Report it

When I make a complaint will my identity be given?

At no time will your identity be given to the person you are complaining about, although due to the nature of some neighbourhood complaints it is obvious who the complaint has come from.  For example if your are complaining about a particular instance of verbal abuse then it may be apparent to the other party who has made a complaint. In these types of cases we will support you so that the situation doesn't escalate.

Can I make an anonymous complaint?

Yes you can remain anonymous, although we will be unable to provide you with regular updates on how the case is progressing.  Please also note that we will have to decide on how to progress the complaint rather than you being able to help us to determine the appropriate action to take.  Should you contact us again for an update we will be unable to do this as you have not divulged your identity.

We need to know the following information:

• Who is causing the problems
• What is the complaint about
• When did the incident happen
• Was there any witnesses to the incident

We will send diary sheets which you will need to complete with a mediation leaflet.  All residents are expected to help resolve their own issues, mediation can take a number of forms and we will encourage you to attend mediation, often minor issues are not resolved by the Council becoming involved. 

Your complaint will be logged and details of complaint will be sent to the relevant Neighbourhood Officer to investigate.  If we cannot assist with your complaint you will be encouraged to mediate and your case will be closed. 

If the land is Council owned, we pass this to our Street Scene service.  Relevant details and information are required for us to respond to your request.  We will also inform the relevant Estate Neighbourhood Officer who will record this. 

The information we need to know is:

• Where fly tipping has occurred
• What items have been fly tipped
• How long the items have been in situ
• Has anyone witnessed the fly tip
• Are there any Health & Safety concerns

Where the parking issues are happening on Housing land, Council land or Devon County Council (DCC) land.

If DCC land, you will need to report by contacting DCC or report to Police on 101.

If the land is in the ownership of the Council, the following information will be required and will be passed onto our Street Scene Service for action. 

We will ask you the following questions:

• The make, model, colour and VRN of vehicle
• Who is responsible for the vehicle
• The owners address
• The owners name
• Have you approached the owner of the vehicle to discuss their concerns? (We encourage you to do this where it is safe to do so). 
• What are the issues?
• How long have the issues occurred?
• Do you any health & safety concerns, if yes, what are these?

If you are unable to provide the above information we will ask you to obtain this and report back to us. 

We will need your details and we will need to establish if the graffiti on Council land.  The following information will be required:

• Where is the graffiti?
• Is the graffiti offensive? Can you provide details or a picture of the graffiti?
• How did you know about the graffiti?
• Do you know who did the graffiti?

We will pass this to our Street Scene Services to remove the graffiti, we will also inform your Neighbourhood Officer to monitor the estate going forward. 

If the graffiti is on Devon County Council land, you will need to contact DCC with above details for them to action.

You can call DCC on 0845 155 1015 or log onto their website at: https://www.devon.gov.uk/roadsandtransport/

We will need the following information:

• Tell us what the issue is
• Advise us of any Health & Safety risks identified
• How long has this been an issue?
• Provide photos of the issue via email to htenancy@middevon.gov.uk
• Is the issue on Council land?

We will pass this to our Street Scene Services to take the required action and we will inform your Neighbourhood Officer. 

We will need the following information:

• Your details
• Tenant’s name and address where property has allegedly been abandoned
• Why you think the property has been abandoned
• When did you last see the tenant or members of their household?
• Who do you think should be living in the household?
• Is there anyone living at the property still, if yes, do you know who they are?

This information is passed to your Neighbourhood Officer to investigate.  We are happy to take further information about the alleged abandonment that may help our investigations, however,  please note that we will not be able to advise you of the action we may be taking. 

Investigations take time as we have to be sure that we have legal grounds to recover possession of our property.  It may not be visible to you but rest assured that we will take the necessary action. 

Households change and it is your responsibility as a tenant to inform us of anyone who moves out of your property or moves in. 

If you have had a baby we would request the following:

• Sight of the original birth certificate, which you can take a photo of and send in via email to htenancy@middevon.gov.uk
• You will also need to notify Revenues, Benefits or DWP if in receipt of any housing costs/Council Tax reduction to advise them of your change of circumstances

When we receive the birth certificate we add the child to household details on our Housing Management System and save a copy of birth the certificate to your tenant file.

We also check the permitted number of people at a property against number of household members.  If this exceeds the permitted number a Neighbourhood Officer would contact you to give appropriate advice on your accommodation needs.

Someone has moved back in to my property

We need the following information:

• Name of person who has moved in with you
• Their date of birth
• Their National Insurance number (if 16 or over)
• Their relationship to you
• The date that they have moved back into the property
• Why they have moved into the property

If you are in receipt of any benefits you will also need to contact Revenues and Benefits, or DWP if in receipt of Universal Credit, and update them with your change of circumstances

We will add the person to your household on our Housing Management System and save a copy of any relevant supporting documentation to your tenant file.

We also check the permitted number of people at the property against number of household members.  If this exceeds permitted number a Neighbourhood Officer would contact you to give appropriate advice on your accommodation needs.

Someone has moved out of my property

We need to know:

• The name of household member
• The date they moved out

If you are in receipt of any benefits, you will also need to contact Revenues and Benefits, or DWP if in receipt of Universal Credit, and update them with your change of circumstances

We will remove the person from your household on our Housing Management System and save a copy of any relevant supporting documentation to your tenant file.

We will need to know the following information:

• The name of the person who has passed away
• The date they passed
• What relationship they were to you
• Sight of the original death certificate, which you can take a photo of and send in via email to htenancy@middevon.gov.uk

We will update the household details and add the date the person passed away to our records. 

Tenancy Fraud

Tenancy fraud within housing has been estimated to currently cost the government £900 million each year. This ultimately comes at considerable cost to the tax payer.

Social housing is an extremely valuable asset; it provides people with a stable, low cost home. Across Mid Devon, abuse of social housing not only deprives those in a genuine need who play by the rules, they are using up valuable housing accommodation and depriving families and individuals on the housing waiting list. 

What is tenancy fraud?

Housing tenancy fraud is the use of social housing by someone not entitled to occupy that home, the most common types of fraud are:-

• sub letting
• using false information to gain a tenancy
• wrongly claimed succession
• key selling
• non residence

Why is it important to tackle tenancy fraud?

Mid Devon does not have enough social housing to meet the requirements of people who genuinely need it and has to make the best use of the housing stock that is available, safeguarding occupation for those who are legally entitled to do so. People waiting for social housing will have to wait even longer if homes continue to be occupied by people who have no right to be there.

Temporary accommodation incurs a huge cost to each local authority and social housing fraud has been identified as the largest fraud loss across local government.

We are part of a partnership, along with other local authorities and social landlords within Devon, to tackle tenancy fraud. We take tenancy fraud very seriously and will take action to regain possession of properties wherever we find evidence of tenancy fraud.

How to report tenancy fraud?

If you suspect that someone is committing tenancy fraud you should report it straight away by contacting us. All information received will be taken seriously and treated in the strictest confidence.

Benefit Fraud

Any allegation of benefit fraud needs to be reported to the Council via htenancy@middevon.gov.uk and directly to DWP via their online form.

Allegations will be investigated but due to Data Protection we will not provide any update in relation to the information you have reported.