Licence Agreement Guidance

What is a Licence Agreement?

A licence is a permission to occupy. Sometimes called an ‘accommodation agreement’ it just means that the licensee can be on the property without being a trespasser!

• It is granted to an individual
• The permission can be withdrawn.
• Licensees have no specific statutory rights, only those rights set out in the agreement that are contractual rights.

A licence can be deemed to exist where the following is in evidence:

• There is a special intention to provide more than accommodation.
• The landlord provides a considerable level of presence.
• The landlord offers a regular deep clean in the room.  

Usage

The most common reason for issuing a Licence Agreement is when the occupant is not intended to have exclusive possession of any part of the premises. For example:

• Where a landlord may need to reserve the right to move the occupant between rooms for the purposes of managing their accommodation as effectively as possible.
• Where the landlord requires and gains unrestricted access to the accommodation (their bedroom) in order to provide the occupant with care, support or supervision.
• Where a landlord enforces specific restrictions on how a resident can use their room.  

As the Landlord, you are legally responsible for licence agreements. The licence to occupy agreement is between the resident and the landlord (GP Partner).

How do you keep the relationship as Landlord and Licensee?

It is important that the residents’ reality of living in the house always reflects a relationship of landlord and licence and never looks like that of landlord and tenant.

This is because a court will make decisions based on case law. Case law always takes account of what is actually happening, regardless of what is written in any agreement.

1. Resident Engagement
   Residents must contribute to the communal life of the house, participating in house meetings and have an active involvement on the various rotas, for example grass cutting, bins etc..

2. Unrestricted Access
   You, as the landlord must be able to go into their bedroom at any time, without notice.

3. Presence in the House
   As landlord, or your appointed representatives in the form of Resident Support volunteers, must have a high level of presence in the property. We recommend checking in on a daily basis.  

Protected Licence

Although most of the protections afforded to a tenant do not apply to a licensee, ALL residents are covered by the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.  This is known as a Protected Licence.  

No GP partner is excluded from this eviction protection legislation. This means there is a minimum requirement as to how an agreement can be ended. This is 28-days Notice to Quit in all circumstances.

How does a Licence Agreement end?

There are four main ways licences end:

1. Mutual Agreement: The resident is ready to move on and they give you 28-days notice of their intention to terminate their licence agreement. This can be negotiated down to a shorter time with mutual consent. You have a conversation stating that the project is not right for the resident at this stage in their life and they agree. You give 28-days notice of your intention to terminate their licence agreement.
2. Resident Leaves: The resident decides they want to leave the project. They give 28-days notice of their intention to terminate their licence agreement. If they leave earlier than the 28-days, Housing Benefit will still be paid, even if they commence a new Housing Benefit claim during this period.
3. Termination: You reach the point where, having exhausted the ‘breach of licence’ process, you terminate the agreement without their consent. You give 28-days notice of your intention to terminate their licence agreement, through a Notice to Quit letter.
4. Abandonment: You closely follow your clear policies and procedures where the resident is no longer using your property as their principal home, resulting in the issuing of a 28-day Notice to Quit.

Licence Agreement Template

Licence Agreement Clause Number:

1. Licence to Occupy

See ‘What Is a Licence Agreement’ (above)

5. Timings of the Licence

The commencement date is the day they actually move in, the day all the sign up paperwork is completed.

It is not usual to put an end date on a license agreement, but refer to the licence being kept under review in line with the resident support plan.

Note: 28-days notice in all cases. See ‘How Does a Licence Agreement End’ (above) but refer to action that will be taken in the event of a serious breach. See Serious Breach Procedure (below).

8. Notice Served

Every effort must be made to hand any written notices (i.e. breach warning letter or Notice to Quit) to residents in person, but sometimes this is not possible and pinning notice to the bedroom door or delivery underneath the bedroom door is sufficient notice. Take a photo of the notice in place, along with proof of date, like a newspaper!  

10. Your Responsibilities - Rent

As a supported housing project Housing Benefit, or the housing element of Universal Credit, should be paid direct to the landlord. This will involve the resident giving their permission or making a Universal Credit Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA).

The individual service charge element (to cover the ineligible service charge not paid by Housing Benefit) should be collected in cash, using a rent book, or by standing order with receipts issued.  Please amend the template to reflect your policy.

10. Your Responsibilities - Support 16. Meaningful Activity

Please refer to the list of meaningful activity in Schedule X. The template is not an exhaustive list. Please add to the list based on the activities your local ‘skills givers’ can provide.  

Schedule II – Resident Support

Make sure these 20 items are recorded in your Needs Assessments, Support Plans and Contact Logs.

Schedule IV – House Rules

This is a list of recommended rules, based on feedback from all our partners. You can make your own list of rules. This is best agreed in consultation with your residents through house meetings, asking the question, “what makes a great neighbour?”

Schedule VI – Ending the Licence Agreement Policy and Procedure

A three-stage procedure for notices is good practice and usually resolves a minor breach or a series of minor breaches. This applies to rent arrears See Schedule VII - Rent Arrears Policy and Procedure Accurate and timely record keeping is absolutely essential. How do you keep track of any payments?

