To apply to buy your council home, you must have spent a total of at least three years as a tenant of one or more of the following:

• a Leeds City Council or other council-owned property. This includes all BITMO homes.
• a housing association property
• armed forces accommodation

(If you have had any breaks as a tenant, you can still include previous tenancies in this three year total).

You may not be able to buy your council home if:

• your property has been specially adapted for elderly or disabled tenants – check to find out if you live in one of these properties by emailing house.sales@leeds.gov.uk
• you are in breach of any part of your tenancy agreement
• you have an un-discharged bankruptcy
• you are subject to a court order

Before you apply, we recommend that you seek legal advice, and contact the Government’s Right to Buy service if you need more information.

We have garages at several positions around Belle Isle. Whether or not you are a Leeds City Council tenant you can still apply to us for a garage.  For more information call us on 0113 378 2188 or email bitmo.enquiries@belleisletmo.co.uk

Please note garages cannot be used to repair vehicles or run a business.

BITMO Fencing Policy (Reviewed October 2022)

Belle Isle is a garden estate. It was designed to maximise open space and greenery. In keeping with this, enclosure of open plan communal spaces is not permitted, and removal of hedging to be replaced by fencing is not permitted.

Wherever possible we will replace damaged fencing that is our responsibility with hedging,

When a new tenant moves into their home we will make sure that any fencing and garden gates to the property are secure and in a reasonable state of repair.

Maintaining wooden boundary fencing between properties is the responsibility of the tenant

We will carry out future repairs to fencing or gates if they meet the criteria below.

The fence or gate is:

1. to a front boundary, and
2. on a busy road or bus route, and
3. where there are children under the age of 7
4. If there is a difference in levels in your garden or on the boundary of your garden that poses a risk to Health and Safety.
5. on the recommendation of Social Services or a Health or Social Care Professional

We will also maintain side and/or rear fencing where they meet points 2, 3 and 4 or 5 of the above criteria and provide the main barrier for children to other hazards

e.g. railway lines or steep banking.

We will not replace fencing or gates in the following circumstances :

If there is already a boundary in place.

We do not remove hedges, trees or bushes to install fencing and we will not install a fence or gates if you have removed hedges, trees or bushes.

We will not provide dividing fences (a fence between your garden and your neighbour’s garden) unless the request satisfies the above Health and Safety criteria.

Rear garden fencing is the Customers own responsibility — except if the Health and safety criteria above applies.

If you obtain permission to create a drive in your garden, you are responsible for altering the fencing, providing gates and arranging for a dropped kerb to be installed, including getting permission.

To prevent pets (usually dogs) from entering or leaving your garden. Pets are the responsibility of their owner and they need to make sure that they are kept suitably under control.

If you have a side gate (often called a ‘dog gate’) that is broken we will repair it if we can do so. We do not install or replace dog gates. If a broken dog gate cannot be repaired we will remove it completely and make good any disturbed surfaces, but we will not close the gap that is left..

We do not provide or permit fencing to be erected in areas which are designated open plan. There may be exceptions where planning regulations allow and there are compelling reasons why it is appropriate to do so.

If you report a broken gate or fence to us that meets the criteria set out in this document we will raise an order to our estate Caretakers or Contractor so that they can carry out a repair.

Planned fencing work may be undertaken, when budgets allow, on the following basis:

1              It meets the Health and Safety Criteria above.

2. It is to maintain existing boundary fencing, giving priority to the front boundary.
3. It is fencing adjacent to public walkways e.g. ginnels.
4. Fencing around sheltered schemes.

As a general rule, we follow local Planning Guidance rules with regard to the height of new fencing:

1.00 metres high to Front (sometimes 1.20 metres depending on existing height)

1.50 metres high to Side

1.80 metres high to Rear

Special Cases

There will be very limited exceptions to the rule. This may apply to tenants who are vulnerable or where special and exceptional circumstances dictate a different response to one that we would normally allow. The Head of Repairs and Maintenance will be responsible for determining individual cases where a different approach is required.

Tenant Choice

We will install fencing for tenants to a suitable specification at their cost. This is payable in full in advance of any work being carried out.

Please contact BITMO on 0113 378 2188 to discuss.

It is your responsibility to maintain your garden. If you are unable to do so please ask for support from your family or friends. BITMO staff monitor how gardens are maintained and will contact you if yours does not meet the required standard.

BITMO maintains the communal gardens in low-rise flats.

This is an extract from your tenancy agreement:

3.1 If you are an introductory tenant, the section on the tenancy agreement sheet you sign will be completed showing when the introductory tenancy will end if there are no breaches of this tenancy agreement.

3.2 Your introductory tenancy is a tenancy for a trial period for the first 12 months (unless it is extended). If you keep to the terms and conditions of this tenancy agreement, and the council has not started possession proceedings during the introductory period, then you will automatically become a secure tenant at the end of the introductory period.

3.3 If you do not comply with the terms of your introductory tenancy, the council has the right to extend your introductory tenancy by an additional six months. Before taking this action, the council will give you notice of its intention to do this and you will have the right to request a review of the decision to extend your introductory tenancy.

3.4 If you do not comply with the terms of your tenancy agreement the council can also apply to the Court for an eviction order. Before applying to Court the council has to give you notice and tell you the reasons why it is evicting you and you will have the right to request a review of the decision.

You need to apply for permission before running a business from your council home. We will not refuse permission without good reason.

Things that you need to take into account when running a business from your home include:

• noise, such as loud tools
• smells, such as a business involving food preparation
• large numbers of people, for example if customers come to your property to buy products
• mess, example if you are doing vehicle repairs and keeping a lot of equipment in the garden
• keeping dangerous substances, e.g. paint thinners etc.
• how you plan to dispose of any extra waste or rubbish which is produced as a result

Please complete the form at the bottom of this page and return it to BITMO.

We would advise you to contact Leeds City Council Pest Control. Further details are here

If the tree is in your garden it may be your responsibility to maintain it. If you are not sure please contact us on 0113 378 2188.

If the tree is in a communal area, please send a phot of the tree along with a description of its location to bitmo.enquiries@belleisletmo.co.uk or phone 0113 378 2188.

Please contact BITMO on 0113 378 2188, giving reasons why you believe the home is sub-let. We will keep the details of your call private and carry out our own investigation.

Call Adult Social Care on 0113 222 4401 or Children & Families (if it concerns a child) on 0113 222 4403.  For more general concerns call BITMO on 0113 378 2188.

Please see all the information on changes to tenancies on our website here