Hi,me and my partner have been renting off my brother for 3 years, the tennancy is in my partners name only.The 3 year fixed term tennancy is due to end 30th dec ,and me and my partner are sadly splitting up…what can i do to stay at this house and continue to rent off my brother?I’m going to have to claim single person on universal credit,and cannot afford rent unless they decide to help,we have 3 children together
My brother will be happy for me to stay and continue renting as always with a proper contract,but i don’t know what to do first,if he agrees to write a new tennancy with my name only on it,and i get refused help with housing benifits I’ll be in a contract i can’t stay in,pls can someone help me,i feel so overwhelmed,thank you
Firstly, are you sure your ex-partner will move out? You won’t be able to compel him to if he doesn’t want to go. Assuming he wants to leave, from your Brothers point of view it would be best to do nothing initially as the tenancy won’t end until he serves a valid notice on the second day after the fixed term has ended. He will remain liable for the rent until the notice expires, (ie fixed term + 2 months) and you would then need a new tenancy at that point. You will need to check online what you are entitled to with regard to UC given that you have children. You may also need to get your ex-partner to contribute to the cost of the rent and children’s welfare, through the courts if necessary. You should book a call with the CAB and ask them a series of questions about your options.
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Good advice already to get help from the CAB.
The amount of Local Housing Allowance for private rented accommodation for the council you are in should be on the council website. If the children are staying with you you also need to work out how many bedrooms the council would pay for. I believe Housing Benefit (or whatever it is called these days) say kids of the same sex can share a bedroom up to the age of 10.
So if you have more bedrooms than they deem you need you may possibly be charged bedroom tax.
You will also need to take into account the LHA compared to the actual rent. LHA is often set below the average rent for the area.
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Thankyou for both replies
I made an error,after typing this i realised the agreement is an assured shorthold agreement
My children are a girl of 2 and 2 boys ages 12 and 14,kids the same sex can share till one is 16,so i would qualify for 3 bed,which is what im in,i think the lha is around 100 less that what this house costs.
My partner is absoloutely insisting he leaves,to leave us here comfortable, things are really amicable right now,though im not naive to insist it’ll necessarily stay that way,I’m confident
Im speaking to citizens advice on Mon with my list of questions
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Please reply on Citizens Advice more than here. You also may want to contact a domestic violence helpline- I know that right now you haven’t mentioned anything, but you are in a vulnerable position and they should be more than relieved to point you in the right direction before things get bad!
(I used to work helping people escape DV so I just want to see people prepared. Transitions like this can bring out the worst, and if you have the resources you need in your back pocket you’ll feel confident and secure to advocate for yourself)
If your partner stays amicable, you all need to end the tenancy agreement between him and you two and start one with just you.
Your brother being amenable makes this easy. If you had a landlord that wanted to kick you out if your ex leaves this would be hard!
My understanding is that this will be enough:
- Your ex gives notice that he’s leaving. Your brother can agree to waive the notice period and he could move out tomorrow if your brother agreed to it.
- Your brother offers you a new rental agreement. You may need to do an assured shorthold for security
- Your ex leaves on the day he gave notice and moves himself and his belongings elsewhere.
- Your brother may want to visit the property and do a walk-through to confirm this has happened.
- You and the kids happily remain with no major hassle.
Your brother is able to let you out of the lease at any time. As long as you trust him to have your best interests at heart, there’s no danger to entering the agreement. Notice periods are for when one party doesn’t want the contract to end- if both of you are happy to end the lease early, you can do so at any time.
(On a really cynical level- covid had super delayed evictions for non-hazardous reasons. So absolute worst case scenario of a lease you can’t afford is you fall behind on rent and have over 6 months to resolve it… This is not plan A! Just letting you know that even if your brother decided to be a jerk and hold you to a lease you can’t afford, you won’t be immediately homeless and there’ll be time to fix it.)
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As others have said, if everything is amicable then there is no need for concern whether the tenancy is still in the fixed term or is periodic. Both types will be an AST by the way.
Now that you know your ex wants to move out, just discuss with your brother whether he is happy to give you a new tenancy.
You should discuss with CAB your rights to maintenance payments from your ex for the children so that you know your rights when you come to discuss it with him.
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