If your tied accommodation is ending

We may be able to help you if you currently live in accommodation provided by your employer and your employment is ending and/or you have been asked you to leave the accommodation. 

It is important that you contact us as soon as you know your employment is ending or you are asked to leave so that we can provide the right help at the right time. 

We can provide help in a number of ways, including: 

• checking what rights you have. This will depend on your living and working arrangements and there is more information below;
• checking your employer has served the correct notice to end your employment and/or your living arrangements;
• taking action to resolve harassment and/or illegal eviction if your private tenancy is ending.
• negotiating with your employer
• helping you with court proceedings, including representing you at court
• helping you find a new property. 

We have covered most of these points in separate pages as detailed above. Those pages focus on the end of a private rented sector tenancy, but the points raised in them apply equally to the end of a tied accommodation arrangement. 

This will depend on several things including: 

• whether you must live in that accommodation to do your job (for example, live-in carers or caretakers);
• whether your contract of employment requires you to live there (for example, this may be the case for some agricultural jobs);
• whether you pay rent (either deducted from your wages or separately);
• if you don’t pay rent, whether you get paid lower wages than normal for your job because you are being given a place to live;
• whether you share your living space with your employer (for example if you are a live-in carer); and
• whether your employer has properly ended your employment (for example, we can help you get advice on whether you have been unfairly dismissed). 

We will need to see the following to be able to help you in working out what rights you have: 

• your contract of employment, which may contain information about your living arrangements and will contain how much notice you should get if you are dismissed or made redundant;
• your latest wage slip so we can check if any rent is deducted;
• any tenancy or occupancy agreement you have, which will contain information about your rent and living arrangements if your employment contract does not; and
• any notices you have received, for example telling you your employment has ended or asking you to leave the accommodation. 

If your employer is ending your employment, we can help you get advice on whether the correct dismissal or redundancy notice has been given. If it has not, you may be able to challenge the end of your employment at an employment tribunal, although you may not be able to stay in your accommodation while that is happening. 

If you have a separate tenancy agreement, your employer must serve notice on you to end the tenancy and make you leave the property. 

The form of the notice will depend on the type of tenancy you have and the reason you are being asked you to leave. For example, different notice periods will apply if you are being asked to leave only because your employment is ending or if there is another reason like rent arrears or your employer intends to redevelop the property. 

As soon as you receive a notice, you should contact us so that we can check it for you. If you have been served with a section 21 notice you can check whether its valid on the Citizens Advice website.  

If you do not have a tenancy agreement, for example, if you share accommodation with your employer or pay no rent, you have fewer rights against eviction, but you should still get reasonable notice as set out in your employment contract. 

Even if your employer’s property is repossessed by their bank because they have failed to pay their mortgage, the bank must still give you a notice period so you can find a new home. 

If the notice is correct

If you have a separate tenancy agreement, you do not have to leave the property immediately once a notice has expired. You have the right to remain in the property until your employer applies to the court for a court order and warrant (with reasons as to why the property should be returned). This may give you enough time to find a new home, but there will be court costs if you do this. 

If you do not have a tenancy agreement and you have to live in the accommodation to do your job, your right to live there will usually end when your employment does. You may still have basic protection from eviction so your employer will have to get a court order to evict you but will not have to give any reasons as to why it wants the property. However, if you share accommodation with your employer or pay no rent, no court order will be required, and you will have to leave when the notice expires. 

If the notice is not correct

If the notice is not correct, you should tell your employer and insist on a valid notice. We can help you with this or contact your employer for you to explain the correct legal process. We will also see if there is any possibility that you can stay in the property, at least until you find a new home. 

If your employer still wants you to leave and serves a corrected notice, we can work with you to help you find a new home.