Subletting, Assignation, Joint Tenancy and Exchange of your Tenancy

If you want to:

take in a lodger; or
add a joint tenant to the tenancy; or
sublet part or all of your house; or
assign the tenancy (pass on the tenancy to someone else); or
carry out a mutual exchange; or
otherwise give up possession

you must first get our written permission.

To apply for our permission, you must tell us in writing:

the details of the proposed change including who you want to sublet or assign or give up possession to, take as a lodger or joint tenant or exchange with (and the house involved); and
the amount of rent and any other payments (including a deposit) you propose charging (if any); and
when you want the subletting, lodging, assignation, giving up of possession or exchange or change in tenancy to take place.

If you want to assign your tenancy, the house must have been the only or principal home of the person to whom you want to assign the tenancy for at least 6 months before the date of your written request.

From 1 November 2019 there will be new notification and residency requirements that must be met for subletting, assignation and adding a joint tenant to your tenancy agreement as follows:

Subletting

From 1 November 2019 if you want to sublet all or part of the house, the house must have been your only or principal home for at least 12 months immediately before the date of your written request to sublet the house to someone else. If you were not the tenant throughout that period, the house must have been your only or principal home during those 12 months and the tenant must have told us in writing that you were living there. The length of time the person who wants to sublet all or part of the house has been living in the property starts from the date we are notified in writing that the person is living in the property as their only or principal home. You can give us notice of someone living with you before 1 November 2019 and that time will count towards the length of time they have been living at the property.

Assignation

From 1 November 2019 if you want to assign this tenancy to another person, the house must have been your only or principal home during the 12 months immediately before the date of your written request to assign the tenancy to someone else. In addition, the person who you wish to assign your tenancy to must have been living in the house as their only or principal home for at least 12 months before the date of your written request and you, a joint tenant or the person who you now wish to assign the tenancy to must have notified us in writing of them moving into the property. The length of time the person you want to assign this tenancy to must have been living in the property starts from the date we are notified in writing that the person is living in the property as their only or principal home. You can give us notice of someone living with you before 1 November 2019 and that time will count towards the length of time they have been living at the property.

Joint Tenancy

From 1 November 2019 if you want another person to be a joint tenant, the house must have been the only or principal home of the person who is to become a joint tenant for at least 12 months immediately before the date of your written request and you, a joint tenant or the person you now wish to become a joint tenant must have notified us in writing of them moving into the house. The person you wish to add as a joint tenant, and any existing joint tenants must apply to us in writing along with you. The length of time the person you want to add as a joint tenant must have been living in the property starts from the date we are notified in writing that the person is living in the property as their only or principal home. You can give us notice of someone living with you before 1 November 2019 and that time will count towards the length of time they have been living at the property.

We will not unreasonably refuse permission for an assignation, subletting, joint tenancy, giving up of possession or taking in a lodger request. Reasonable grounds for refusing permission include the following:

We have served a notice on you warning that we may seek eviction on certain grounds because of your conduct
We have obtained an order for your eviction
It appears that you propose to receive a payment or an unreasonable rent or deposit
The proposed change would lead to overcrowding
We intend to carry out work on the house (or the building of which the house forms part) which would affect the part of the house connected with the proposed change.

From 1 November 2019 we will have the following additional reasonable grounds for refusing permission for an assignation, subletting or joint tenancy request:

We have not been notified in writing that the relevant person has been living in the property as their only or principal home
The relevant person has not been living in the property for the required 12-month period
For assignation requests additional grounds for us refusing permission are:
- if the proposed assignee would not be given reasonable preference (priority) in terms of our allocations policy
- if the house would be under-occupied because of the assignation.

These examples do not in any way alter our general right to refuse permission on reasonable grounds. If we give permission, you cannot increase the rent or other payments made to you by the other person unless we give our permission.

We will not unreasonably refuse permission for a mutual exchange of your house.

The exchange must be with another house where the tenant holds a Scottish Secure Tenancy or short Scottish secure tenancy. The landlord does not need to be us. The other landlord must also agree to the exchange. Reasonable grounds for refusing permission include the following:

We have served a notice on you warning that we may seek eviction on certain grounds because of your conduct
We have obtained an order for your eviction
your house was let to you because of your employment with us
your house was designed or adapted for persons with special needs and if the exchange were allowed, there would be no person living in the house who required those designs or adaptations
the other house is substantially larger than you and your family need or it is not suitable for the needs of you and your family
the proposed exchange would lead to overcrowding.

These examples do not in any way alter our general right to refuse permission on reasonable grounds.

If you are married, in a civil partnership, or if you live in the house with someone as husband and wife, we may need their consent. If you are a joint tenant, we will need the other tenant’s written consent to the proposed change. If you want to change the joint tenancy to a single tenancy because the other joint tenant has abandoned the tenancy, you should ask us to use our powers.