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Original poster

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

333 replies

softplay999 · 15/08/2021 11:34

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?

OP posts:
Groovee · 15/08/2021 15:18

Nope the council gave us 7 days to hand back the keys and empty the house when my Gran died.

toocold54 · 15/08/2021 15:30

Sorry not RTFT so may be repeating.

You used to be able to pass on a tenancy but you can’t now.
Which is probably why he’s confused.

If he wants to live there when they die he’d need to move in before then so his name is already on the tenancy.

VividImagination · 15/08/2021 15:38

My adult stepson lived in a council flat with his mother for approximately 10 years. He moved in to help look after her when she became less able. Unbeknown to us he was not on the tenancy. When his mother died suddenly it wasn’t straightforward getting the tenancy transferred to him. It initially looked as if he would be made homeless. Thankfully all was well and he is still living there but there’s no way he’d have got the tenancy if he had been living elsewhere.

Maireas · 15/08/2021 15:38

Please come back and let us know how he responds, OP!
Same as pp, we had a short time to empty our uncle's council flat and return the key.

Livelovebehappy · 15/08/2021 15:39

Tbh OP, I would be embarrassed to be with someone who actually thinks this will happen. I’d be thinking something was wrong with him, and would have him straight to the GP to check him out.

kwiksavenofrillsusername · 15/08/2021 15:41

@SailYourShips

He could get his grandparents to buy it at a much reduced rate and they then will be able to leave it directly to him. He could help with the money, it would even be worth him borrowing in order to do it as he would be quids in,

This would be worth doing and lots of people do it.

Unless there are care fees, and then the house is gone anyway.
Congressdingo · 15/08/2021 15:51

Absolutely INFURIATING! Like talking to a brick wall though

Oddly enough I know someone who thinks (fervently) that the council house they have lived in for 30 years is their house and they can choose who to pass the tenancy on to when they die.
Its astounding the mental gymnastics they have in their head. They know without a doubt they do not own the house, yet somehow believe it matters not and they can nominate (one of their children) anyone to take it over. I've tried and tried to say once they die the house goes back into council stock and family will be given it, but no way are they listening.

In fact said person has stated very matter of factly that its their family home, as if it's a Georgian pile in the country, passed on through the family for generations. Really strange.

TableFlowerss · 15/08/2021 16:01

This thread has evoked all of human emotions…. Anger, shock, humour all at once 🤣

TableFlowerss · 15/08/2021 16:04

I mean in me! 🤣

blacksax · 15/08/2021 16:07

@TableFlowerss

This thread has evoked all of human emotions…. Anger, shock, humour all at once 🤣
You missed one... derision Grin
Turefu · 15/08/2021 16:22

If he moves back to grandparents, after a while he’ll be able to exercise Right To Buy with them. But there’s a cap on the discount , which in London is just over £100K, so if house is worth £500K, it’s still £400K mortgage to rise. Can they all afford it? It’s still a lot of money, even with discount .

RedToothBrush · 15/08/2021 16:29

Let me get this straight, your partner thinks

  1. that he will inherit a proper owned by the council that his grandparents are tenants in
  2. on the basis that he lived there once and his name was once on the tenancy agreement
  3. he has no concept of the difference between owning your own property and being a council tenant, despite previously being one
  4. he doesn't currently live at the property
  5. he thinks that he can have the council property and become the tenant, and then let relatives live there whilst he doesn't
  6. that subletting to a third party, regardless of whether he is related to them or not, whilst living at another address isnt fraudulent and dodgy as fuck

But most important of all, you are actually having a conversation about this with him as if its a normal. Given he is your partner, are you planning to be living with him at any time in the future, because if this is his thought process and life planning, you shouldn't be discussing it with him, you should be packing your bags and running for the hills.

Heatherjayne1972 · 15/08/2021 16:52

Nope. My exh nans council house and the ex fil flat needed emptying within 7 days
Both times it was before the funerals and no there was no opportunity for any relatives to ‘take over’ the lease

Xenia · 15/08/2021 16:57

Yet of course he is right if he moves back in and if he is on the tenancy (although not right about being allowed to sublet it)

Maireas · 15/08/2021 17:00

In a nutshell, @RedToothBrush.

Maireas · 15/08/2021 17:01

@Xenia

Yet of course he is right if he moves back in and if he is on the tenancy (although not right about being allowed to sublet it)
Could he go back onto a council tenancy as a homeowner?
WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 15/08/2021 17:09

In fact said person has stated very matter of factly that its their family home, as if it's a Georgian pile in the country, passed on through the family for generations. Really strange.

