Licence and permission

If you’re a council tenant and you want to make changes to improve or enlarge your council house, you must get permission from us before starting any work.

We need to make sure that any changes are carried out safely, professionally, and in line with the law. 

As the tenant, you’re responsible for applying for permission to make changes to your council house.

You must not make any changes in or around your council house until you have received permission, as this would be a breach of your tenancy conditions. 

Things you’ll need permission to install or make changes to include:

• roofs, external walls, or other structural alterations
• garages
• satellite dishes or aerials
• security lights or cameras
• fencing, gates, or posts
• driveways
• paving, slabbing, or patios
• garden huts or greenhouses
• central heating systems or fireplaces
• kitchens and bathrooms
• laminate flooring
• doors or windows
• pigeon lofts
• hot tubs
• trampolines in gardens
• stairlifts or handrails that affect an adjoining property.

What you do not need permission for

You do not need our permission before you decorate inside your council house. This includes putting up wallpaper, painting walls, or laying carpets or floor tiles.

If you’re unsure if you need permission to make a change, or would like advice on applying, contact your local housing team.

What you cannot get permission for

You cannot get permission for laminate flooring if you live in an upper flat or upper maisonette.

You should send a written request to your local housing team outlining the changes you would like to make to your property.

Find out which local housing team covers your area.

If you want to make changes or installations outside your council house or inside a shared property, you must also ask your local housing team for help getting your neighbours' permission in your request.

Email your request to the local housing team that covers your area: 

• Johnstone areas: johnstone.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• Paisley North areas: paisley.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• Paisley South areas: paisley.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• Renfrew areas: renfrew.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk

A member of our housing team will respond to you by email within 28 days.

A housing officer may ask you to provide a written agreement from any other joint tenant, partner, or person living with you.

Once we give you permission, you can then carry out the work you submitted in your request.

We always try to give our permission. However, we may refuse permission if:

• you’re behind with your rent
• we’re concerned that the changes or installations will not be safe or may cause undue noise for your neighbours
• the position of your changes or installation will interfere with future maintenance.

You can appeal a decision by emailing repairsandinvestment.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk and state the reasons for your appeal.

More information

If you’d like more information about making changes to your council house, you can contact your local housing office at:

• Johnstone areas: johnstone.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• Paisley North areas: paisley.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• Paisley South areas: paisley.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• Renfrew areas: renfrew.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk

You’re responsible for the cost of any changes, but you must wait until you have our written permission before carrying out the work.

We do not provide financial help for changes or alterations.  

If you made approved changes to your council house, you may be entitled to compensation once you move out. To get this, you must have:

• had our written permission to make the changes before you started the work
• kept any bills related to the changes you made.

You'll need to email us at repairsandinvestment.hps@renfrewshire.gov.uk during your notice period if you'd like to ask for compensation.

A disabled persons’ parking space is an area marked on the road to reserve parking for people who have a Blue Badge.

You can find them at:

• on street pay and display metered areas, such as those in Paisley town centre
• car parks, including those at shops, offices, and flats
• on residential streets outside Blue Badge holders’ homes.

You must display your Blue Badge at all times when you’re parked in a disabled persons’ parking space. 

You could be fined if you’re not authorised to use the disabled persons’ parking space.

This is enforced under the Disabled Persons’ Parking Places (Scotland) Act 2009.

You can apply to have a disabled persons’ parking space installed on the road outside your home, organisation, or in a car park.

A disabled persons’ parking space can be used by anyone displaying a Blue Badge and not just the person who applied for it to be installed. This includes the disabled parking space outside your house.

You can apply for a disabled parking space outside your home if you: 

• have a valid Blue Badge
• are the driver of a private vehicle or are assisted by a carer who is the driver of a private vehicle, and live at the address stated in your application
• have registered and keep the vehicle at the address stated in your application
• have difficulty getting a parking space on the public road
• do not have an allocated space in a car park
• do not have a driveway or other off-road parking area next to your property, such as a garage or lock up. 

We cannot provide a disabled persons’ parking space just for a driver to pick someone up or drop someone off.

Organisations

Organisations that do not have a private car park can apply to request an on street disabled space for the use by their customers, users, and staff.

Private car parks

Organisations that own, share or manage private car parks may apply to have their disabled spaces made enforceable. 

Every 2 years, we advertise in the press for organisations to apply if they would like us to enforce disabled person’s parking spaces in their car park. 

Information on how to apply is explained in the advert.

We’ll promote the necessary traffic order and, subject to objections, will make the order enforceable by our parking attendants. 

New developments

We’ll make arrangements with developers who have included off-street advisory disabled persons’ parking spaces within any new developments.

We’re required to do this within 3 months of any planning permission being granted.

If you’re applying for a disabled parking space outside your home, you’ll need to provide:

• a copy of your Blue Badge
• your name
• your address
• your email address
• your telephone number
• proof that the vehicle you use is registered and kept at your address – this can be a V5C, bill of sale, or motability agreement letter.

You should attach copies of your documents as photos or scans with your application.

If you’re applying for a disabled parking space outside your home

Apply for a disabled persons’ parking space

If you’re applying on behalf of an organisation without a car park

Organisations that do not have a private car park can request an on street disabled space for use by their customers, users, and staff by emailing ei@renfrewshire.gov.uk.

If you need help to apply, phone our Customer Services at 0300 300 0300:

• Monday to Thursday from 8:45am to 4:45pm
• Friday from 8:45am to 3:55pm.

We’ll contact you by email to let you know your application has been received straight away. 

We’ll then assess your documents and email you to tell you if your application has been accepted or not.

It can take up to 12 weeks for us to complete the process for your disabled persons’ parking place.

We’ll visit the site to confirm the location for the parking space. You do not need to be at home when the site visit takes place. 

The location is usually where you have requested in your application. If not, we'll contact you to discuss a suitable alternative. 

We’ll then ask our contractor to mark the disabled parking space on the street. We’ll give the contractor your contact details if they need you to move your car.

The parking place will be marked on the street with lines, along with the word ‘DISABLED’.

The disabled persons’ parking place is only advisory at this time. This means that you can use it, but we cannot enforce it yet. 

To make the parking place enforceable, we create a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).

This is a legal document that undergoes public consultation and when made, allows parking attendants to enforce the disabled parking space.

We aim to process a TRO every 6 months. 

Once the TRO is in place, we’ll install a 'Disabled badge holders only' sign at the parking place.

Parking attendants can then issue penalties to any drivers caught using the parking place who do not display a Blue Badge.

There is no cost to apply to get a disabled persons’ parking space installed outside your home, organisation, or in a car park.