Tenancy changes

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Joint tenancies
Succession
Assignment
Mutual Exchange
- How do I go about swapping my tenancy with someone else?

There are a number of tenancy changes available to the Council's secure tenants. Information about these can be found in the Tenant and Leaseholder Services Service Standards, the Tenants Guide and the tenancy agreement terms and conditions. You can find out more by contacting your Housing Officer. The main ones relate to joint tenancies, to succession to a tenancy where the tenant has died, to signing over a tenancy to a family member (assignment) or to swapping your home with another tenant (a mutual exchange).

Joint tenancies

Who can have a joint tenancy?

Couples making a joint application for housing are usually granted a joint tenancy. However, the Council does not give inter-generational joint tenancies (for instance between a parent and a child) and only in very exceptional circumstances agrees to more than two people holding a joint tenancy.

I have the tenancy in my name only. Can I add my partner to my tenancy?

We will agree to this providing your partner has lived with you for 12 months and does not have a tenancy elsewhere and providing you are not a successor to the tenancy or had it assigned to you or are in breach of your tenancy terms and conditions.

I have just got married; can my spouse be added to the tenancy?

Your spouse can be added to the tenancy straightaway without waiting for 12 months providing all the other conditions described for adding a partner to a tenancy are met.

I have a joint tenancy and my partner/spouse has died. Will I automatically keep the tenancy in my name?

Yes, the partner to a joint tenancy automatically succeeds to the tenancy and property following death of the other.

Succession

My partner/spouse has died? Can I succeed to the tenancy?

If you are the partner or spouse to the sole tenant who has died, you will automatically take on (or succeed to) the tenancy of the property you are living in providing there has been no previous succession or assignment.

I am related to the tenant who has died; can I take on the tenancy?

If there has not already been a succession, only one is allowed in law, a family member who has lived with the tenant for the past 12 months can apply to succeed to the tenancy. `Family member' has a very wide definition in the Housing Act 1985 so it is worth enquiring about your entitlement. If more than one person meets the requirement for succession and if the family cannot decide who succeeds, the Council will make the choice. If the request is agreed, the Council will take into account the needs of the family. For example if the property is too large - you are the only person living in a three bedroomed house - you will be asked to move to a smaller home between six - 12 months after the death of the tenant.

What if there has already been a succession?

The Council will consider the application very carefully from the applicant and may in some cases consider giving a discretionary new tenancy in a property that suits their needs. For more information see our Service Standards and Tenants Guide.

Assignment

Can I hand over my tenancy to my partner/spouse? I don't want to live at the property any more.

This is where you are asking the Council if you can assign your tenancy to another person. The conditions are very similar to those for a succession. You can ask to assign to anyone who would have been entitled to succeed when the tenant died. There can be one succession or assignment only to a particular tenancy.

You must apply to the Council for permission to assign your tenancy. We will check to see whether or not you are in breach of your tenancy (for instance whether you have rent arrears or where there is a court order that you have not kept to) and will ask you to put any of these things right first. We will then agree and ask you both to sign relevant paperwork.

You can assign any size of property.

You should consider the implications of assigning your tenancy. You may, for instance, be considered intentionally homeless if you applied to the Council as a homeless applicant in the future and not offered alternative accommodation

Can I assign my home to a member of my family?

We will consider all the same things as we would if you wanted to assign to a spouse/partner and in addition the family member would need to demonstrate that they had lived with you for the past 12 months.

You still have my spouse/partner as the tenant and they left the property months ago. Can I have the tenancy in my name?

We will discuss various options with you as you cannot automatically take on a tenancy that is in someone else's name. This may include applying to court for a decision about the tenancy particularly if you are getting divorced or contacting your spouse/partner and asking them to assign the tenancy to you.

This would apply whether or not you have a joint tenancy of the property and we would also take any breach of tenancy into consideration before agreeing to any tenancy change. For more information, why not have a look at our Service Standards, Tenants' Guide or your tenancy agreement terms and conditions.

My partner/spouse who is the tenant has emigrated and I don't know how to contact them. Can I have the tenancy?

We will consider how best to resolve the tenancy issue with you. The result will depend on individual circumstances.

Mutual Exchange

How do I go about swapping my tenancy with someone else?

This is covered in detail in the Mutual Exchange pages.