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Original poster

Letter from Housing Association - very stressed

69 replies

DuvetHugger · 11/04/2022 17:06

For background - In 2015 I moved in with my partner into their social housing house. I never added myself down as a tenant, just never got around to it really.

In 2019 my partner finally added me to the tenancy because I fell pregnant and I wanted to make sure I had security.

In October 2020 we broke up as I found out he was cheating. He rang the housing association to say he was moving out and that I was now the tenant.

Every time I rang them up to pay rent or to report a repair they kept saying that my name wasn't down as a tenant and that they would look into it.

I developed PND and forgot all about it.

I started a UC claim in 2021 for housing and childcare costs, everything was fine and this was verified by housing association.

UC recently asked me if my rent went up in April 2022 and I replied yes and filled in the details. I have now received a letter from the housing addressed to ex saying that I have made a claim for housing but am not listed as a joint tenant. The verification in 2021 was an oversight and they have informed UC that not only am I not a tenant, but that we are currently a couple living there!

So now UC are going to think I am committing benefit fraud and I probably wont get my housing costs this month.

I am so stressed out. I have rang housing association and they said they would get back to me.

Any advice here??!

I am so stressed out that I don't know where to start :(

OP posts:
jampim · 11/04/2022 17:08

I don't think the tenant is allowed to just pass the tenancy to another occupant?

Do you have any paperwork confirming this www agreed by the HA?

RipleysVest · 11/04/2022 17:11

You can't just stay if he moved out.

Succession only happens if you are a child of the tenant and they pass away or if the tenant passes away and you've been registered as a joint tenant for a year beforeim sorry but I don't think they're going to let you stay :(

Kuachui · 11/04/2022 17:12

yeah you cant just pass over a tenancy it doesnt work like that, if you havent signed a tenancy agreement then you arnt a legal tenant. only the housing can help in this case

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Original poster
DuvetHugger · 11/04/2022 17:13

Oh bloody hell. How on earth do I go about getting the tenancy changed, will I lose my house?

OP posts:
Iamsosadijustwantout · 11/04/2022 17:15

Can you get In touch with your x partner to have him sign over to you? Sorry if I am know help but living in my bought houseSad.. No experience of rented house. X

Original poster
DuvetHugger · 11/04/2022 17:15

I also guess this means I will have to pay back all the rent I claimed. I am down as living there though so what is the difference between that and being a tenant?

OP posts:
Harridan1981 · 11/04/2022 17:17

Presumably, as it was him who was checked for criteria etc, not you?

SarahAndQuack · 11/04/2022 17:21

Are you sure your ex did the things he claims? It sounds to me as if he didn't (because the HA would probably not have let him sign the tenancy over to you, as others say), and likely when you were claiming the HA thought you were communicating as part of a couple?

The way you're describing it, there ought to be enough evidence you were acting in good faith.

OurChristmasMiracle · 11/04/2022 17:21

Difference between being named as an occupant and a tenant is that a tenant has joint and individual responsibility for paying rent and bills where as an occupant doesn’t.

A tenant also has the legal right to occupy the property and one tenant can’t just kick out the other without either their agreement or an occupation order where as a named occupant can be kicked out as they have no legal right to remain there.

As you were never a joint tenant I highly doubt the housing association is going to allow you to take over the tenancy in your own right but this would be something you would need to speak with them about

Original poster
DuvetHugger · 11/04/2022 17:23

Seeing these comments is making me wonder how I could have been so stupid. I should have had my tenancy in writing before making a claim. It was all done via UC. They asked me my circumstances and I told them.

I don't know whats panicking me more, the fact I may lose my home, that I will probably be accused of benefit fraud, that I wont get my benefits anymore and that I will have to pay it all back!

I am in work and waiting for 5.30 to hit so I can try and sort this out

OP posts:
DressingPafe · 11/04/2022 17:26

I think you’re going to need specific legal advice. The fact they “accepted” you as being the tenant when you first claimed UC may give you some rights. But I honestly don’t know. Maybe first stop shelter as they have advisors who may be able to give you further info.

RipleysVest · 11/04/2022 17:28

I lived with my mum in a housing association house for 10 years. She moved out and even though I had been on the housing list for 5 years and was 3RD in the que for a house next they wouldn't let me take over the tenancy. They made me homeless for a month then rehoused me round the corner, just weeks later. I lost a full house of furnishings as I had no money to store them. They were just absolutely adamant that tenancy couldn't not be passed to me. It came up at town meetings and all sorts because neighbours were trying to support me.

I really don't think they will let you stay :(

myceliumama · 11/04/2022 17:30

Ignore petite saying you can't just pass a C tenancy on, you CAN. Ask you have to have is proof that you have lived there for more than a year and benefit fraud hasn't been committed. So bank statements going back etc. Often with the housing/council they will have a single person in the protest and then somebody moved in with them. They have a baby. Separate. It's in the social housing owners interest to see that the child and resident parent is housed in that property and the other single tenant was housed elsewhere as they aren't in need. I know because my sister literally did this with her partner and my single nephew put a claim in his deceased grandmothers 3 bedroom house as a tenant after he produced 3 years of mobile phone bills at her address. He win and to this dad stop resides in a 3 bed house despite being single.

user1471538283 · 11/04/2022 17:30

Hopefully as you have paid the rent you will be considered as the tenant. But with social housing being in such short supply you may have to give the house up.

You need legal advice to try and appeal to the housing association.

myceliumama · 11/04/2022 17:31

Fat fingers. I'm sure you can figure it out. I hate my tiny phone!!

Shiteshow100 · 11/04/2022 17:37

You may not qualify for social housing even as it wasn't your house to start with. Worst case scenario is that you have to give up the house and get something private plus repay what you have claimed. Hopefully they will keep you on and all will be well. Good luck

EdgeOfSeventeenAndThreeQuarter · 11/04/2022 17:43

He’s stitched you up like a kipper and I doubt for one second he made those calls.

  1. if he’d made you a joint tenant back in 2019, you’d have signed the tenancy.

  2. if he’d removed himself from the tenancy in 2020, you’d have signed a sole tenancy.

Now it is possible that this stuff fell through the cracks with covid - but far more probable that he’s been blowing smoke up your arse. What a dick!

Be 100% honest with the HA, you won’t have been the first woman to have this story.

2bazookas · 11/04/2022 17:46

Contact your local MP with written details and ask for their assistance

This is exactly the kind of situation where "interest from the MP" can suddenly cause housing, benefits officers etc to snap to attention and hurriedly rearrange their ducks into a proper row.

AntiHop · 11/04/2022 17:50

Definitely call the shelter advice line in the first instance. They are really helpful. Good luck.

Hunkydory99 · 11/04/2022 17:59

The HA are going to need to accept some responsibility here IMO. Have you had an annual tenancy visit or review with them? Have they tried to do so? Whose been raising and reporting repairs? I work in social housing so not totally clueless.
I’d recommend everything going forward is done in writing

Weareallvirgins · 11/04/2022 18:06

A tenant cant pass the tenancy to you. Surely alarm bells rang when you had no paperwork to fill in...

Lemon221 · 11/04/2022 18:11

Hi I work for housing, you need to ask them to do a joint to sole, it’s a deed of assignment to make you the sole tenant. It’s a legal document to say you have taken over the tenancy solely. You cannot just say he has moved out.
If you aren’t currently joint tenants they may not be able to do this as he is the only one on the tenancy, in which case you will have to a sole to joint tenancy and then apply to do a joint to sole. It depends what housing association you are with. Ring them up and explain the situation they cannot just chuck you out on the streets. You do need to read the tenancy agreement to see if he has broken any of the agreements by moving out. I do not know this affects your benefits though. Ring your income officer and explain the situation, they will be best placed to offer advice. Good luck x

chesirecat99 · 11/04/2022 18:20

Reading between the lines, I wonder if you were added to the contract as a permitted occupier rather than a tenant? That could explain why they verified the UC last time.

DontStopMeNow7 · 11/04/2022 18:26

Don’t panic yet. Get your facts first

  1. Find out who is named on the tenancy

  2. Contact ex and ask him to sign it over to you

  3. Ask HA if they will accept this (or not)

  4. Open a case with Citizens Advice
    As a pregnant woman (who can easily show you were acting in good faith too - the HA didn’t dispute you were the tenant at one point so it’s on them) you might have more rights than you think. Worst case: you get evicted (unlikely) but even then you are likely to qualify for sheltered housing /other social accommodation because you are pregnant. Citizens Advice and Shelter can both advise and support you but you don’t have the facts yet.
    When I had a council flat and it was jointly in our names it was easy to get it transferred to just my name (and without his consent) because he’d left and I was the one with the child.
    How are you eligible for benefits if you’re working? In any case when the baby is born you can get Child Credit and working tax credits and that will help.

  5. Write an email in your UC account and attach all the documentation showing you are the only person living there and showing why you assumed you were now the tenant -screenshots as attachments if necessary).

Babyroobs · 11/04/2022 18:41

@DuvetHugger

Seeing these comments is making me wonder how I could have been so stupid. I should have had my tenancy in writing before making a claim. It was all done via UC. They asked me my circumstances and I told them.

I don't know whats panicking me more, the fact I may lose my home, that I will probably be accused of benefit fraud, that I wont get my benefits anymore and that I will have to pay it all back!

I am in work and waiting for 5.30 to hit so I can try and sort this out

Surely when you first claimed UC, they would have checked your tenancy with the HA and verified you were actually on the tenancy ? i don't understand how they would have paid rent element otherwise ?