When a couple decide they can no longer live together, a decision has to be made about their shared home. If you and your partner are joint tenants and you agree who should keep the tenancy, you can just contact us to let us know. Your Housing Officer will then help to transfer the tenancy if there are no breaches of your tenancy agreement. If you cannot agree or the partner wanting to stay is not a tenant, you should contact us immediately and consult a solicitor or the Housing Advice Centre.
Here are some basic guidelines:
If your marriage ends
During divorce proceedings, a husband and wife have equal rights to their marital home until a property settlement order is made. This is the case whether the tenancy is in joint names or in the name of only one partner.
If you are not married
- Joint tenants
Joint tenants each have an equal right to their home. The county court can order them to transfer the tenancy to their partner for good if that partner has custody of any children. - One tenant
If the tenancy is held by one person, and the couple have no children, that person can apply to the county court and force their partner to leave. However, if the partner has children, the court may order the tenancy to be transferred to them.
