When a contract holder passes away it is important to identify whether the occupation contract will be ended, or if someone wishes to succeed to the occupation contract.
How do I know a contract holder has passed away?
TCBC provide us with a weekly report of those that have passed away, and we receive reports from family members, friends, neighbours, or agencies.
Upon the death being reported to us, it’s important to obtain as much detail including name and address of deceased contract holder, name and contact details of the person dealing with the estate, and the intentions with the occupation contract.
What is the process for ending the occupation contract? Under Section 155 of the RHWA, if the deceased is a sole contract holder; there is no one wishing to succeed the occupation contract; and there has been no transfer of contract under a family property order, the contract will end one month from date of the death. However, if an authorised person (namely a contract holder’s personal representatives, or occupiers of the dwelling over the age of 18) notifies Bron Afon of the death, and you have had sight of a death certificate, the account can be resolved earlier than the one-month time frame, providing the contents of the property are removed fully in that time.
The keys to the cleared property should be returned to Bron Afon at the earliest opportunity by the contract holders’ personal representative, with the family’s expected key return date recorded where possible. It is important to make clear the rent account will continue to run until the keys are handed in with any housing benefit / universal credit entitlement ceasing from the contract holders date of death.
Once keys are returned, a key receipt must be completed and the property should be voided, unless the person returning the keys does not have appropriate authorisation to end the account.
Any debt on the account, including the cost of any property recharges, will be reclaimed by the Community Housing Team from any estate left by the contract holder. If no estate is left, or if the estate does not cover the full debt, the family should put this in writing and advised that they themselves will not be liable for debt repayment.
In some circumstances, family members/ friends dealing with the estate may require a referral to the Support Service who may be able to assist with any part of this process.
If keys are not returned and the notifiers are taking longer than the one month permitted to clear the property, anything remaining in situ can be classed as trespassing and can be removed by the landlord.
If Bron Afon have had sight of the death certificate, there is no longer a need to contact the Public Trustee as the contract will automatically come to an end after one month and a lock change can then be issued. Before taking this step, a discussion should be held with the CHM to confirm that a lock change can take place and a proforma completed to ensure that all steps of contact have been made. Rent will continue to be payable within this time and will need to be reclaimed from the estate.