Rents agreement management overview

A tenancy agreement is a contract between the tenant and the landlord of the property, giving certain rights to both parties e.g. the tenant's right to occupy the property and the landlord's right to receive rent for letting the accommodation. It sets out the terms and conditions of their rental agreement - amount of rent payable, method of payment, any additional charges, responsibility for minor repairs, etc. - and can include arrangements above and beyond a tenant's statutory rights, but not less. There are three types of tenancy agreement in use by landlords and tenants, each defining the rights and responsibilities they have to each other and the property:

Assured Shorthold Tenancy - this is the most common type of tenancy agreement used when renting private residential properties, with limited security of tenure.
Assured Tenancy - This type of tenancy agreement is used for properties let by a housing association or by a housing trust. The tenant has a higher level of security with this form of tenancy, as it allows them to remain in the property as long as they comply with the terms of the agreement.
Regulated or 'Protected' Tenancy - A regulated tenancy offers the tenant the highest level of protection against eviction and increased rent.

A tenancy agreement cannot usually be changed unless both parties agree to the proposed amendments. There are many reasons for changing or amending a tenancy agreement such as the tenant wishing to transfer their tenancy over to a member of their household, or the desire to share the responsibilities of the tenancy by having a joint tenancy.

Civica Cx Housing incorporates standard functions to manage the transfer of tenancy agreements in a controlled way, specifically:

Succession of tenancy - a legal term used when a person inherits a tenancy as a result of the original tenant's death i.e. the successor to a tenancy. There can only be one succession of a secure tenancy; hence, if the deceased tenant was already a successor, the tenancy could not be passed on again to another person in that way.
Assignment - when the original tenant passes their tenancy over to another person i.e. an assignment to a potential successor; facilitated only by approval with the housing organisation or landlord.
Mutual exchange - when two or more tenants swap their homes by mutual consent; again facilitated only with the permission of the housing organisation or landlord.

Additional agreement-based functions are available to manage the lifecycle of an agreement e.g. to change the tenure, add a guarantor or process a termination.

Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of rents agreement management, including: