If your grandparents live in a council house, do you automatically get it when they die?

[softplay999]

My partner is sure that he will inherit his grandparents council flat when they pass away.

He did live there for over a year previously and this is why he thinks he will get it.

I think this is completely not true, but I actually have no idea. Can anyone please help?

It's because council tenancies are for life (or used to be - actually it is not always the case now).

I suppose the idea is to encourage people to earn rather than making them afraid to do so in case they lose their home. Bear in mind, the value of a council tenancy was less when these rules were written.

@softplay999

I think he must of just assumed that the situation has carried on from when he lived there.

I think his grandparents have made false promises as they have nothing else to offer him and his parents aren't around. They are very well meaning though.

I have absolutely no experience of council housing and how it works so although it's not rocket science, it's something I don't understand at all. Neither does he obviously 🤣

I have to repeat myself and say he is not trying to grab this property, he will be absolutely fine when he finds out that he doesn't get it.

I think it's sentimental also as it's been his grandparents home all of his life. And he is very close with them.

Thing is, why would he assume that he would inherit a property owned by a Council/housing association & designed to house those who don't and can't afford a home.

You might not think its grabby but take a look at the huge housing lists and the awful private housing some families are living in with no security and then ask yourself if his belief is a bit odd.

@JSL52

Is he genuinely a bit thick ?

Was thinking the same 😂

Is he winding you up ?

No it goes back to the council

I worked with someone who lived with his brother in a council property as his brother's carer. Only his brother was on the tenancy (they never bothered to change it) so when he died last year my work colleague ended up temporarily homeless even though he had lived there for over 5 years.. Council put him in temp accommodation and then eventually an over 55s retirement style place.

Only if he lives there full time when they die.

@JohnStonesMissus

Have you informed him of the bad news yet OP?

@JohnStonesMissus yes I have and he said "oh really, ok" so maybe I got a bit too wound up about it all 🤣🤦‍♀️

This might be useful

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/council_housing_association/can_you_inherit_a_council_tenancy

Genuine question. Did he really think that he would be given ownership of a property because his grandparents had rented it and he was on the tenancy at one point? Does he think that happens with every council property?

The only way he gets it if council think he still lives their and since he doesn't its fraud then togo on an sublet it to his family is illegal.
Tell him to forget all about it he has no rights whatsoever and struggling people will need it.
Thats who these council flats/home are intended for!!

You can inherit the tenancy but not own the property. There are also many variations on whom can inherit the tenancy, like when was tenancy issued and what are the conditions, I.e. can tenancy be actually passed on. Pre 2012 councils allowed wider family members to inherit tenancy rights. Post 2012, most councils moved onto partner / spouse and kids only.
The 12 months tenancy requirement is satisfied as he has lived there however to inherit the tenancy rights when he owns property would require him to prove why this property would be more suitable ie if it was bigger than your current home and needed more space for family. There are plenty of other tick boxes to satisfy.
50's / 60's / 70's tenancies almost always allowed for tenancy rights to be passed down and there are many properties in London still lived in that were passed down for 3-4 generations of tenants. Quite a few articles from few years back about it.

Before anyone jumps on me those are merely the facts of inheriting old school tenancies, I do not agree with the system

@SleepingStandingUp

You can't inherit something owned by the council.

His grandparents do not own their home, they rent it. When they die, it returns to the landlord aka council or Housing Assoc

Yes you can

Tenancies can pass on ONCE to another person living there. When my dad died the tenant ‘passed’ on to my mum as when they signed up in the 1960’s the tenancy was put in the man’s name. Mum argued that this was discriminatory and sexist and she won and was added as an equal tenant so it had not been passed on.
She then put my brother on the tenancy and when she passes it will go to him.
Next door were two young adult siblings living with single mum, she sadly died and the tenancy passed on to them, they were able to take it jointly.
You have to be living there but maybe he pretends that he is?

@Maireas

Right. I never knew that you could have a property portfolio and still live in council housing.

Yes you can, nobody checks. It’s very common.

Not automatically no. My dad's name was on the tenancy and my mum and him had been living there for over 33 years when he died. Their housing association did a right of succession and the tenancy was passed onto my mum, when she passes, it will go back to the housing association. Not all Housing Associations have a right of succession policy

My god. This thread. Hundreds of replies and only two had the same first thought as me.

OP, how old are his grandparents and siblings?

The sheer arrogance of making plans for the council house of two people who are still alive, two people he claims to be close to is shocking. And then deciding that his siblings will live in this house together, that they will study, that they will choose a rough area of London to live in whilst they study. What if they want a job? Or to study elsewhere.

He is one arrogant fucker. Infuriating.

@PumpkinKlNG why wouldn't your ex live there if he was living there and on the tenancy when his mother died? The value of the house has nothing to do with it.

It might be worth sounding out if the siblings could club together and help the grandparents buy it if they would like it to stay in the family, but really if they can let it go, its nice to think of someone else benefitting from a home. 2 bed council flats in London are given out to families in need. Lovely to think of someone else having a happy secure life there too.

He definitely will not get it if he is not living there. My adult brother got my dad's when he did because my brother had lived there all his live and still was living there when dad died. Do the council think he is still living there?

No. You can't leave a tenancy to anyone. Unless you're on the agreement, when they pop off, so do you!

No he absolutely won't - only dependents living with the tenant at the time of their death get this concession - he certainly won't

Sometimes it’s useful to see an example of a policy in black & white. My HA one is attached, but it is similar to the Council policy (the HA took over the housing stock from the Council). You can succeed a tenancy (not necessarily the property in question) if you have resided with the tenancy holder for 12 months prior to their death. If the property they rented would be too big for the successor’s needs then the successor can be rehoused in a smaller property.

OP, if your DP decides that he wants to succeed the tenancy so that his siblings have somewhere to live in London then he needs to get a copy of the succession policy from the Council or HA and work it out from there.

As others have pointed out though, it could be a long wait depending on the health of his DGPs.

He wouldn't even necessarily inherit it if they'd bought it from the council if they chose to leave it to someone else.

Right to buy was one of the worst things the tories ever did. Tell him not to be so grabby as someone who actually needs a council house should be able to benefit from it.

It doesn’t work like that as many have said,
If he’s not living there he won’t be on the tenancy, even if he was and someone else on eg his grandparents died they may evaluate his need, so even if he still lived there he wouldn’t be guaranteed to stay there.

You don’t inherit tenancies

Plus third party letting is illegal and people do go to prison for it.

You grandfather could try and buy it and your boyfriend give him the money then be left the property in his will but councils don’t always do this for high demand property plus you typically will be asked for 50 to 75% of the full asking price, a bargain but I guess you and your boyfriend may struggle to afford another £250k based on your estimate value and for a second (more expensive mortgage) and increasing market