I think it's the same mindset as people who genuinely believe that the space on the public road nearest to their house is actually their parking space - usually people who've lived there a very long time.

Some people just cannot understand that, however long you might have used a public facility, it never becomes your own property - and any tenancy/contract is never in perpetuity.

I suppose some might reckon on what seems 'fair' to them - that house buyers own it outright after 25 or so years of paying the mortgage (which may or may not be significantly more than their rent), so they've 'more than paid their way' to entitle them to the house. It's a nice idea, but simply not how things work in reality.

Firstbornunicorn · 15/08/2021 17:09

People are still thinking he thinks he’ll inherit the tenancy. He doesn’t. He thinks he will own it outright. He literally thinks he will be gifted a 500k property by the council. He won’t be subletting it because, in his mind, he will be the owner.

saleorbouy · 15/08/2021 17:12

Why should he if he has an established home with you and is paying bills and is on the electoral role for that address.
How can he inherit a tenancy under such loose provision of "I lived there for 365days once" so I'll block a council or HA asset for someone else without a home.

RedToothBrush · 15/08/2021 17:16

I think it's the same mindset as people who genuinely believe that the space on the public road nearest to their house is actually their parking space - usually people who've lived there a very long time.

Theres a council house near where I live with a sign outside saying dont park here if you don't live there as if they have some ownership of the actual road. I think the fact they don't own their house either kinda adds to the effect of being a passive aggressive knobend.

I have passing fantasies of defacing that sign. (i wouldn't ever, but i dearly wish i could)

Original poster
softplay999 · 15/08/2021 17:17

@RedToothBrush

Let me get this straight, your partner thinks
  1. that he will inherit a proper owned by the council that his grandparents are tenants in
  2. on the basis that he lived there once and his name was once on the tenancy agreement
  3. he has no concept of the difference between owning your own property and being a council tenant, despite previously being one
  4. he doesn't currently live at the property
  5. he thinks that he can have the council property and become the tenant, and then let relatives live there whilst he doesn't
  6. that subletting to a third party, regardless of whether he is related to them or not, whilst living at another address isnt fraudulent and dodgy as fuck

But most important of all, you are actually having a conversation about this with him as if its a normal. Given he is your partner, are you planning to be living with him at any time in the future, because if this is his thought process and life planning, you shouldn't be discussing it with him, you should be packing your bags and running for the hills.

Packing my bags and running for the hills Because he is confused about inheriting a property.

Thank you all who have given me useful information and help

OP posts:
WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 15/08/2021 17:18

Yet of course he is right if he moves back in and if he is on the tenancy (although not right about being allowed to sublet it)

Is it that straightforward to get on to the tenancy, though? I'm sure councils are well aware that their tenants, once in their 70s or 80s, could invite their grandchild to move in with them (whether they actually live there or just claim to), then the grandchildren do the same for their grandchildren when they get old and thus block a valuable council facility for one family for centuries, in theory.

To be honest, morally-speaking, you could argue that the council should go in the other direction and re-evaluate their existing tenants' situations every few years - and then, if their financial circumstances have significantly improved for any reason since they first took the tenancy, give them notice to leave so as to free up the property for somebody else who is in need of it now (and not somebody who merely needed it 10 years ago but no longer does).

I'll bet there are more than a few pensioner couples/singletons who have benefited for decades from very low rent, managed to tuck away plenty in savings over all the years, children long grown up and moved out and are now in 4-bedroom houses for a fraction of what they'd pay to rent/buy privately.

Original poster
softplay999 · 15/08/2021 17:19

@saleorbouy

Why should he if he has an established home with you and is paying bills and is on the electoral role for that address. How can he inherit a tenancy under such loose provision of "I lived there for 365days once" so I'll block a council or HA asset for someone else without a home.
It's not that he thinks he should, it's that he has misunderstood and thinks that he will.
OP posts:
Xenia · 15/08/2021 17:21

I thought it was possible he was still on the tenancy - his wife should check. if he is and if he chooses to move back in and make it his home and it is an old tenancy and he is the first to inherit it from the post above I think he would then be right and he could stay there for life.

gogohm · 15/08/2021 17:27

No, unless he's resident and for a substantial time, eg as a carer. If you own another house you are not eligible for council housing

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