Joint tenancies

In a joint tenancy both tenants are severally and jointly liable for ensuring the terms of the tenancy agreement are meet and all charges are paid.

A joint tenancy agreement can be issued at either:

• The start of the tenancy
• When the partner has lived at the property for 12 months and it is their main and principal home
• If the tenant marries the spouse can be added from the date of the marriage

Joint tenancies will only be offered to:

• Married or cohabiting couples where they both meet the minimum age requirement for the Court. Where one person is younger than the minimum age requirement they will not be added to the tenancy agreement to until they reach the minimum age. 
• Siblings or close relatives but only at the start of a tenancy and providing this does not create any statutory overcrowding. Siblings will not normally be added later to prevent any abuse of the waiting list.

To change the tenancy from sole to joint the Court / Housing Manager must arrange for the tenants to sign the Assignment of Sole to Joint Tenancy Form and this should be sent to Operations Support to action. The  form should be scanned into  

Where a joint tenant wishes to be removed from the tenancy the Court Manager must get both tenants to sign the Assignment of Joint to Sole Tenancy form. The Court Manager is responsible for updating the housing management system and saving the form in Housing Docs. If a tenant moves out of the property and does not relinquish their tenancy they are still liable for any rent, service charges or recharges due.