Assign, succession & homeswap
When a sole tenant who has a starter or assured tenancy dies, certain people can take over their tenancy – this is known as succeeding to the tenancy.
For a joint tenancy (where the tenancy is in the name of more than one person), the remaining tenant or tenants will automatically take over the tenancy.
There are strict rules over who can and cannot succeed to a tenancy. These rules were made by Parliament and are in the Housing Act 1988.
If the tenant has died and you are living in the property, you should contact us with a copy of the death certificate and we will arrange to visit you within seven days to explain your rights to succeed to the tenancy. If someone living with you is not qualified to take over the tenancy, we will tell them about any other options they have and how to find alternative accommodation.
Assignment means the right to give away your tenancy to someone else, or swap your tenancy with another tenant.
Three types of assignment are allowed by the Housing Act 1988:
- Giving away your tenancy to someone who would succeed to the property when you die.
- Swapping your tenancy with another housing association or council tenant – this is known as a mutual exchange (starter tenants do not have this right).
- An assignment ordered by the court under family and child law (this is not dealt with in this section – for more information you should speak to an independent advisor).
If you have an assured tenancy, you can ‘swap’ your home with another of our assured tenants or an assured tenant of another housing association. You will need to find someone to swap with and you will need our permission before you move. You can swap homes with someone living in Derwentside or any part of the country. We can help you find someone to swap with by putting your name and details on the Homeswap computer scheme. You will need to fill in the Homeswap form and we will maintain lists of people who you can contact to see if they would like to swap homes with you.
Once you have found someone who would like to swap homes with you, both of you will need to ask our permission by filling in a mutual exchange form.
If you want to swap with someone living in another part of the country, or with another landlord, you will also need permission from that landlord.
We will not let a mutual exchange go ahead if you have a court order against you for missed rent payments. We will also say no to an exchange if the home you want to move into is far too big for your needs or if your home is too large for the family who want to move into it.
If you need more information please see the leaflets below
Download Succession Leaflet pdf
