Tenants

Passing on your tenancy

You may be able to pass on the tenancy of your home to another member of your family. There are 2 main ways of doing this, known as the Right of Succession and the Right of Assignment.

Right of succession

When a sole tenant (a tenant who has the tenancy in their name only) with a secure or introductory tenancy dies, certain people can take over their tenancy. This is known as succeeding to the tenancy. For a joint tenancy (where the tenancy is in the name of more than one person) the remaining tenant or tenants automatically take over the tenancy. Two groups of people can succeed to the tenancy:

1.  A husband, wife or civil partner can succeed, as long as they were living
     there when the tenant died.

2.  A family member, including a live-in partner, can succeed if:

• the tenant was not married, or
• the tenant’s husband, wife or civil partner was not living at the home, and
• they have been living in the property as their main home for at least 12 months before the tenant died.

We will need to see proof of this. If more than one family member qualifies to succeed, the family must decide who will take over the tenancy. If the family cannot decide, we will make the decision. 

Right of assignment

If you are a secure tenant, you can use your Right of Assignment to pass your tenancy to the person who would succeed to it if you died, according to the rules listed above. If you wish to assign your tenancy, contact your Estate Manager who will arrange for the legal paperwork to be done in our office. We strongly advise you to seek independent legal advice (for example, from a solicitor) about what it means to assign a tenancy.

When you assign your tenancy you are no longer the tenant of the property. All your rights as a secure tenant pass to the new tenant. The tenancy can only be assigned once and there will be no further right of succession.