise with those involved.
Service requests
A service request is a request by you for us to take action to put something right. Service requests are not complaints, but we record them, monitor, and review them for learning and improvements. If we consider the issue raised to be a service request, we will ask the relevant team to reply to you directly.
Complaints
You can complain if you are affected by the way we provide services. Common examples of complaints are delay; poor record keeping; failure to act; failure to follow procedure or the law; poor communication; behaviour of our staff (also called officers); or giving out misleading information.
You can provide any of the above feedback by contacting housing.feedback@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or completing this online form.