Non-Notice Remedies

Prevention is always better than going through the termination process.

• Increased frequency of support meetings
• Single issue additional house meetings to address concerns
• Support plan review
• Referral to other agencies and partner working with probation; drug and alcohol intervention; community mental health team.
• Mediation
• Counselling / Psychotherapy
• Visitor bans
• Increased frequency of unannounced visits
• Good neighbour agreements
• Acceptable behaviour contracts.
• Cooling off periods - exclusion for “rest of the day”.

Notice to Quit

A Notice to Quit expires at the end of the notice period - use it or lose it. The notice period can be extended, but only twice. Even a third stage Notice to Quit can contain the conditions under which it will be revoked, provided the resident complies.

The requirements of S.5(1) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 and the complimentary Notices to Quit etc. (Prescribed Information) Regulations 1988/2201. set out the requirements for an effective notice to quit, namely that;  

• The notice should be in writing,  
• The notice should be given not less than 28 days before the date on which it is due to take effect (and should therefore contain the date upon which it is due to take effect),
• The notice should contain the prescribed information in the regulations. That prescribed information reads as follows:
  ‍If the licensee does not leave the dwelling, the landlord must get an order for possession from the court before the tenant or licensee can lawfully be evicted. The landlord cannot apply for such an order before the notice to quit or notice to determine has run out.
  A licensee who does not know if (s)he has any right to remain in possession after a notice to quit or a notice to determine runs out can obtain advice from a solicitor. Help with all or part of the cost of legal advice and assistance may be available under the Legal Aid Scheme. (S)He should also be able to obtain information from a Citizens’ Advice Bureau, a Housing Aid Centre or a rent officer.

Serving Notices

• Use our template Warning Letters Notice to Quit & Covering Letter: make sure you clearly explain what you are doing and why.
• Hand deliver
• Deliver breach warning letter or Notice to Quit to residents in person and explain what the notice is for and what they can do next.  
• Sometimes this is not possible and pinning notice to the bedroom door or delivery onto a table in the bedroom is sufficient, provided this procedure is written in your licence agreement (See section 8). Take a photo of the notice in place, along with proof of date, like a newspaper!  
• If the resident is not staying in your property, copies should be sent to every known address where they are likely to be.
• Record the methods used in your contact logs and keep copies of the notice served.

What if there is a serious breach?

Sometimes called ‘gross misconduct’ a serious breach of licence involves a risk to self and other residents through illegal activity, intimidation and actual violent conduct.

In such circumstances you can move straight to stage 3 - written Notice to Quit with 28-days notice. Please do the following:  

• Call the police. Encourage residents to call the police, as any household would do, if illegal activity, intimidation or violent conduct is witnessed. In serious cases the police may detain the offender in custody.
• Immediately issue a 28-day Notice to Quit.
• While the clock is ticking use a ‘time-out’ cooling off period to exclude the resident from the property. “you can not return to the premises for x period” - this is usually 4-6 hours, however, for serious risk of harm to other residents this could be 24-48 hrs..
• Escalate to an ‘acceptable behaviour’ contract to be signed before returning to the house, if necessary.
• Have a reciprocal arrangement in place with another provider so residents have somewhere to sleep during the 28-day notice period.
• Use family and friends to arrange for the resident to ‘sofa-surf’ while a longer term solution is being sought.
• Work with the resident during the 28-days to secure alternative accommodation. Contact other agencies, homeless persons unit, duty social worker etc.
  • Guide the resident through the process of engagement with your local authority under your local prevention of homelessness arrangements.
  • Engage with your contacts in the council to make them aware of the situation (and avoid false allegations!)  
• As a last resort you can request a court to grant an injunction preventing the resident returning to the property during the 28-day notice period.
  • This can be applied for under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014
  • In granting an injunction to a housing provider, local authority or the police, the court may attach a power to exclude the respondent from their home or a specified area, provided the respondent is aged 18 or over. The court may exclude the respondent if it thinks that they have been violent or threatened violence to other persons, or if there is a significant risk of harm from the respondent to other persons.. In the case of a housing provider, exclusion can only relate to the property owned or managed by them.

When the Resident refuses to move out at the end of the 28-day notice period

• You need to go to court for a Possession Order.  
• It costs £335 for a court order and, if it gets that far, £121 for a Bailiff's Warrant.  
• Possession is automatic - breach of contractual terms.
• If you are certain that your agreement is a license, we recommend that you either use Landlord Action or a firm of solicitors familiar with eviction work.
• You can not use a Section 21 notice with a licence agreement. These are only used in conjunction with an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. These notes relate ONLY to licence agreements.
• If you anticipate the resident may be violent or is seriously threatening violence  you can ask for an injunction excluding them from the property  AT THE SAME TIME as the possession order.  
• Pray for your resident !

