Joint tenancy rights

On 12 November 2014, the Supreme Court handed down a judgment on the issue of whether human rights arguments could properly be raised when one joint tenant ends the joint tenancy by serving a notice to quit.

The judgment in Sims v Dacorum Borough Council (Respondent) and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Intervener) has been long-awaited and the results will no doubt come as a relief to many social landlords.

The rule, that tenancies can be terminated in this way, was alleged to be incompatible with Article 8 of or Article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights.  Article 8 provides a qualified right to respect for a person’s home and family life and Article 1P of the convention provides a similar qualified right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions.  Mr Sims argued that the Supreme Court should re-visit the common law rule in light of the European Convention.

Briefly, the facts were that a tenancy was granted to Michael Sims and his wife.  Mrs Sims left the property.  She could only obtain re-housing if she ended her joint tenancy and therefore served a notice to quit.  Mr Sims requested to stay at the property but that was refused.

One of the most significant reasons given by the Supreme Court was that the joint tenancy agreement had contained an express clause permitting either party to end the tenancy by service of a notice to quit.  These terms merely reflected a longstanding common law principle.  Landlords should check their terms carefully as the outcome may have been different if the tenancy agreement was silent on the point.

Jane Plant is an associate at Weightmans