Who Lives in the Property | RentPromise

Who Will Live in My Property?

Occupants are selected and placed by the government body holding the lease, not by RentPromise and not by you. They are people the local authority or the Home Office has a legal duty to accommodate: families and individuals who are homeless or threatened with homelessness, and people accommodated under Home Office arrangements.

This is the page most landlords look for before they commit, so it is written plainly. You will not choose who lives in your property. You will not meet them, vet them or hold an agreement with them. That decision sits entirely with the body that holds the lease, and it is made against their statutory obligations rather than your preferences.

For some landlords that is a straightforward trade for a fixed rent, a long term and no management. For others it is not, and that is a legitimate position. If it is not something you are comfortable with, this arrangement is not the right one for you, and it is far better to establish that now than after a five-year lease is signed.

The rest of this page sets out who is placed through each route, how they are supported, what your position is as the owner, and what happens if something goes wrong.

Local Authority and Housing Association Placements

Councils have a legal duty under the Housing Act 1996 to secure accommodation for households who are homeless, eligible and in priority need. Most do not hold enough housing stock to meet that duty, so they lease homes from private landlords. Your property may be used as temporary or settled accommodation under that duty.

The households placed this way are ordinary people in difficult circumstances. A family whose private tenancy ended and who could not find another. A woman who has left her home with her children at short notice. An older person who can no longer manage where they were living. A household made homeless by a fire, a flood or a relationship breakdown.

Priority need is a legal test. It covers households with dependent children, people who are pregnant, people who are vulnerable through age, illness or disability, and people made homeless by an emergency. It is not a discretionary category and councils cannot simply choose to house whoever they prefer.

How long they stay

That depends on the household and on the council's own housing pipeline. Some move on within months into a permanent home. Others stay for the length of the lease. Either way the property remains leased to the council for the full term you agreed, and your rent does not change when a household moves on.

Housing associations

Registered providers of social housing lease properties for the same reasons, often working alongside a local authority. They are regulated organisations with their own housing management teams, tenancy support staff and complaints procedures, and the households they place are drawn from the same statutory duties.

Home Office Placements

The Home Office has a statutory obligation to accommodate people who would otherwise be destitute while their immigration or asylum claim is being determined. Properties leased for this purpose house individuals and families waiting for a decision on their case, under the terms of the relevant government accommodation contract.

We state this plainly because landlords are entitled to know before they sign. Some landlords are glad to house people in this position. Others would rather not, for their own reasons. Neither view is one we argue with, but both need the facts in front of them at the offer stage rather than afterwards.

If your property is being matched to a Home Office requirement, we will tell you that in writing before you agree to anything. You will know which body is taking the lease, what the property will be used for and what the term is, and you are free to decline and wait for a different requirement.

What this means in practice

The lease works the same way as any other. The Home Office holds the agreement with you, pays the rent for the full term, is responsible for repairs and the condition of the property, and manages the accommodation and the people in it. Your position as the owner is identical.

How Occupants Are Supported

The body holding the lease is responsible for the households it places, not just for putting them in the property. That includes housing management, tenancy support, dealing with any issues that arise, and moving households on when the time comes. None of it involves you.

This is a meaningful difference from letting privately. A private tenant who falls into difficulty becomes your problem to manage. A household placed by a council or housing association has a housing officer, a support worker where one is needed, and an organisation with a statutory duty standing behind them.

What the government body provides

A named housing officer or management team for the property.
Support arrangements appropriate to the household's circumstances.
Regular contact with the household during their stay.
A complaints route for anything that goes wrong.
Responsibility for moving the household on at the end of the placement.

Property standards

Accommodation provided under a homelessness duty must be suitable for the household placed in it, and councils are required to assess suitability case by case. Government has confirmed it intends to apply the reformed Decent Homes Standard to temporary accommodation, with guidance for landlords expected by the end of 2026. We will keep you informed of anything that affects your property.

Your Position as the Owner

You have no direct relationship with the occupants. You are not their landlord in the day-to-day sense, you do not hold a deposit from them, you have no agreement with them, and you are not the person they contact when something breaks. Everything runs through the body holding the lease.

What you do not do

Choose or approve the occupants

Meet or vet them

Hold a deposit or an agreement

Collect rent from them

Handle complaints or issues

Arrange repairs they report

Serve notice or take possession proceedings

Rehouse them at the end of the term

Who does it instead

The government body

RentPromise pays you directly

The government body

The left-hand column is what you give up. The right-hand column is what you no longer have to do. Whether that reads as a loss or a relief is the honest test of whether this arrangement suits you.

Access and inspection

You retain a right of access on reasonable notice, as set out in the lease, for inspection and for any works that remain your responsibility. You cannot turn up unannounced, and you cannot use the property yourself during the term. That is the normal position under any lease.

Can I set restrictions?

Restrictions on who may be placed are not something the arrangement allows once the lease is signed. If you have a specific concern, raise it at the offer stage. Some things can be reflected in which requirement your property is matched to. Others cannot, and we will tell you honestly which is which.

If Something Goes Wrong

Problems are handled by the body holding the lease under the terms of that lease, not by you. Damage, antisocial behaviour, rent arrears from the occupant and any breach of their occupancy agreement are theirs to resolve. RentPromise stays across it and keeps you informed, but you are not expected to intervene.

Damage to the property

Damage caused during the term falls under the repairing obligation the government body takes on in the lease. It is identified at inspection or reported during the term, and it is dealt with at their cost, not yours. The inventory and schedule of condition taken at the start sets the standard against which it is measured.

Antisocial behaviour

This is a housing management matter for the body that placed the household. They hold the agreement with the occupant, they have the enforcement route, and they have staff whose job it is. If neighbours raise concerns with you, pass them to us and we will route them to the responsible team.

If the occupant stops paying

It does not affect you. Your rent is owed by the government body under the lease, not by the occupant, and it is paid regardless of what the household does. Arrears between the body and the household are a matter between them and never reach you.

Your rent throughout

None of the situations above changes what you are paid or when. Your rent arrives on the same date every month for the full term of the lease whatever is happening inside the property, and there is no mechanism for it to be reduced partway through.

FAQ

Questions About Occupants

No. The government body selects and places the occupants under its own statutory duties, and you are not consulted. If having a say in who lives in your property matters to you, this arrangement is not the right one and it is better to establish that before a lease is signed.

You will know which government body holds the lease and what the property is being used for, confirmed in writing before you sign. You will not be given the personal details of the households placed, because that information belongs to them and to the body responsible for housing them.

Then this is not the right arrangement for you, and telling us early costs you nothing. We would rather establish that at the enquiry stage than put a landlord into a five-year lease they are unhappy with. There is no pressure and no obligation at any point before signing.

The government body that placed them. They hold the occupancy agreement, they have the housing management staff and they have the enforcement route. RentPromise keeps you informed and routes anything that reaches you to the right team, but you are not expected to get involved.

Damage during the term falls under the repairing obligation the government body takes on in the lease, and is dealt with at their cost. It is measured against the inventory and schedule of condition recorded before the lease started, and put right before the property is handed back to you.

No. Your rent is owed by the government body for the full term of the lease regardless of whether anyone is living in the property at any given moment. Gaps between placements are their concern, not yours, and they do not affect what you receive.

See what your property would be offered

Free survey and valuation, and a written offer setting out the rent, the term and which body would be taking the lease. No obligation at any stage.

Get a Rent Offer

Or call us on (612) 123 - 4456 78 to talk it through first.

Who Will Live in My Property?

Local Authority and Housing Association Placements