Harassment and Illegal Eviction for Tenants

Tenants have more rights than a Licensee.

Key Elements of a Licencee:

• Permission to occupy, it is only a personal right.
• A Licensee cannot be transferred to someone else.
• Licences exist in the Public and Private Sector. In the Public Sector they are issued under the Housing Act 1985 and have the same rights as a secure tenancy.

Some landlords may offer you a licence as opposed to a Tenancy Agreement. The Courts may decide that the other applies. There is no formal documentation to distinguish between the two. Even if you sign a document to say that you have a licence, it may be a tenancy. To be able to determine which it is, a Tenancy consists of four key elements:

• Identifiable Parties - there must be two parties, a landlord and a tenant.
• Identifiable Premises - does not have to constitute an entire dwelling, it can be as small as a single room.
• Definite Period - fixed or periodic term.
• Exclusive Possession - tenant/ tenants have the right to exclusive possession to exclude everyone including the landlord.

Providing the contract given to you has all of these components you have a Tenancy, even if the document you originally signed states "Licence".