UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi,

I have a single rental (small 3 bed semi) with a young family in (unmarried mum & dad with 2 kids approx 3-6 YO).  pay in full and on time, let me know if anything needs sorting and generally keep the place ok.

Lease is currently in dad's name, as he is in full time employment.  mum is not on the lease and is in receipt of some benefits.  they have asked if i would be prepared to switch the rental agreement to her name so she can get a bit more support (I am not here to judge people's means of employ, social welfare receipt, or any blend thereof).

What are the downsides for me?  Are there any legal issues somewhere down the line that might jump out and bite me?  Note that she has a full time working family member prepared to be guarantor.

Any thoughts, advice appreciated.

If you start a new joint tenancy, it would be a brand new tenancy, so the start of a new tenancy "stuff" deposit protection, how to rent, right to rent, EPC, Gas Safety certficate etc all need to be done again. That's a pain, but it's safest.

It's possible to simply assign the tenancy to the couple, using a deed of assignment. That should work for benefits, is much simpler and is done often. But creating a joint tenancy by assignment is very tricky in practice, which doesn't matter as long as nothing goes wrong. But if anything does go wrong, it can be difficult, because tenancies that aren't designed to be joint and several from the start don't usually have all the necessary admin for a joint tenancy. So possession claims can be tricky. Essentially, as long as it never goes to court, you'd be fine.

The other downside is for the dad, because either of the joint tenants can serve notice, so if they fall out it could be awkward.

If the tenant is looking for housing support, there's a route that allows that without a joint tenancy (I understand, although I have no personal experience of that). I think there's some involvement for you to confirm things, but "irregular tenancies" are a thing.

@jpkeates - thank you for the thorough response, much appreciated.

I'll do a bit of research on how to help her get improved benefits without it costing me to get all the "new tenant stuff" done.

Get the tenant to do their own research. Once they know it's possible they can have the nightmare of dealing with the DWP.