Tenant Needs Advice re Housing Association Reposession Order

Hi John

Others here will be more familiar with the workings of housing associations than I am.

My advice to you is to speak to a housing charity such as shelter.
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Hm, what are your options as regards your future housing? if you were struggling to find a new place and were renting from a private landlord, your local council would advise you to stay put, because if you move out as required by your tenancy agreement, you will be making yourself "voluntarily homeless" and they will refuse to offer you accommodation. If you think you might need council housing, I would check with the council about their policy regarding such situations if your landlord is a housing association.

Another organisation to try would be your local Citizens Advice Bureau. If you haven't received a formal possession notice, I don't think you have to leave. But do you really want all the hassle? Why not just move out, if you can find a new place? Or if that's a problem, why not talk with the housing association about allowing you to stay? They rented the house to your wife as a single person, so why not to you as well? If you can't afford the rent, there are options like housing benefit or maybe taking in a paying lodger, if the tenancy agreement allows this.

As regards any debts, from the sound of it the housing association's contract was with your wife, not you, therefore they have to collect the debt from your wife. You were merely a non-approved resident assisting her with the rent, and you never paid anything or had a contract directly with the housing association, so they can't pursue you for the debt. As regards any costs for the possession order, you need to ask the CAB or Shelter.

While you're still married you have rights of occupation under the Matrimonial Homes Act - in short, you're entitled to live there. You can apply for an occupation order, which would stop your wife from ending the tenancy until your divorce is settled. Your solicitor or at least the CAB should be able to advise you.

FYI, this also applies if the matrimonial home is OWNED and is solely in the husband's or wife's (or civil partner's) name.

HI John,
As you and your wife were joint tenants, either tenant can serve Notice to Quit to the landlord and this will end the tenancy for both tenants, your wife didnt have to let you know she had done this.

The Housing association do not need to give you Notice as your wife has given them notice already ending the tenancy

sadly as one tenant has ended the tenancy you now have no right to stay in the property, past the Notice to Quit date that your wife has given, if you do remain, you will be a tresspasser and the Housing association can have you removed from the porperty, im afraid normally this is done by the police.

You could apply to the local council as Homeless, they cant find you intentionally homeless as YOU have not done a deliberate act to cease living at the property, however as a single man, it will be unlikely they will be able to find you a suitable property and you could find yourself in a hostel or B&B for some considerable time, you also have to be aware that under Homelessness legislation your council can house you anywhere in the UK if a suitable property can be found in another borough or even another part of the counctry.

your best option is private renting for a quicker solution.

Reply to the comment left by "Mandy Thomson" at "11/09/2014 - 13:03":

Sorry, I misread your post as your wife being sole tenant. However, you can still apply to the Court under Schedule 7 of the 1996 Family Law Act for the tenancy to be transferred into your sole name, but as this will be dependent on whether your landlord sees you as suitable - this being public housing, this may well depend, at least in part, on your housing needs.

Please see your solicitor as a matter of urgency - family law solicitors deal with cases such as yours all the time.

Reply to the comment left by "Julie Ford" at "11/09/2014 - 13:17":

Hi Julie

John at the page header states "I feel rather aggrieved as despite being under the impression I was a named tenant but my wife never added me despite living there altogether for 4 years."

This suggests they were not joint tenants.

Assuming they are not joint tenants, what is the situation applicable to John?

Reply to the comment left by "Jay Jay" at "12/09/2014 - 15:07":

John may be entitled to seek an injunction to stop his wife severing the tenancy, and/or to claim rights of occupation.

This would apply if he and his wife co-owned, co-rented, or the property was in the wife's sole name as owner or tenant - in short, as her legal husband he would normally be entitled to live in his wife's home regardless of his ownership status. This would last until the marriage was ended by decree absolute, or the court decided otherwise.