Give notice to end a council tenancy

How much notice you need to give depends on your circumstances and the type of property you're moving into.

If you:

• want to end your tenancy with us you must give at least four weeks’ notice in writing and your forwarding address. You will also need to complete a surrender form with your neighbourhood management officer or independent living manager, who will also agree your last day of tenancy. Your tenancy will end on the following Sunday that you return your keys.
• are moving into a council house nominated by us, you need to give us as much notice as possible. Your tenancy will end on the day you return your keys.
• are moving into residential care or sheltered housing, you will need to give us 28 days’ notice. 

All tenancies end on a Sunday. Simply passing keys back does not end your tenancy and you will continue to be charged rent if you don't give us notice.

When you've given notice

After you give your notice, we will arrange a visit to your property to help make the moving process clear and manageable.

This is so we can also identify any repairs or works that may be needed, explain your responsibilities before leaving and answer any questions you may have about the moving process.

Before you move out

Before you leave your home, please make sure:

• all personal belongings and rubbish are removed
• the property is cleaned
• gardens, sheds, and balconies are cleared
• all keys, fobs, and parking permits are returned

We will charge you if:

• you do not leave the property clean and empty and we have to clear your possessions
• repairs that are your responsibility have not been carried out
• you have caused damage to the property
• you have carried out alterations without our permission, or
• you leave anyone living in the property after you leave, and we have to take court action to evict them

When you move out

On your tenancy end date, your keys must be returned by noon on the Monday after your tenancy ends, keys need to be returned to our council office at 14 Rose Lane, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 2UR. They should be in a clearly labelled envelope and posted through the council’s letterbox. Additional rent will be charged if keys are returned late.

You must close all windows and doors and make sure that the property is securely locked. All meter keys must be left all gas and electricity meter keys in the meter. You don't need to take these to your new accommodation.

You must also tell your electricity, gas, water, telephone and internet service providers that you are moving home so that they can close or move your accounts.

If a tenant has died

If the tenant was the only person living in the house, you should let us know as soon as possible. We will ask you to upload a copy of the death certificate as part of the form.

If a joint tenant or a family member has been living there and wants to stay, they should find out about taking over a property if the tenant has died.

Any payments of housing benefit or Universal Credit the tenant got will stop after the first Monday following their death, and full rent will be charged to the account.

If you are a named executor in the tenant's will, we will end the tenancy as quickly as we can when you have cleared the house and returned the keys.

If the tenant did not have a will or you are not a named executor, we may need to serve notice on the house to formally end the tenancy. 

Give notice to end a tenancy

If the tenant was the only person living in the house, you should let us know as soon as possible. We will ask you to upload a copy of the death certificate as part of the form.

Who can end the tenancy

If you want to legally end the tenancy, you’ll need to need to give four weeks’ notice and be either:

• the executor of the tenant’s estate — this means you’ve been named in their will as the person who’ll deal with their estate after they’ve died.
• an administrator — this means that you’ve applied to the Probate Registry and have a letter of administration, also called a grant of probate.

The notice always starts on a Monday. For example, if you give notice on a Monday before 12 noon, the notice period will start on that day. If it’s after 12 noon, it will start the following Monday.

If the tenant did not have a will or you are not a named executor, we may need to serve notice on the house to formally end the tenancy.

Who can take on the tenancy

When someone takes over a tenancy after a tenant’s death, this is known as a succession. Succession rights for tenants depend on the type and date of tenancy, and there is always only one right of succession. This means if a tenant took over a tenancy from someone else, no one else can succeed it after.

To apply for a succession, the applicant or family member must have proof of relationship to the tenant, their identity and residency. They would need to submit at least three of these documents for the required residency period as part of the application.

Find out more about taking over a property if the tenant has died.

If there is a joint tenancy and one tenant dies, the other tenant will automatically succeed to the tenancy through ‘survivorship’. If there are more bedrooms than needed, they don’t need to move to a smaller property. Depending on the circumstances and type of tenancy, it can be passed to another person.

What happens to a tenancy once a tenant dies

If you are a named executor in the tenant's will, we will end the tenancy as quickly as we can when you have cleared the house and returned the keys. If you’re not the executor of the estate, you just need to let us know and we’ll end the tenancy for you.

We’ll serve a notice to quit on the public trustee, which will end the tenancy four weeks after it’s served. You will need to send us a copy of the death certificate so we can legally end the tenancy. We will give an end date for the tenancy and the keys will need to be returned by this date.

We will need to know:

• the details of the tenant’s next of kin (closest relative), usually found in the tenant’s will
• the address of the person dealing with the tenant’s affairs
• the date the keys will be handed in

If the keys are not returned, we will continue to charge rent. Any rent due and repair costs will be charged to the tenant’s estate.

Before handing back the keys, the person dealing with the tenant’s affairs will need to:

• move all their belongings out of the home
• redirect any post
• read the gas and electricity meters and give the readings to the utility companies so they can send the final bills
• lock the doors and make sure all windows are shut
• tell the Department of Work and Pensions if the tenant received any benefits
• tell us if the tenant received any housing or council tax benefit or by calling 01227 862 300

You can use the Government’s ‘Tell Us Once’ service. This means that you are giving several services the information in one go.

Any payments of housing benefit or Universal Credit will stop after the first Monday following their death, and full rent will be charged to the account.

If any items are left after the notice to quit has expired, we will then serve a Section 41 notice on them and they will be disposed of if they are not collected. Any clearance costs will be charged back to the tenant’s estate.

Passing your tenancy to someone else

Depending on the conditions of your tenancy, you can transfer your secure tenancy to someone else. This is called assignment and you need to contact us to apply for one.

You can only do this:

• if you find another tenant you want to swap homes with. This is known as a mutual exchange. You cannot swap homes without our written permission,
• by court orders relating to children or following a relationship breakdown, or
• we give you written permission to transfer the tenancy to someone who can succeed your tenancy after your death.

We will not give permission where the property would be under-occupied.