Death of a resident

We know that dealing with the death of a loved one can be difficult. So, below we’ve provided some information to help you through the process of informing us when a Southern Housing resident named on the tenancy agreement has died so we can discuss any next steps.

Losing someone is always difficult no matter the circumstances. Please make sure you don’t suffer alone. We have wellbeing services which we encourage you to use and there are many free bereavement charities that offer support.

In the event of a death of a resident, you should let us know as soon as possible (details below).

You’ll be asked to confirm that you’re either:

the next of kin (the closest living relative often a child, parent or sibling)
or the executor of the estate (the person dealing with their property as per their will).

If you aren’t either of these, we’ll ask you for the contact details of someone who is. We’ll also need you to provide us with an official copy of the death certificate.

Who else do I need to tell?

In these circumstances, there may be other people who need to be notified about the death. This can include:

local council - If the resident was receiving housing benefit.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - If they were receiving Universal Credit.

To make things simpler, we recommend using the Tell Us Once service. This lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go. Please note, we’re not a government organisation, and so you must still contact us directly (select button below for details).

Get in touch

If you’re listed on your tenancy agreement as a joint tenant you’ll automatically become the sole tenant in the event of the death of the other named joint tenant. This will happen when you contact us and provide the death certificate.

If it was a sole tenancy, in some circumstances the tenancy can pass to someone else. This could be a spouse, civil partner, cohabitee or other household or family member who has been living in the home. This process is called succession.

The rights of succession can be complicated and differ depending on many factors. When you contact us, we’ll help you find out what options you have.

If you do have succession rights but the property is no longer right for you, we may be able to move your tenancy to a different home.

Read our Succession Policy

When a resident dies, the tenancy does not automatically end. To legally end it, you’ll need to be either:

the executor of the tenant’s estate — this means you’ve been named in the will as the person who’ll deal with the resident’s estate after they’ve died
an administrator — this means that you've applied to the Probate Registry and have a Letter of Administration (Grant of Probate).

When you contact us, we’ll explain to you step-by-step the official process of what will happen.

If you decide to end the tenancy, the timeline for this to happen will be dependent on the tenancy agreement that was already in place (this is usually 4 weeks). This is called the ‘notice period’.

If you’re not the executor or administrator (explained above) we can end the tenancy for you. A ‘Public Trustee’ will authorise the notice period to start which will then end the tenancy. We can explain this process in more detail to you when you contact us.

Rent will continue to be charged until the tenancy has ended (in line with the tenancy conditions). However, in some circumstance there may be exceptions to this.

In some situations, there may be monies owed. Certain steps will be taken in these events. When you contact us, we will explain everything in more detail.