Advice for private landlords

Introduction

This is a guidance document and not all parts may be compulsory or relevant to your own property and you are free to take other action. However, following this guidance will normally be enough to comply with the conditions. Council officers may refer to this guidance when seeking to secure compliance with the law.

Great Yarmouth Borough operates a standard collection to residents of the borough. The standard collection is a fortnightly collection:

• Week 1 - A general waste collection (Black bin)
• Week 2 - A recycling collection (Green bin)

The councils preferred method of collection is through a wheelie bin collection, however the council can dictate the method and frequency of a collection depending on each property's individual circumstances.

If you are unsure on when your properties scheduled collection is due to take place or whether it is the refuse or recycling collection, you can visit the Great Yarmouth Borough Council website's Find my waste collection days service.

It is essential that new tenants are provided with this information to ensure that they understand how the local authorities refuse system operates and when their allocated bins are due to be collected.

Am I entitled to a domestic collection?

This would be determined on what council tax rates are paid at the property. For example, if your property contains 5 flats and each flat is individually rated, each property would be entitled to their own individual set of bins (1x 240L black and 1x 240L green). However, if only one council tax payment is made on a property, only one set of bins would be provided with additional being provided based on the number of tenants rather than units. Alternative arrangements for waste disposal would need to be made for any excess waste. Arrangements for this can be made it through the Councils operational partner, Great Yarmouth Services, who can offer additional collections or via other licensed contractors.

Landlords of houses in multiple occupation have a legal responsibility to ensure that sufficient bins are provided and to make necessary arrangements for the disposal of refuse and litter, having regard to the local authority's service (The Management of Houses in Multiple Occupation (England) Regulations 2006). Similar requirements are also usually included in license conditions where the property falls within a licensing scheme.

As houses in multiple occupation usually require more bins than the basic entitlement these will need to be provided and paid for by the landlord.

Waste Provision (waste receptacles)

There are different methods of collection around the borough, but the most common forms of collection are:

• Wheelie bin collection (black and green alternate weekly collections)
• Communal bin collection (black and green alternate weekly collections)
• Bag collection (Properties on bag collections are currently being moved to alternate weekly refuse/recycling collections)

Whilst most properties around the borough are on a wheelie bin collection, some areas are unable to store bins on their property and must instead be provided with a different method of collection. Communal bins are commonly used when there are multiple properties which either don't have adequate storage or are in a location which the refuse vehicle cannot access. Unfortunately, there are also some properties on a bag collection where other options are not viable.

Who is responsible for the repairs of the communal bins at my property?

Where communal bins are supplied for the use by individual buildings such as blocks of flats, HMOs, Housing Associations or Council Housing the owner, manager or housing provider will be liable for the costs associated with the purchase and supply of the bins and any subsequent replacement or repairs.

The bin will become the property of the purchaser

Wherever possible we do require properties to have both refuse and recycling facilities. Please be aware that if your property only has black bins, it will receive a fortnightly collection.

If your property cannot cope with a fortnightly collection, there is an option to have the bin(s) emptied more frequently. Great Yarmouth Services can provide one-off empties when required or alternatively they can schedule a continuous weekly collection. For more information on these services, please contact Great Yarmouth Services directly on 01493 801745. There are other third-party companies who may also be able to provide these services.

I have a large family residing at my property and they are struggling to dispose of their waste. What do I do?

If there is a large family residing at your property, they may be entitled to extra bins. The council's current policy states that if there is 5 people staying at an address (including a child in nappies) or 6 or more people, they are entitled to an extra set of bins. They may also be entitled to an extra bin if you require it for medical purposes (incontinence, wound dressings etc). There is an administration charge to obtain the additional bins. To request additional bins, you can fill in an entitlement form on the Great Yarmouth Borough Council website. 

How many bins do I need at my property?

The Council will supply as standard 240L recycling and 240L residual waste capacity per ratable household. In the case of flats and HMOs where communal bins are used the same formula will be used to work out the appropriate number of bins. So, for example where a property consists of 5 individually ratable units it would be entitled to 1,200L of recycling and 1,200 residual capacity collected on an alternate weekly basis. The figure will be rounded up or down to the nearest appropriately sized bins. Where a property with a high density of residents is rated as single unit then it would only be entitled to the standard service albeit it could apply for additional capacity via the large household application.

