There may be changes of your circumstances while you are a housing tenant. 

Assignment

An assignment is when one tenant legally passes their tenancy on to another person. A tenant may have the right to assign their tenancy through legislation or as a condition of their tenancy agreement. They can only assign it in the following circumstances:

• by way of a court order made under Matrimonial or Family Legislation, or
• with the written permission of WDC Housing when exercising the right to exchange as set out in their tenancy agreement, or
• to a person who would be qualified to succeed them, as set out in their tenancy agreement, if the tenant had died immediately before the assignment.

Succession

Where a tenant dies, our policy is to grant rights of succession to other occupiers in accordance with current legislation.

In most cases, the tenant’s spouse, civil partner or partner may have a legal right to succeed a tenancy. We may also consider offering a new tenancy to an adult member of the family. Depending on when the original tenancy was granted, the family member must provide evidence that they:

• are a member of the tenant’s household
• have lived with the tenant for a minimum of 12 months prior to the death of the tenant
• have lived in the tenant’s home as their only or principal home at the time of the tenant’s death.

Please note that for most tenancies, there is only one right of succession. This means that if the tenancy has already passed to a joint tenant, spouse, civil partner, partner or family member, then no further right to succeed to the tenancy will be granted.

In some circumstances, we can require the successor to move to an alternative property should the current property be considered unsuitable or larger than the successor needs.

Change of name

We will agree to amend your tenancy following a name change, as long as you can provide sufficient legal evidence. This can be provided by a deed poll, marriage certificate or civil partnership documentation.

Ending your tenancy

If you intend leaving your home permanently, you must give us at least four clear weeks’ notice, in writing. 

We will arrange to visit you to inspect your property and discuss the action you must take before you leave. It is important that you provide access for this inspection.

We expect the property to be left in a good, clean, and clear condition to enable us to quickly make it ready for someone else to move into. You will be recharged, if you do not leave the home in the condition that we expect, and any items left in the home may be disposed of.

Please note that if keys are not returned by 10am on the Monday following termination of the tenancy, rent will be charged up to the date they are returned.

You will need to clear any rent owed before leaving your property.

Moving out – action you must take

You must: 

• carry out any repairs, which are the responsibility of the tenant. This includes repairing any damage that you have caused (fair wear and tear excepted)
• make sure your rent and any service charges are paid up to the date when your tenancy ends
• arrange removal of all your belongings and any rubbish from the home, including in any loft space and leave the property in a clean condition
• arrange removal of all your belongings and any rubbish from the garden. This includes any structures which are your own (for example, shed, greenhouse)
• remove all carpet, underlay and wooden laminate flooring (unless we have agreed the flooring can stay)
• let us know your new address in case we need to contact you. Please note, we are not responsible for re-directing your mail – a form for this is available from your local Post Office
• notify your utility and telephone suppliers and arrange for final accounts to be issued
• leave behind your gas or electricity key cards (if you have any). It will also be helpful if you could leave behind any operating instructions for the central heating system
• return all other keys to us, including window keys, fobs, communal door keys, letterbox keys and including any keys held by relatives, carers etc
• tell the post office, your utility suppliers, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the local authority regarding your council tax

Someone is moving in/out

A current sole tenant, who wishes to add someone to their tenancy agreement, must apply to us in writing. We will usually only agree to creating a joint tenancy for married couples, civil partners and people in a relationship that live together. We will require proof of length of residence.

It is important to be aware that joint tenants are jointly and severally responsible for the tenancy and for the payment of rent. Therefore, even if one joint tenant leaves, both tenants are still liable for any unpaid rent.

Once a joint tenancy has been created, the landlord cannot transfer the tenancy to one of the parties unless one of the parties has died, they are both in agreement or there is a court order. If you wish to discuss your tenancy, you should contact the Housing Management Team.

End a joint tenancy

When a joint tenant moves out, this will end the current tenancy. To end the tenancy, we need to receive a valid written Notice to Quit from one or both parties. We will then end the tenancy and assess the needs of any remaining occupants, in order to make a decision on whether to grant a new sole tenancy and allow any parties to remain in the property.

If you want to move

You can re-register on HomeChoice if you wish to move house, or find someone to swap homes with.