Tenancy Successions & Assignments
Assignments
If a joint tenant wants their name removed from the tenancy, and the other person agrees to take on the tenancy on their own, this can be done through an assignment. Your Area Office will arrange for both tenants to sign the appropriate paperwork and the tenancy will continue as a sole tenancy.
This type of assignment can only be done with the agreement of the landlord. In most cases landlords will only give permission if the rent account is clear and there are no other outstanding debts.
It gets more complicated if joint tenants cannot agree on who should take over the tenancy or if one tenant leaves and cannot be contacted.
The Association will always abide by court orders that state to who the tenancy must go, however many separations do not involve legal proceedings of this type. In these cases Hafod will not become involved in deciding who should have the tenancy, but we will not give permission in cases where an assignment would result in a waste of our resources, for example assigning family accommodation to a single person.
If one tenant permanently leaves the property it is very important that their name is removed as, until then, they keep the rights and responsibilities of the tenancy. This means they are jointly liable for rent, and they can end the tenancy by giving notice. If one tenant on a joint tenancy gives notice the tenancy ends for both.
Succession
Your tenancy agreement sets out exact circumstances in which children, or other members of immediate family, can succeed to (take over) a tenancy. We have amended our tenancy agreement a number of times. If you have been a tenant for a long time you may have a different agreement to the one we currently use. It is important that you check the clauses of your particular tenancy agreement. The following information applies to our most recent tenancy agreement.
If you are a joint tenant the tenancy will automatically pass to the other tenant. It cannot be passed onto anyone else on the death of the remaining tenant.
If you are a sole tenant but are married, the tenancy will pass to your spouse, providing they were living with you at the time of your death. This will only happen if you did not succeed to the tenancy from someone else, or became a sole tenant due to death of a joint tenant. If your tenancy is taken over by your spouse it cannot then be passed onto anyone else once she/he dies.
If you do not fall into either of the two categories above, your children, or other immediate family, may have a right to succeed to the tenancy. At the time of your death they must satisfy all of the conditions below:
- be over 18
- have been occupying the property as their only or main home
- have been living with you for the 12 months prior to your death
- notify us that they wish to take over the tenancy within one month of your death
If two or more people wish to claim the tenancy, and they all satisfy the above conditions, they should agree between them who should apply. If they cannot do this, they should all claim and the Association will decide.
Even when there is no automatic right of succession, we will treat all requests with sympathy and consideration.
This is a complicated area. If you have any concerns you should contact your Housing Officer who can go through your particular circumstances in detail.
