Call of the month: One of my tenants wants to leave

A landlord posted on our forum recently with a question relating to a house share.

One of the three people living in the house wants to move out when the tenancy ends next summer, with the others wanting to stay on. The landlord wanted to know if it was reasonable for them to suggest the tenant wishing to leave the house should help find another tenant to take their place.

They also wanted to understand whether as the landlord, they would need to draw up a new tenancy agreement when the tenant leaves to include the incoming tenant, or if adding an addendum to the existing tenancy agreement would be sufficient.

They took to our forum to ask for the opinions of fellow landlords.

The responses on our forum

One of the first people to respond said that in their view, if the current agreement is a joint tenancy, then the landlord could work with their tenant to find a suitable replacement to live in the house share. They would have time to do this as the tenant who wants to leave is going to do so in August.

This landlord said they would end the current tenancy using a Deed of Surrender, and sign a new agreement for the new tenants, at a time that suits everyone.

Then, an adviser from our expert advice team joined the thread.

They suggested that rather than drawing up a new tenancy agreement, a Deed of Assignment could be an option should the tenant find someone to replace them in the house share when they move out next summer.

A Deed of Assignment doesn’t mean a new tenancy is signed, but that the existing (or original) tenancy is transferred to someone else. However there must be a correctly executed Deed of Assignment to legally transfer a tenancy agreement.

All tenants, including those remaining and the one vacating need to sign the Deed of Assignment and the landlord must retain a copy of this.

The NRLA Deed of Assignment has separate date sections for each signature, and all of these need to be signed and witnessed BEFORE the date of the assignment.

More information about Deed of Assignment is available on the NRLA website, and our adviser recommended our landlord read the guidance on this thoroughly before proceeding.

Our adviser also explained the deposit must be amended and/or re-protected (check with the relevant scheme) and reminded the landlord they will be required to serve all of the prescribed information again.