Thinking of adding my son to my tenancy agreement - good idea?

[RoryRobin]

I have a secure tenancy with a housing association and me and my son live in a two bedroom flat. I can add another tenant to my agreement if I wish. My son will be 18 next year and I am thinking of adding him just so he has a secure home if he wants/needs it if anything happens to me. He's going to go to university, don't know where yet but it may be to our local one, but whatever he decides to do for the next few years and into the future I would like him to have the option of having this home for as long as he wants.

Obviously he'd need to pay rent etc but if he decided he didn't want to he could just hand it back.i can't really think of a downside but am I missing something?

I think it's a good idea. It ensures he has a home should you die.

Yes very sensible

No way, a secure tenancy is gold standard and is your security, not his what about when he brings a gf or bf home to live with you, and you don’t get on and you end up leaving a secure home.
or he moves in a woman and her five lively kids
or sets up a doss house for all his uni mates
or, lots of other things you won’t be able to stop.

wait at ,least 20 years to do this

Wait until he's a fully formed adult ( at least 7 years).

Plenty of students , er, "change" when at university; like getting off their face on drugs, making an awful mistake in relationships including an unpanned baby; gambling and financial mess.

Your single-tenancy is your security (and ultimately, it may be his) so keep it safe from any youthful indiscretion.

Good points both of you. I guess it's better to hold off for a bit. I know that I can assign the tenancy to him in the event of my death - I'll look into that instead. Whatever happens in the next couple of years this will be his home address, where he's on the electoral roll and gets bank statements and it's the address his work has for him etc.

Check your tenancy carefully, the succession part and also what kind of new tenancy you'd be signing. Make sure they haven't changed since you signed.

The LA I work alongside doesn't grant joint tenancies to parent/child. Worth checking if it's even possible with your LA.

Do not do this. It will stop him from being able to move out in the future and get his own tenancy. It will affect your benefits if you claim any. When he finally does want to move out, the HA do not have to give either of you a sole tenancy as the property will be deemed too big for your sole needs
At the moment, you will have the right to remain in the property even if your son moves out so I would stick with that.
Also, check the succession rights, most only allow a discretionary succession to a family member who is not a spouse. Again, they may say its too big for one person so may not allow him to stay and may either require him to leave or possibly find him a one bed if they are a good HA.
The best thing to do is stay as you are.

A lot of councils wont allow parent/child joint tenancies. He can succeed your tenancy on your death if he has been living there for a certain amount of time immediately before you die (its one year at my council).