I work in a local authority housing environment but have an accountancy rather than a housing management background. It has been explained to me that no new tenancy is created by exercising a right to succession.
So I presume that the obligations/ responsibilities on the new parties are the same as those of the previous tenant/landlord relationship?
However, recent legal advice has suggested that any debt relating to the tenancy would not become a liability to the "successee" despite the fact that no new tenancy is created, and that any such arrears or costs should be pursued from the estate.
As payment of rent (and other charges regarded as obligations of tenancy) are a condition of the tenancy and no new tenancy is created I find this a little confusing. Could you clarify the position for me?
This is a moot point. Your interpretation is that since the successor enjoys the rights attaching to the tenancy he or she should also accept the corresponding obligations. I think most landlords work on this assumption, but there are a couple of legal cases that suggest the contrary.
However, one related to a statutory tenancy back in 1929 and another arose from assignment by a court following marital breakdown, so there is scope for distinguishing them from a run-of-the-mill succession.
I think your interpretation has common sense and fairness on its side, so I suggest you stick to it until a court definitely tells you otherwise.
John Bryant, Policy officer, National Housing Federation
Extending tenant rights
The Housing Corporation is currently consulting on a new charter for housing association residents. The corporation proposes that:
If these proposals are enacted as they currently stand, could housing associations tenants complain either to the independent housing ombudsman or to the Office of Fair Trading that their landlord is using contract terms contrary to the unfair terms in the 1999 Consumer Contracts Regulations? Secondly, should these be obligations and not mere suggestions?
The regulations in question do not apply to all tenancy agreements, depending on their date. Nor will the new charter necessarily increase contractual rights for tenants.
As I understand it, the proposal is that the new charter will apply across different tenures, and therefore it will inevitably be couched in general terms. The new charter may help identify a term of contract which can be deemed to be unfair; in itself, however, it will not increase the existing powers of the housing ombudsman to consider a complaint about an alleged unfair term.
The ombudsman's statutory remit already allows him to determine complaints on the basis of what is, in his opinion, fair in the circumstances of each case.
In respect of the latter question, we cannot comment because we are still considering our own detailed response to the Housing Corporation's consultation on the new charter.
Dr Mike Biles, The Housing Ombudsman
Source
Housing Today
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