What kind of tenancy do I have? Can anyone help please?

boxofkittens

If anyone can help me with this I will be so grateful. We are possibly facing being made homeless and I am sick with worry. Here is an outline of our situation:

• My dad rented this flat in 1974 and continued to live here till his death last year.
• My husband and I moved in with him in Jan 2007. Since then we have had two children.
• Due to the length of time he rented my dad had a regulated tenancy (I believe this is the right teminology, please correct me if not, but this is the term the managing agents have used), and therefore the rent was very low and this has been brilliant for us whilst on one income as I have stopped work to raise the children.
• Upon my dad's death I applied to succeed the tenancy.
• The landlords then served us with a notice to almost triple the rent, this will make it impossible for us to live here and we don't have the funds to move or put a deposit down on another property. Nor, in fact, can we afford any other property in the area. The reason for this is that a sizeable amount of my husband's income is spent on paying off debts. I don't believe we are entitled to housing benefit.
• We have passed the matter onto the Rent Assessment Committee who intend to make a decision on June 10th. We have to submit written representations by 18th May.
• I contacted the Community Legal Advice people who have been brilliant but who say the whole thing comes down to what type of tenancy we have now. We don't have a contract other than an olde-worlde style piece of paper from 1974, and when I asked the managing agent for one they said
  "I don’t believe there is any contract as such as your father had a regulated tenancy and the benefit of this has been past onto you through an assured tenancy" - the CLA people said I shouldn't take their word for it that this is the type of tenancy I have.
  

Does anyone know what kind of position this leaves us in? How do I know if I have an assured or regulated tenancy? Thanks to anyone who has read all the way through this.

Nixer

I don't know about the tenancy stuff, but I'm sure someone who does will be along soon. Shelter are also good for tenancy legal advice. However what makes you think you're not entitled to housing benefit? Have you checked on entitledto.co.uk ?

It might be worth you visiting the Debt Free Wannabee bit of the forum for some help about the debts.

Yorkie1

It might also be worth visiting the Landlord Zone website, they have a few legal eagles there who might be able to advise you too

teeni

Hi I copied this from the shelter site

If the successor is the spouse or partner, and there has not been a previous succession, the tenancy remains a regulated tenancy. If it passes to another member of the tenant's family, or is a second succession, it becomes assured. Regulated tenancies can only be passed on twice in very limited circumstances.

You have an assured tenancy of this property and this security will be considered when the rent assessment panel make their decision. Are they coming and inspecting the property and having an oral hearing or siit being carried out on paper work.

I always advise cleints to have an oral hearing rather than a paper one it is amasing what you forget to put on a piece of paper that will be identified when questions are asked.

The panel will take into account similar proeprties in the area and set the rent accordingly. This will be binding on both parties. if you claim local housing allowance and the rent is increased tell them it may make a difference.

JUst a quicky was the date right on the rent increase notice I had one client recently where the ll issued a notice of rent increase on the date of the original tenancy not the new one that had been created when the succession happened and it was not valid. Succession is an operation of law and passes to successor on the death of the tenant there is no gap in the dates worth checking out.

good luck
Teeni

SouthCoast

Advice from CAB on the different types of tenancies:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_family/home_and_neighbourhood_index_ew/renting_a_home_index_ew/renting_from_a_private_landlord.htm

boxofkittens

Thank you so much for your replies, I really do appreciate you taking the time to post. It does look like I am an assured tenant then.

teeni wrote: »

Are they coming and inspecting the property and having an oral hearing or siit being carried out on paper work.

I always advise cleints to have an oral hearing rather than a paper one it is amasing what you forget to put on a piece of paper that will be identified when questions are asked.

The panel will take into account similar proeprties in the area and set the rent accordingly. This will be binding on both parties. if you claim local housing allowance and the rent is increased tell them it may make a difference.

JUst a quicky was the date right on the rent increase notice I had one client recently where the ll issued a notice of rent increase on the date of the original tenancy not the new one that had been created when the succession happened and it was not valid. Succession is an operation of law and passes to successor on the death of the tenant there is no gap in the dates worth checking out.

good luck
Teeni

They are inspecting the property on June 10th, everything is being done on paper though. Teeni yes the original notice they served was not valid as they hadn't signed the form and had listed an invalid start date. The latest notice seems to be correct though. From the research I have done today I am not optimistic that we will be left with a rent we can afford though. I guess some kind of debt management scheme / new job for my husband will be the next steps to take then. Someone tell me this is not as scary as it sounds?

Nixer thank you, I clicked through and looked at the benefits site. It said I might be entitled to £6 a week housing benefit, not sure that will cover the difference but hey, every penny counts right?! I'll head over to DFW next. Thank you.