It is incredibly rare for a resident on a license agreement not to move out, with the support of the project team, following a Notice to Quit. Should it become necessary to go to court for a possession order you need:

• ‍Form N5 Claim (we want our premises back) and ‍
• Form N119 (this is why we want it back)

You may also need

• ‍Form N121 (particulars of claim for possession - trespasses) ‍
• Form N325 Request for Warrant of Possession of Land

NB Only download from the gov.uk website.

Order of events:  

1. Notice to Quit Served
2. Notice expires - notify any action
3. Proceedings are Issued
4. Court Hearing - notify date
5. Possession Order Effected
6. Warrant applied for - notify
7. Eviction - notify repossession.

Step by Step Guide to Serving Possession Notice Yourself

Find the right Court using this page.

Tick ‘Housing Possession’ and Enter your Postcode for a court near you.

On line: click here.

You will need a Possession Claim On Line (PCOL) Log In

Hard Copy Physical Form:

1. Your resident was served a Notice to Quit 28-days ago
2. They have refused to cooperate with the Resident Support Team aimed at finding them alternative accommodation
3. They are still occupying their room (the premises)
4. There is no evidence that they are planning to move out.
5. Downloaded N5 Form N5 Claim (we want our premises back)
   (Note the form keeps referring to "tenant", even though we refer to them as "resident" because they are occupying the premises under a licence agreement.
6. Fill In Form N5 Claim and support with copies of essential documents:
   1. Each letter of warning,  
   2. The notice to quit
   3. Include the pictures of you placing each notice/ letter on the residents door (see Serving Notices 4, above)
7. Post hard copies through the letterbox the local Courts.
8. Cost (2019) £355
9. Issue a cheque to the courts for the admin costs.
10. Indicate on the form for the defendant to bear the costs.  
11. If the former resident refuses to reimburse these costs, you can go further to apply again for the courts to retrieve this money - you may not want to go that far.
12. Submit all the Supporting Evidence:
    1. Warning letters,  
    2. Notices to quit.
    3. Pictures of yourself pasting the letters and notices on the residents door.
       Submit too many documents, rather than not enough.
13. The courts will copy the whole set of documents
14. The court will send the bundle to the resident with an opportunity to create a defence in court
    NB This is usually enough to motivate the resident to move - especially when they see the costs involved.
15. The court makes a ruling.  
16. If the resident fails to challenge the notice then the court automatically rules in favour of the landlord.
17. Court Papers detailing the ruling are issued to you  and the resident  
18. The ruling gives a date by which the resident must vacate the premises and return possession to you
19. Should the resident still not move out then you could apply to the courts for a bailiff to come and 'evict' the offending resident, at the resident’s cost.  
20. This is the only part of the process currently not available under Covid-19 temporary legislation.
21. It would be highly unusual for a resident not to have vacated their room by this point, even if it is on the very last day of the notice.

Abandonment

• You must have an abandonment policy (see Schedule IV:11)
• There is no legal definition of abandonment, so be careful.
• The most common reason for termination due to abandonment is not using the property as their principal home. As a rule of thumb ‘principal home’ means the place where you spend 4 out of 7 nights. This is an old Housing Benefit regulation - but for supported housing this is not really acceptable.  
• A resident can be away for longer if there is ‘an intention to return’, but it needs to be agreed as part of their support plan.
• There is case law to test the ‘reasonableness’ of abandonment:
• Are there personal possessions in the room?
  • Is mail being collected?
  • Food in the kitchen?
  • Rubbish being generated!
  • What do other residents think is going on? (Record these comments).  
  • Attempts to contact next of kin
  • Attempts to trace resident.
• There must be a Personal Property Disposal Clause in the licence agreement (See clause 10:17) and a disposal policy.
• More details can be found here, including a template letter

Resident is ill or detained

Being in hospital or prison does NOT mean that a licence automatically comes to an end.

Housing Benefit will continue to be paid for 52 weeks on remand or the first 13 weeks of a custodial sentence.

In the majority of cases being ill or in prison does not represent a breach of the agreement. However, it may mean that:

• They are no longer able to pay their rent
• They are not able to receive support
• The reason they have been taken into custody may represent a breach of their licence agreement

Residents can terminate their own agreement, but be careful you are not seen to pressurise them and they have the mental capacity.

Resident gives up their Licence Agreement

Surrender of Licence (see clause 10:15)

Licensees have a right to end their licence but they must serve notice. A resident can withdraw notice within the 28-day period stipulated in the agreement.  

The only strict legal surrender is the ‘Termination Form’ that residents must fill out to give up their licence. This form must contain:  

• The full address of the property
• The resident’s intent to end the agreement
• Resident’s signature
• Confirmation of receipt by the landlord

There must be a Personal Property Disposal Clause in the licence agreement. (See clause 10:17)

Assuming implied surrender is an unlawful eviction

So follow your clear policies and procedures and good housing management practices.

Beware! The following are NOT lawful acts of licence surrender (ending the licence):

• Resident returns keys but not termination form
• Resident returns termination form but not keys
• The termination form does not have all the required elements (see 1-4 above)
• Resident removes their property from the accommodation

Here is a template termination of licence agreement form you can give to your resident

Resident Notice to Terminate Licence Agreement.