My tenant has been in for maybe 6months now and has been great throughout. She has asked to add her sister (who is also working) to the tenancy. I see no issue with this but have seen comments on here regarding having to do a deed of surrender to create a new agreement? Is this the case and is there anything else that people would suggest before making the addition?
Hi @SS21 -
Our guide for adding a tenant to an existing tenancy is here:
I hope that’s helpful, anything unclear just let our team know via the contact button / help button.
Thanks!
Despite her request, it may not be in your tenants best interest to have her sister as a joint tenant. That would give them equal status and if they dont get on, your tenant could lose her home. Youre also correct that you would need to end the current tenancy and start a new one, which is a lot of admin and hassle.
A better option, in my opinion is to add the Sister as a Permitted Occupier. She would not acquire tenancy rights and you would not be able to accept rent from her, only from the tenant. You would still need to do a Right to Rent check, but the only other requirement would be a signed letter to the tenant, preferably acknowledged granting her permission to have as a Permitted Occupier at her discretion for a period not exceeding her tenancy or occupation of the property, whichever is shortest.
Thanks for this reply. If I was to follow your advice in future would I be able to provide a landlords reference for the sister. I would think not as they would have no evidence of paid rent and I believe this is part of the reason why they want to be on the tenancy.
You could only provide a character reference.
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