Using our refuse service

If your property is entitled to a council collection, landlords should inform their tenants on how to use the service. You can contact the Environmental Services team directly and the information can be sent to you.

Our domestic general waste bins can contain most household waste, however there are a few things that we cannot accept. This includes but is not limited to electrical items, DIY waste and garden waste.

Please be aware that Great Yarmouth Borough Council does not accept any side waste/extra bags on a general collection and any waste not contained within the wheelie bins will not be collected and may be pursued as a fly tipping incident if left out on public land. If bins belonging to your property are too heavy to be safely loaded onto the collection truck it will not be emptied.

We accept a wide range of recyclable waste in our recycling bins. Please see a brief list of some of the items:

• paper and card
• plastic bottles
• steel and aluminium food and drink cans
• aerosols
• glass bottles and jars including lids
• plastic pots, tubs and trays (including yogurt pots, margarine tubs, plastic meat and vegetable trays)
• Tetra Pak® containers (like the ones containing juices and soups)
• envelopes (including window envelopes)
• kitchen foil and foil trays (like the ones containing takeaways and ready meals)

We can provide informational leaflets on what items can be recycled or alternatively you can visit the Norfolk recycles website.

If your bin has not been collected, it is most commonly because the bin is contaminated with incorrect material, or it has not been presented on time.

To determine why the bin has not been emptied, you will need to either contact the Council on 01493 801750 or visit the Great Yarmouth Borough council website and fill in a Report a missed bin collection form. Crews do collect bins till late afternoon so missed bins should not be reported until the following day. If there isn't a valid reason as to why your bin hasn't been collected, they will schedule another collection. However, if the bin has been refused collection, they will be able to provide you further information.

My tenant is elderly/disabled and cannot place the bins out for collection. Are the Council able to help?

The Council's assisted collection service is available to residents with a disability or mobility problem where no one else in the household can take the containers to the normal collection point. 

Those persons who receive an assisted collection the crews will collect the containers from an agreed collection point, empty the containers and in the case of wheeled bins return them back to the agreed collection point. Residents who wish to request an assisted collection must fully fill out an application available online on the Councils website or by contacting the Council. Applications not fully completed will not be considered. Where other persons capable of putting the containers out live at the property, the application will be declined. Other than disability or mobility reasons applications will also be declined where a person has other reasons for not being able to place a bin out for collection, for example they are on holiday or at work.

Who is responsible for getting the bins emptied if they have been refused due to contamination?

We appreciate that it may be challenging to try and identify who at your property caused the bin to be refused, especially in the case of communal bins. As the landlord of the property, you must address the issue directly with your tenants. It should be noted collection of contaminated bins will not resume until the contaminated material has been removed. If you require the bin(s) at your property to be emptied, Great Yarmouth Services can conduct a one-off empty for a fee.

Bulky items (larger items of waste)

Not all items of waste can be disposed of via our wheelie bin collection service and other arrangements would need to be made for these items. A tenant may take their waste to the nearest recycling centre (Pump Lane, Caister) and dispose of most household items free of charge. Alternatively Great Yarmouth Borough Council operates a bulky item collection service (paid collection) and will collect the waste from the property. There are also businesses in the borough who can collect waste however, the tenant would need to make sure that the person collecting the waste is licensed to do so.

If the item(s) are in good condition, there is also the option of donating them to charity to avoid unnecessary disposal. If waste has been deposited on your property and you have no information as to who is responsible, unfortunately the responsibility for removal would be with the landlord.

Please refer to our Bulky item collection booking form for further information. 

End of Tenancy

If you have been notified that a tenant intends on vacating the property, it is best practice to offer advice on how the tenant can dispose of any unwanted items/rubbish from the property. In many cases, some tenants would normally fill the bins at the property with unwanted waste which consequently limits the space for other residents.

If you believe your tenant has dumped (fly tipped) waste, you need to report this to the Environmental Services team who will be able to investigate the incident further, alternatively you can report it on the Love Clean Streets app.

If you have evidence to support an allegation, we will need the evidence to be submitted with a formal witness statement. Please be aware that if you supply a formal witness statement and the case escalates to court, you may be asked to attend.

Guidance for developers, architects and building managers

If you are either building, renovating or making significant changes to a property in the Borough, you must ensure that bin storage is factored into the equation. Please refer to the Bin storage and collection - guidance to developers section for further information.