Moving in 

You’ve battled the thousands on the Lambeth Council Waiting List to be shortlisted for one of our properties, you’ve viewed the property and are in pole position and accept the offer of accommodation. What happens next?

The CETRA Housing Officer will notify Lambeth Council that you have accepted the property. If you are a verified applicant they will create the tenancy offer for your application and instruct our Housing Officer to proceed with the sign up process. If you are an unverified applicant you will be contacted by a verification officer from Lambeth Council advising of the documents they require from you and a timeframe for you to supply them. Providing the requested information is supplied on time and your verification is approved, a tenancy offer for your application will be made and the Housing Officer instructed to proceed with the sign up process.

New Tenancies will always begin on a Monday and with that in mind CETRA always look to conduct sign up’s on a Friday. Unlike other Housing Office’s CETRA conduct the sign up on a Friday to allow the new Resident to move in over the weekend FREE OF CHARGE. 

When you are invited to sign up you will be given a list of documents you need to bring such as Proof of ID, Proof of current address (bank statements, utility bills, tenancy agreement etc) and details concerning any benefits that you may be in receipt of (particularly Housing Benefit or Universal Credit). You will also be asked to provide 2 x passport photos for our records and will be required to pay a minimum of 1 weeks rent up-front. Please be advised that if you are in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit, as we will not know what your entitlement would be until your claim has been assessed, we ask that you make an up-front payment of £30 rather than 1 weeks full rent.

When moving into a property on the Cedars Estate please also bear in mind the other agencies you need to notify such as;

• Council Tax – Please do not feel that this would be done automatically as you are a new Tenant. You are obliged to notify Council Tax of when you moved into the property. Failure to do so could result in further action being taken against you by Council Tax.
• Gas and Electricity Suppliers – New Tenants can contact their preferred utility provider to notify them that they are moving into a new property and would like them to supply their gas/electricity. You can also request a key or billed meter at this point. If the existing provider is the same provider that you have chosen they will simply transfer the account to your name. If it is a different provider they will make arrangements with you to switch over to their company in due course.
• Thames Water – Up until 2019 Residents used to pay their Water Rates via their rent. However, upon expiry of the contract with Lambeth Council, Thames Water decided to take back control of the contract and charge Residents directly. With this in mind new Tenants are advised to contact Thames Water as soon as they have moved into the property to advise so that an account can be created for them. Failure to do so could result in further action being taken against you by Thames Water.
• Gas Turn on and Test – When a property becomes void the Housing Office requests something called a ‘Turn Off and Test’ which is a gas safety test to inspect the gas boiler and its appliances and shut the gas off whilst the property is void. Once a new Tenancy begins CETRA will notify the current Gas Contractor that your tenancy has begun and provide your contact details to them so they can arrange a ‘Turn On and Test’ which would involve testing the boiler and its appliances to ensure they are safe to use and to re-instate the gas supply. Please be advised that until you have arranged a Turn On and Test you will not be able to use your Heating or Hot water* (*unless you have an immersion heater for hot water)

If you are in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit any change of circumstances cannot be reported until the day that they occur. During sign up the Housing Officer will arrange for you to attend the CETRA Housing Office on the day your tenancy officially begins to report a change of circumstances for your benefits. If you cannot attend on the day your tenancy begins arrangements will be made for you to attend as close as possible to tis date to ensure your benefit claim has been updated.