Individual rights and collective rights

Tenants have very few collective rights. They only have individual rights. And they had to fight long and hard to get those.

Security of tenure

Council tenants have often been at loggerheads with their landlord. But until recently they did not have any security. Tenants depended on the good will of the council. Council landlords could serve a 28 day Notice to Quit and get a possession order from the courts for any reason. During the 1970s there were notorious cases where tenant activists were threatened with eviction by councils. Housing visitors were used as spies to harass tenant activists. Tenants and housing campaign groups like Shelter fought for individual rights like security of tenure as well as the right to organise collectively. Labour was planning to introduce secure tenancies and some collective right to representation for tenants in their 1979 Housing Bill. The defeat of the Labour government meant this Bill never got anywhere. Instead the Conservatives brought in a package of individual tenants rights - in the Tenants Charter.

The Tenants Charter in 1980 gave council tenants the right to buy as well as some security of tenure. Councils now had to prove that tenants had broken their tenancy agreement before they could evict. Councils did not want tenants to have security of tenure. The local government associations were against it and many councils kept their tenants in the dark about their rights. Most tenancy agreements did not mention that the landlord had a duty to carry out repairs. Many agreements said nothing about tenants being able to defend themselves in court or the council having to prove grounds for possession.

Secure tenancies

Secure tenancies were created in the 1985 Housing Act for the tenants of local authorities and other public bodies - but not housing associations. All tenants have security of tenure. But only council tenants have a secure tenancy. A secure tenancy gives the tenant certain statutory rights.

Secure tenants have the right to:
* Take in lodgers
* Exchange homes or assign the tenancy
* Pass on the succession of their home
* The right to repair
* The right to carry out improvements
* The right to buy

Assured tenancies

Assured tenants have only very limited statutory rights. Assured tenancies were set up under the 1988 Housing Act. The Tenants Guarantee, issued by the Housing Corporation in 1994, granted assured tenants most of the same conditions as council tenants. A major difference between secure tenants and assured tenants is on grounds for possession. A local authority landlord can only evict a secure tenant by proving one of 8 grounds for possession before a Court. The Court does not have to give the council possession. It depends on the Court. There are 4 grounds for possession where the Court must order possession - but in those cases the council has to give the secure tenant alternative accommodation.

Things are different for an assured tenant. With an assured tenancy, the Court has no choice but to grant possession if the landlord has proved its case. For instance if an assured tenant owes eight weeks rent arrears or more, the Court must order possession.

Introductory tenancies

Social landlords can give one year introductory tenancies (council tenants) or starter tenancies (housing associations) to all their new tenants. This is supposed to enable them to take quicker action to evict in the case of serious nuisance. If the landlord decides to evict in the 12 month period, it must serve a notice on the tenant giving its reasons and allowing a 14 day time period for an internal review. The landlord must still get a court order for the eviction, which the court must grant. Introductory or probationary tenancies were introduced to combat nuisance but most landlords using them have evicted for rent arrears. Introductory tenancies ignore the problems of nuisance caused by long-established tenants and can be seen to undermine the rights of council tenants to a secure tenancy.

Individual rights for tenants

Rights to repair

Both housing association and council tenants have a right to repair. This gives them a set procedure to follow if repairs are not done and the right to compensation if repairs are not carried out within a fixed timescale. Landlords have a legal responsibility to do repairs to the structure and fittings of the property under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Environmental Protection Officers can serve a notice on a landlord (but not the council) if the state of the property is bad enough to be a statutory nuisance. Councils have further powers to take action over disrepair - which they use in the private rented sector. Private legal action can be taken by tenants under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act or Section 82 of the Environmental Protections Act 1990.

The right to inherit

Council and housing association tenants have the right to inherit or to succeed to a tenancy. The person succeeding to the tenancy must be the spouse of the tenant or someone who has been living there for a year before hand. There is only one right to succeed. So if the tenancy is in one person's name and the person dies, it can pass to their husband or wife but not a second time to a child, unless the landlord agrees.

The right to take in lodgers

Council and housing association tenants have the right to take in lodgers . They have the right to let part of their home to a tenant but must first get the landlord's written permission. Permission cannot be refused without a good reason in writing.

The right to make improvements to your home

Tenants have the right to make improvements to their home but must get the landlord's written permission first. Refusal of permission can be challenged in the County Court. The landlord cannot put the rent up because of improvements made. If the tenant leaves, there is a right to compensation for improvements that were made with the written permission of the landlord.

The right to be consulted

Council and housing association tenants have a right to be consulted by their landlord on all matters of housing management which might affect them. Landlords are free to decide how to carry out these consultations and must publish details of how they will consult tenants.

Rights to information

Landlords must provide you with a simple written explanation of your rights under the Housing Act 1985 and their duties to carry out repairs.

Changes to the tenancy agreement

Landlords cannot reduce or remove your rights under the Housing Act. If they want to change your tenancy agreement, they have to give written notice and allowing a reasonable time for comments. However, even if you disagree with the change, they can still go ahead with it after serving a variation notice and giving at least four weeks notice of the change.

Right to buy

Tenants who have held a secure housing tenancy for two years (5 years if the tenancy started after January 2005) or more can buy their property (or lease their flat) with a discount based on the length of their tenancy. Exceptions to the right to buy include properties especially adapted for disabled or elderly people. Most housing association assured tenants do not have the right to buy, although those secure tenants who transfer to a registered social landlord have reduced rights under the preserved right to buy.

Collective tenants rights

The secure tenancy did not give council tenants any collective rights to participation. It gave them an individual right to be consulted and informed about changes to the housing management service. Councils have to give tenants information about their rights and following the 1989 Act, issue an annual report to tenants. This right to an annual report has been repealed. But although councils were urged to encourage tenants associations and to consult them - tenants had no right to organise collectively or to be involved as an organised group.

The right to manage

The right to manage in 1994 recognised that tenants could set up a tenant management organisation. It gave tenants the collective right to serve a notice on the council and to make a management agreement with them giving the tenants partial control over a local repairs budget.

Large scale voluntary transfers

Tenants have the right to vote for or against the transfer. Tenants have the right to be full members of the management committee of Transfer Housing Associations or Companies - generally one third of committee places go to tenants.

Tenant Participation Compact

The Tenants & Residents Organisation of England (TAROE) was pressing for statutory rights for tenants to collective organisation in the negotiations prior to the launch of the Tenant Participation Compact in summer 1999. TAROE argued that leaseholders have the right to organise associations and the right to get independent advice before making decisions. However, the National Framework for Tenant Participation Compacts, launched in 2000, is only guidance not statute. It does not give tenants any legal rights to participation. It merely instructs councils to encourage tenant participation, to draw up criteria for recognising tenants groups and to consult their tenants on management and policy issues. Similar guidance and regulation from the Housing Corporation instructs housing associations on involving residents.