A joint tenant can terminate
his or her interest in the tenancy by giving four weeks' notice to the
Co-operative and to each of the other joint tenants.
The Co-operative can terminate
a joint tenant’s interest in the tenancy if the Co-operative has reasonable
grounds for believing that the tenant is not occupying the house and does not
intend to.
Any tenants affected by
abandonment action by the Co-operative have the right of appeal to the court.
Evictions cannot take place
unless the sheriff is satisfied that it is reasonable, in other words there are
no automatic grounds for eviction.
The Co-operative can take
recovery action against tenants who are harassing someone living in or visiting
the area. This is a new feature.
Giving false information in a
housing application is a statutory recovery ground.
Other occupiers who are not
tenants (for example, lodgers) have the right to be heard in court in any
proceedings to recover the property.
The right to a joint tenancy
Any tenant is entitled to a
joint tenancy with one or more other individuals, so long as the house is to be
the only or principal home of all the tenants. The Co-operative must agree to
this unless it has reasonable grounds for not doing so.
Succession rights
A Scottish Secure Tenancy can
be succeeded to twice. Each time, there are three levels of priority:
1.
first priority goes to the surviving spouse, co-habitee of either sex (providing
the house has been their only or principal home for at least 6 months before the
tenant's death) or joint tenant; this part of the Act gives equal succession
rights to same sex couples;
2.
second priority (if nobody qualifies or chooses to succeed from the first
priority group) goes to other members of the tenant's family (over 16 years of
age), providing that the house was their only or principal home at the time of
the tenant's death;
3. third priority (if
nobody in any of the above categories qualifies or chooses to succeed) goes to
carers aged at least 16 where the house was their only or principal home at the
time of the tenant's death and where they have given up their only or principal
home to care for the tenant or a member of the tenant's household.
Family members and carers do
not have the right to succeed to the tenancy of a property which has been
designed or adapted for someone with special needs, but they are entitled to be
re-housed elsewhere by the landlord.
Repairs
The Co-operative is required to
ensure that at the beginning of the tenancy, and during the tenancy, the
property is wind and watertight and fit for human habitation
Repairs needed to make sure the
property remains in this condition must be carried out within a reasonable time
The Co-operative has the right
to get access to the property to inspect it or carry out repairs, as long as
they give 24 hours’ notice in writing
Tenants have the right to have
certain essential repairs carried out within a specified period.
Compensation for improvements
Tenants have the right to
compensation at the end of the tenancy for certain types of improvements they
have made to their homes with the permission of the Co-operative.
Use of the property
All tenants must use the
property as their only or principal home. This has always been a contractual
obligation within the Occupancy Agreement, but under the Scottish Secure Tenancy
it will be a statutory duty.
Assignation, sub-letting and
exchanges
Tenants can sub-let or take in a lodger with
the landlord’s consent, and can assign
the property to someone else as long as that person has been living in the
property as their only or principal home for at least six months; this six month
rule is new
Tenants can still exchange
their property with a tenant of another council or housing
association/Co-operative, as long as both landlords give their consent
The Co-operative can only
refuse consent if there are reasonable grounds.
Consultation on rent increases
The Co-operative must consult
tenants whenever a rent or service charge increase is to be proposed, and must
take account of their views
Information
Tenants must be given a written
tenancy agreement
Tenants must be informed on the
obligations – including maintenance obligations – likely to be incurred if
their right to buy (if applicable) is exercised
The Co-operative must provide
all tenants with information about the complaints procedure
On request, the Co-operative must provide a
tenant with information on a range of matters, including policies on
rent-setting, allocations and repairs.
