Wales Joint Contract-Holders: Succession, Withdrawal and Adding New Occupiers

What Joint Contract-Holders Mean in Wales

Under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, everyone named on an occupation contract as a contract-holder shares the same statutory rights and obligations. Joint contract-holders are jointly and severally liable for the rent — meaning the landlord can pursue any one of them for the full amount, not just their share.

This is the same principle that applied under the old Assured Shorthold Tenancy regime, but the 2016 Act introduces statutory mechanisms for adding and removing joint contract-holders that did not exist before.

Adding a Joint Contract-Holder

Under Sections 49 to 52 of the Act, a new joint contract-holder can be added to an existing occupation contract without ending and re-granting the contract. Both the existing contract-holder(s) and the landlord must consent to the addition.

When a new contract-holder is added:

• The landlord must issue an updated written statement reflecting the new party within 14 days.
• The new contract-holder takes on the same rights and liabilities as the existing ones from the date of addition.
• Any security deposit already protected remains valid, but the Prescribed Information should be updated to reflect the additional party.

Withdrawing a Joint Contract-Holder

A joint contract-holder can withdraw from the contract by serving a withdrawal notice. This is a significant change from the old law, where one joint tenant serving a notice to quit could terminate the entire tenancy for all parties.

Under the Renting Homes framework, withdrawal removes only the departing contract-holder. The remaining contract-holder(s) continue under the same occupation contract on the same terms. The landlord does not need to agree to the withdrawal — it is the contract-holder's statutory right.

After a withdrawal:

• The departing contract-holder ceases to be liable for rent from the effective date of the withdrawal.
• The landlord must issue an updated written statement within 14 days reflecting the change.
• If only one contract-holder remains after a withdrawal, the contract continues as a sole contract-holder arrangement.

Succession After Death

The 2016 Act establishes statutory succession rights when a sole contract-holder (or the last surviving joint contract-holder) dies. These rights determine who can take over the occupation contract rather than the tenancy ending automatically.

Priority succession gives certain categories of people the right to succeed to the contract without the landlord's consent:

• A spouse or civil partner, or a person who lived with the deceased as if they were spouses or civil partners, who occupied the dwelling as their only or principal home at the date of death. Reserve succession applies if no priority successor exists. The contract may pass to other qualifying occupiers in a defined statutory order.

A family member is a reserve successor if they occupied the dwelling as their only or principal home at the date of death; a family member other than a spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner must also meet the 12-month residence condition. A carer is a reserve successor if they occupied the dwelling as their only or principal home at death, lived in the dwelling or with the contract-holder (or, if the contract-holder was a priority successor, with the original contract-holder) throughout the preceding 12 months, provided or intended to provide substantial regular care for the contract-holder or a family member living with them (or, in that same case, for the original contract-holder or a family member living with them), did not provide that care under a contract of employment or other contract, and had no other dwelling they were entitled to occupy as a home.

A person under 18 at the time of death is excluded from succession. A person who occupied the dwelling or part of it under a sub-occupation contract at any time in the preceding 12 months is also excluded, unless they are a priority successor or a reserve successor in the spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner category whose sub-occupation contract ended before the death.

The Act permits one statutory succession, except where a reserve successor subsequently succeeds a priority successor. That exception can result in two successions; there is no general right to two successions.

What the Landlord Must Do

When succession occurs, the landlord's obligations are:

1. Verify the successor's eligibility against the statutory categories.
2. Issue a written statement in the successor's name within 14 days starting with the date the contract-holder changes or, if later, the date the landlord becomes aware of the change.
3. Update Form RHW2 if the landlord's address for service has changed.
4. Continue all other obligations under the contract — deposit protection, fitness for human habitation, and safety certificates.

A landlord cannot refuse a valid succession. If no person qualifies as a successor, the contract ends one month after the contract-holder's death under the Act. If eligibility is disputed, the statutory process determines who succeeds.

Get the Full Joint Contract-Holder Reference

The Occupation Contracts in Wales guide covers joint contract-holder mechanics in detail, including the notice requirements for additions and withdrawals, the succession priority order, and the landlord's paperwork obligations at each step.

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