When you move into a council property as a secure tenant – meaning the tenancy will last for your lifetime – you will sign either a joint or sole tenancy agreement.

• If you sign a joint tenancy with one or more other people, you each have equal rights and are all responsible for the whole rent. If one of you ends the tenancy, it ends for all tenants.
• If you sign a sole tenancy only you are responsible for paying the rent, regardless of who else lives in the property with you.

You can apply to switch from a joint to a sole tenancy, or vice versa. We will not allow more people on the tenancy than the property is suitable for.

Apply to change your tenancy type

When switching to a sole tenancy, all joint tenants must agree to have their names removed from the existing tenancy. Doing this could affect their ability to obtain social housing in the future.

As the landlord we must remain impartial – you should seek independent legal advice if you need advice about a dispute.

Our Tenancy Changes Policy [PDF, 62Kb] explains our position on changing tenancies in more detail.