To want my daughter to inherit my council tenancy?

[cultjarteriaky]

I know this is polemic but hear me out

I’m in London

I was lucky enough to become a council tenant some years ago after homelesnees through not fault of my own - the private landlord I rented from wanted to move back in his flat but as a newly single parent (divorced because of DV) I could not afford to rent anything on my income (I worked PT at the time and landlords would not accept benefits as part of income) - so after eviction and going through B&B and temporary accomodation, I got a 2 bedroom flat.

I have no family and DD’s father is an alcoholic whom we have very little contact and interaction with.

DD has MH issues, is agoraphobic and autistic. She is 17 but left school without GCSEs and is doing online tutoring to sit functional skills exams. She struggles with depression and anxiety and worst without meds.

Can I put her name in the tenancy when she turns 18 next year and would she be able to be here when I die? I’m constantly stressed that if I die suddenly, she will have nobody and will be completely lost. She is high functioning yet highly dependent when it comes to life admn especially since her agoraphobia. I just want to slowly get her prepared and thinking about it.

Also she’d probably be entitled to only 1 bedroom so can she inherit the tenancy but then swap our 2 bedroom to a 1 bedroom? I guess she will have a caseworker from adult social care to help her navigate all that.

Anyone know the answer? Google gives me mixed info and I’d rather have an idea before contacting my Council.

Thank you.

Was he living with her in the house permanently ?

Oh thanks and yes. It is a first hand secure tenancy

That is helpful, thanks

Yes I agree and hope with time and out of teen years we can have a bit more clarity on what she is or is not capable of

However death can happen suddenly sometimes and I just want to prepare myself and herself with options even if those will change eventually

But when I die who will take the mortgage on?

Good point. Also what happens if DD evicts me lol

Hell will frozen 1000 times over before I move a man in / put his name in my tenancy

That is a good point.

If she moves out I would downsize but then she wouldn’t be able to move back.

Have to consider all angles

Nope she does not leave the house at all and needs help managing money so would need assistance managing life adm but she is only 17

Off meds she will self harm / have suicide ideation and starve herself

I have to check assisted living but we have 2 cats who are her only friends so losing the cats would be traumatic too

I think you might have missed the point a bit here. If you become joint tenants and she wants to leave at any point, you will have to leave too as the joint tenancy will end. The council wont be obliged to offer you any property at all, smaller or not.

You are much better off leaving her as a potential successor in the event of your death rather than making her a joint tenant beforehand

Oooops
Yes, thanks for clarifying

Goodness OP I hope that it is possible. I have one with ASD and I know how worrying it is. I hope she is able to get some help for her agoraphobia.

yes you can

@sluj please do not give wrong information like that out.

if one person leaves the tenancy then you can request for it to be turned into a sole tenancy. Most will require the other person to tell them that they are indeed leaving the property to you.

You’d get life insurance to pay it off.

(not saying RTB is the right option for you, but that’s how people deal with that specific risk)

@Sluj also you cannot name someone as a successor to a council property if they are not named on the tenancy.

Sorry we disagree here, I've worked in social housing for several years dealing with these issues every day. You cannot go on changing your tenancy sole to joint then joint to sole etc. If the joint tenant gives up the tenancy they do it on behalf of both of them. It's up to the LA if they give out yet another sole tenancy and may not if the property is too big at that point.
You can succeed if you are a household member and not a tenant if you have lived there for 12 months and the tenancy allows it.

Add her to the tenancy as soon as she is old enough.

If one of you were to die or move out, the other person can stay in the home.

The only downside though, is that I don’t know if this will affect any housing benefit you may receive or the single person council tax discount (although this may be the same regardless of whether she is on the tenancy or not).

You can always take her off the tenancy in the future if she chooses to move elsewhere.

As suggested, speak to your housing officer and emphasise your DD’s difficulties.

It depends on your tenancy contract, but contact your housing officer and clarify what can be done and how it would work. I think your plan is very sensible.

@sluj So have i and it has never worked like that in any of my workplaces. Same as asking someone to downsize, we would always ask but we would NEVER evict someone because they have refused unless they had not been paying rent! It at least works like at at Aster, Sovereign and Stonewater Also Teign Housing.

If one tenant wanted to give up a tenancy they had to pass over the tenancy to the other person, if that person also wanted to leave then they had to both give us notice.

Also no one has mentioned going back and forth here We are talking about popping someone on as a joint tenant, once and then that person leaving once in the future potentially.

To OP: I have also been a council tenant with a joint tenancy with my partner, he then moved out and I removed him from my tenancy, He signed to say he was giving it up and then i was giving sole tenancy and then i mutual exchanged that property for another Joint tenancy in a different house with my mother AND my partner who was living with me again then my mother moved out a year later and Now its just me and partner on joint tenancy. Has never been an issue but i would talk to your housing and see what they suggest, they will know more about how they accept things.

When you take out a mortgage, it's a condition of lending that you take out a life insurance policy that - at a minimum - covers the amount remaining on the mortgage.

So, if you die before the mortgage is paid off, the lender is paid off and - being as she's the beneficiary - your daughter gets the now-mortgage-free house.

That is a good point, I no longer receive HB but I do have council tax discount.

Will I lose the discount once she is an adult even if she is unemployed? And even if she is not in the tenancy?

So many questions, I will make a list for when seeking independent advice. Will dig out my tenancy too. I know it is secure but never paid attention to the succession bit.

oh I did not know that, thanks:)

But that will be for the future as I don’t have a deposit atm

I’d be careful about adding your daughter to then tenancy. I worked in housing for many years and remember a mother and son with a joint tenancy. The relationship between them had got very fractious but the mother was unable to get her son to leave as it was a joint tenancy.

I work for a Housing Provider up north. We generally wouldn't add daughter on to the tenancy. However, if you died and she could prove she had lived there 12 months prior to the death, she would get succession rights. So, not being on the tenancy doesn't affect this right. Although, her housing needs is a 1bed so would probably given the property, but offered a suitable one bed.