Thinking of moving in with someone? You'll need to decide whether to have separate tenancies, a joint tenancy, or a tenancy in only one person's name. This decision will have a big impact on your rights.

These situations can be very complicated so get specialist advice if you have problems.

• What's the difference?
• What rights do joint tenants have?
• What rights do people with separate tenancies have?
• What rights do I have if the tenancy is not in my name?

What's the difference?

If all of the people living in the property signed one tenancy agreement with the landlord when you moved in, you will have a joint tenancy agreement. Most students and people living in shared houses have a joint tenancy agreement.

Alternatively, if each person in your household signed a separate agreement with the landlord you probably have separate tenancies.

If one or more people in your household has signed a tenancy agreement with the landlord but you haven't, you will have very limited rights.

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What rights do joint tenants have?

If you have a joint tenancy agreement, all the tenants have exactly the same rights. You are all equally responsible for paying the rent and keeping to the terms of your agreement . If one tenant is not paying the rent you could end up having to pay their share. The landlord could also ask your guarantor to be responsible for any rent that your housemate has not paid.

If one joint tenant ends the tenancy, everyone will have to leave unless those that want to stay can negotiate a brand new tenancy with the landlord.

Your landlord cannot evict one joint tenant without evicting all of you. However, you may be offered a new tenancy to stay on in the house once the original tenancy has ended. Talk to your landlord about this if you want to stay.

If you are having problems with your housemates, you are responsible for sorting them out between yourselves. Most landlords will only get involved in extreme cases.

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What rights do people with separate tenancies have?

If you and your housemates have separate agreements with the same landlord, each of you is responsible only for your own rent. This is probably the case even if you share a kitchen or bathroom, particularly if you moved in at different times, or your landlord found each tenant individually.

If you have separate tenancy agreements and one of the other tenants is causing problems, your landlord may decide to evict her/him. This won't affect your tenancy.

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What rights do I have if the tenancy is not in my name?

If you live with one or more people who have a tenancy with the landlord but you don't, you are effectively their subtenant. This means that the person who has made an agreement with the landlord:

• is effectively your landlord,
• may only have to give you reasonable notice if s/he wants you to leave, this could just be enough time to pack your belongings,
• is responsible for paying the rent and bills. Everyone else should still pay their share, but if they don't, the person on the tenancy agreement must come up with the money.

Make sure that the main tenant has permission from their landlord to rent a room out to you, as this may affect your rights.

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