I am part of a team building a refuge which, unusually for such a facility, will provide self-contained accommodation for women and their families. Each flat will have a kitchen, living room, bathroom and one bedroom; plus the design of the project is such that it allows one of two families to make use of another bedroom next door to their flat, should there be more than two children/older children/male and female children, to prevent the need to house all the family in just one bedroom. This middle room will have two interconnecting doors to allow access from the flats on either side, but will be used by only one family at a time. My questions are: Would this building still be deemed exclusive possession, therefore requiring an assured shorthold tenancy? If yes, what is the minimum term? Is it still six months? I think I read it could be three months. Temporary accommodation usually offers excluded licence agreements. I'm concerned that, should we need to move a tenant on rapidly because of drug use, violence or whatever, we will be bound to existing laws requiring a court order. With so much talk about staff being responsible for drug misuse within the premises that we manage, I'm worried staff will be at risk if we are unable to move residents who have grossly breached their agreements.
The following is a quote from a book called Agreements Plain and Simple published by the National Federation of Housing Associations (now the National Housing Federation), but it's quite old, being from 1992: "The assured tenancy agreement is intended for use where an assured tenancy is created in shared housing under the terms of the 1988 Housing Act. This will normally happen when a resident has exclusive occupation of at least a room and where there is not a significant level of services or attendance." Otherwise, it would be a licence anyway.
As for ending the tenancy: the 1988 Housing Act allows associations to give assured tenants a minimum of two weeks' notice for some of the grounds for possession set out in the act, and a minimum of two months' notice for certain other grounds.
It is recommended that associations should normally adopt a four-week notice period for these grounds although in certain types of short-stay schemes the minimum two weeks may be justifiable.
The two/four-week grounds are:
- rent not paid
- any conditions of the tenancy agreement being broken – for instance, breaking housing rules
- damaging the house
- continual serious nuisance, harassment or annoyance to neighbours
- using the house for immoral or illegal activities.
JANE LOFTUS, information team leader for TPAS and chair, Family Housing Association, Manchester
More advice on the succession of orphans
In response to the letter last week regarding the succession of a child to his mother's tenancy after her death (7 November, page 29): I am not sure whether this is a secure or assured tenancy, but the outcome will be the same.
In both cases there can be only one succession. Because the woman here became a sole tenant by survivorship when her husband died, there is deemed to have been one succession already. Her son therefore cannot succeed, irrespective of issues regarding succession by minors – both practical and legal.
In its recent consultation paper, the Law Commission made proposals for there to be a further right to succeed by a family member after a succession by a spouse. Unfortunately these proposals will not lead to any change to the law for some time to come so the proposals are unlikely to be of any immediate benefit or comfort to this tenant or her son.
NICK BILLINGHAM, Partner and head of housing management litigation at law firm Devonshires
Source
Housing Today
Postscript
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