housing association / mutual exchange / joint tenancy
hello everyone,
we live in a HA property and have found someone to do a mutual exchange with. The problem is , the man we want to swap with has a joint tenancy with his wife who walked out 4 years ago.The HA are saying that the only way the exchange can take place is if she goes to their offices and removes her name from tenacy, problem being the wife now lives the other end of the country ,apparently it cant be done by post
has anybody else been in a similar situation ?
8 comments
mustard-tree
·11 years agoAs it seems to be the other housing association that is being awkward, have you tried contacting the ombudsman to negotiate.
http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/
6mark901
OP11 years agoits the same HA, it should be a straight forward mutual exchange.
6mark901
OP11 years agoi should add that the reason we think hes being so awkward is weve both had cause to complain about his behaviour in the past (along with several other tenants ive no doubt ), so we now feel hes being like this out of spite.
weve both searched the internet for hours trying to find any info on this but all we can find is how to remove a name, not what to do if theyve moved away
*songweaver*
·11 years agoShe needs to get advice from CAB since she is still liable for anything within that original joint tenancy contract and he needs to get advice from CAB over the fact that they've had this joint tenancy without joing occupancy for 4 years.
Whilst you have nothing to lose by raising a(nother) formal complaint, technically it is really the other party and his ex who need to be complaining that these obstacles are being put in the way of ending the tenancy agreement.
There may be other issues about the other party ending a tenancy agreement which was a joint tenancy agreement but where one party has not been living there for some years.
6mark901
OP11 years agothankyou , the other party is a good friend of ours which is why i know what the problem is. I think its time we took things further
*songweaver*
·11 years agoThe thing is, it's about the contract that your friend and his ex still have with the HA and they need to sort this out.
If there was a joint tenancy and now the HA find out that there has only been one occupant for 4 years, it may not be considered unreasonable for them to insist that the 'missing' party has to complete the forms in person, to end that contract.
I would assume that it cannot be a straightforward exchange (like for like) as one person will not be exchanging and the person (your friend) who does want to change houses with you, will presumably now be a sole tenant.
I'd have said that quite simply, the issue of whether your friend's ex has to sign over their part of the contract in person or not is actually nothing to do with you.
The HA could even say it's a matter of Data Protection that they cannot discuss the other contract with you.
6mark901
OP11 years agothe issue of whether your friend's ex has to sign over their part of the contract in person or not is actually nothing to do with you.
yes it is., i want to move into his place as much as he wants to move here and this is all thats stopping it from happening .i know this person well and were trying to put our heads together to find a solution
The HA could even say it's a matter of Data Protection that they cannot discuss the other contract with you.
im not expecting them to discuss it with me, i would pass on any info to him