Rights and responsibilities

As a permanent rented housing tenant you have a number of rights, as well as responsibilities that you must meet.

Security of tenure

You have security of tenure. This means that we cannot force you to leave your home without a possession order issued by the courts.

Secure and assured tenancies

Security of tenure for most tenants comes in the form of either a secure or an assured tenancy. You will have a secure tenancy if we first housed you before 15 January 1989 and an assured tenancy if we first housed you on or after that date. Both types of tenancy offer security of tenure.

To keep your security of tenure, this must be your only or main home. You may lose your security of tenure if you:

  • let someone else live in your home in your place
  • live somewhere else most of the time
  • leave your home for a long time without letting us know that you intend to return.

If you are not living in your home, we will take legal action to repossess it.

Possession orders

The courts will not grant a possession order unless we have sent you a legal notice.

Court orders will only be granted for specific reasons. The most common reason we will ask the courts for a possession order is if you have seriously and persistently broken your tenancy conditions, for example by not paying rent or by causing extreme nuisance to your neighbours.

We will always try to sort out problems without having to take legal action. However, we will take legal action if you do not co-operate or break agreements.

Succession

If you die, it may be possible for your tenancy to pass to another member of your family or partner living with you.

Certain people have a legal right to succeed to a tenancy:

  • If you are a joint tenant, your tenancy will transfer to your husband, wife or partner you shares the tenancy.
  • if you are not a joint tenant but you have a husband, wife or partner (including a partner of the same sex) living with you, the tenancy will pass to them.
  • If neither of the above applies, the tenancy can transfer to another member of your family who has been living with you for at least a year before your death.

The right to succession applies only once. When a partner or member of the family has succeeded to a tenancy, there is no further right of succession to another member of the family in the future. However, if a successor dies we may consider granting a tenancy to a family member who has been a longstanding member of the household.

More information

For more information on your rights and responsibilities contact your Housing Officer.