It comes as quite a shock to many landlords that should your tenant sadly die whilst occupying your property under an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, the agreement does not automatically come to an end.

If the tenancy is in joint names the living tenant will acquire the deceased tenant’s share of the property.

But what happens of there is one sole tenant, the landlord will no doubt want to try and recover possession as quickly as possible. We always recommend that the landlord step taken by the landlord is to establish whether there are any Personal Representatives acting on behalf of the tenant’s Estate and make contact. Often they will also want to bring the tenant to an end and a mutual agreement to end the tenancy can be reached. As a word of caution, landlords are always advised to review any paperwork to ensure that that person has authority to act on behalf of the deceased’s Estate.

Usually any Personal Representatives will co-operate to agree to possession to prevent any further liability for the Estate of the deceased tenant, however in the event that they decide not to hand back possession of the property the situation can become more complicated.

Notice will need to be served on the Personal Representatives and there are different notices depending on the circumstances of occupation. Landlords should always seek legal advice to ensure the correct notice is served and avoid any delays or wasted costs.

What happens if there are no personal representatives?

If there isn’t anyone to deal with the administration of the tenant’s Estate the tenancy will be transferred temporarily to the Public Trustee. The Public Trustee is an independent official body that acts if there is no will or no named executor.  A notice can then be served on the Public Trustee to end the tenancy.

The Notice served on the Public Trustee is purely for administrative purposes, the vesting of the tenancy does not transfer any of the tenancy obligations such as paying the rent to the Public Trustee.

If you receive this sad news take action

- Do not make the mistake of assuming the tenancy comes to an automatic end.

- It is important for a landlord to contact the tenant’s next of kin immediately. Please keep this information on the file readily available in case it is ever needed.

- Ensure that any person you are dealing with has authority to act on behalf of the Estate – consult a solicitor with the necessary paperwork.

- If a tenant falls behind on rent contact them immediately – sadly sometimes a change of financial circumstances is not the only reason a tenant has stopped paying.