Amend the tenants on lease

Landlord Discussion Legal
1

Hi all

I have a tenancy with 5 named tenants on a joint and several basis. Two of them are students at university with no income, and the main tenant (their mother) is on Universal Credit.

The issue we’re facing is that Universal Credit is reducing her housing support on the basis that there are multiple tenants on the agreement who can contribute, even though in reality the students are not contributing financially.

From a legal perspective, the tenancy is joint and several, so each tenant is liable for the full rent, but UC seems to be interpreting this as a shared household where everyone should be contributing.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation?

  • Is there a way within OpenRent to remove some tenants mid-term (e.g. convert them to permitted occupiers)?

  • Or is the only option to issue a new tenancy via renewal?

  • Has anyone found a structure that works better for UC assessments?

Appreciate any guidance or experience on this.

2

No, you cant convert them to permitted occupiers, but I dont think it would make any difference for UC purposes anyway. You need to get some help from a specialist in UC rules. I would suggest Bill Irvine of universalcreditadvice dot com.

1 Like
3

@Andy55 but why exactly shouldn’t they be contributing? Why are they named on the tenancy as tenants if that wasn’t what is intended? Student loans are intended to cover things like housing costs

Good luck

4

They are university students and are not in a position to contribute meaningfully towards the rental costs. Based on the information I have told, Universal Credit has reduced the mother’s entitlement on the basis that there are additional tenants on the lease (irrespective of them being able to contribute).

I have asked them to obtain confirmation that, if I were to remove these individuals from the tenancy, the mother’s Universal Credit payments would increase accordingly before I consider taking any action.

As a potential fallback, the tenancy could be terminated and a new agreement issued with the students removed as tenants and reclassified as permitted occupiers.