R

RA Residents' Association
Definition: see Tenants' Association

Race Relations Act
Definition: "The Race Relations Act 1976, as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, makes it unlawful to discriminate against anyone on grounds of race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), or ethnic or national origin. The amended Act also imposes general duties on many public authorities to promote racial equality." (CRE Definition)

External Link : http://www.cre.gov.uk/legaladv/rra.html

RDA Regional Development Agency
Definition: Set up by the Government to decentralise decision making on regeneration and economic development issues to the regions of England.

Rechargeable Repairs
Definition: Repairs carried out by a private landlord which the tenant must pay for, because they caused the damage.

Refurbishment
Definition: The renovation and improvement of a property.

Registered Charity
Definition: An organisation registered with the Charity Commission and working within charitable aims and objectives.

Registered Social Landlords - RSLs
Definition: A term describing not-for-profit organisations that provide Social Housing and are registered with the Housing Corporation. Examples include housing associations, housing trusts, housing co-operatives etc. Only RSLs are eligible to receive Social Housing Grant.

Regulations
Definition: Detailed rules issued by the Government on how laws are carried out.

Rent
Definition: Money paid to a landlord by a tenant in exchange for occupying a property.

Rent Arrears
Definition: If you fall behind with your rent payments (whether paid by Housing Benefit or yourself), you are said to be in rent arrears. This means that you owe your landlord money. Tenants who are in rent arrears would be advised to contact their landlord as soon as possible to try and sort the problem out, as being in arrears is a breach of the tenancy agreement and can lead to eviction.

Rent Restructure / Rent Convergence or Reform
Definition: The Government has introduced guidelines for social landlords that set out how social housing rents are to be changed so that they are all calculated to the same standard by 2012. This is known as Rent Reform. By doing this, the Government hope to keep rents affordable for social housing tenants and to bring local authority and housing association rents in line with each other.

Repairs
Definition: Mending something that is broken, inside or outside of your home e.g. a blocked drainpipe or a dripping tap. A tenant should refer to their tenancy agreement to see whether they or their landlord is responsible for carrying out a particular repair.
See also Responsive Repairs and Planned Maintenance.

Responsive Repairs
Definition; Responsive repairs are repairs requested by the tenant to existing elements of their property on an ad-hoc day to day basis.

Revenue Spending
Definition: The money for such things as paying off loans, employing workers and buying materials for repairs.

Right to Buy
Definition: Some secure local authority and tenants have the legal right to buy their home at a price lower than the full market value, if they have been living there for more than five years.

Right to Manage
Definition: Introduced in 1994, the Right to Manage gives local authority tenants a statutory right to take over the management of their homes by setting up a Tenant Management Organisation. Section 16 Grants are available from the CLG to pay for a properly constituted tenants association, working with an authorised Section 16 agency, to explore the options for taking on housing management functions.

Right to Repair
Definition: Local authorities are obliged to carry out certain small, urgent repairs which are likely to affect a tenants' health, safety or security, within a prescribed time limit. This is known as a tenant's Right to Repair. If the repairs are not carried out in the time given, the tenant can require the landlord to instruct another contractor to do the work.

Ring Fencing
Definition: Introduced in the Local Government and Housing Act (1989), this stops Councils from moving money between the Housing Revenue Account and the General Fund.