Information for council tenants

Tenancies and tenancy agreements

There are different types of tenancies. The length of these tenancies and your requirements may vary and you may also have different rights and responsibilities.

Tenancy types include:

  • Introductory tenancy
  • Secure tenancy
  • Flexible tenancy
  • Joint tenancy

Find out more about types of tenancy on GOV.UK

If you’re a council tenant you can find out more about your tenancy agreement or the terms and conditions of your tenancy with the following documents:

Joint tenancies

If two adults make a single application for housing they’re often offered a joint tenancy.

A joint tenancy:

  • makes both tenants equally responsible
  • gives both tenants the same rights
  • means if one tenant breaks the tenancy agreement, both will be evicted
  • lets one tenant terminate a joint tenancy, even without the consent of the other tenant

Talk to your housing officer if you want to change your tenancy to a joint tenancy. For example, you get married or are now living with a long-term partner.

Assignment       

An assignment is when a tenancy is legally transferred by a Deed of Assignment drawn up by us. You might be ordered an assignment as a result of divorce proceedings.

You may assign a tenancy:

  • if someone moves into a residential care home
  • if someone moves to another country
  • between married partners after a divorce

If you assign a tenancy:

  • you lose your right to live in the property
  • the household’s entitlement to housing benefit may be affected
  • it may affect your right to be re-homed if you become homeless.

Succession

If a secure tenant dies, the successor can remain in the property for the rest of the tenancy. If it was an introductory tenancy the successor can stay until the end of the introductory tenancy which would then become a secure tenancy.

To claim for succession you must:

  • claim within a month of the tenants death
  • inform your housing officer as soon as possible
  • not be a successor of a previous successor

There can only be one succession of a tenancy, so if the previous tenant got a property passed down to them it can’t also be passed on to another successor.

For more information read our succession policy.

Subletting

A secure tenant can collect rent for subletting a room or part of their home with the written permission of their housing officer.

Subletting the whole of the property is social housing fraud. If you suspect fraud please report housing fraud.