Never agree to give up your half of a home without taking advice first. If you become homeless and you have voluntarily given up your home the council may decide you are intentionally homeless. There will then be no duty to find you a new home. 

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Sole tenancy

If the tenancy is in your name only you are the sole tenant and you have a right to occupy the premises unless a court order removes that right. If you are married and the tenancy is in your spouse’s name you have a right to occupy because it is the matrimonial home. If you are not married and you are not the tenant the following applies:

• if your relationship is recent you may have no rights in the property
• if your relationship is long term and you have children together the Family Law Act can be used to transfer the tenancy, usually to the main carer of the children

An Occupation Order may be used to give a temporary right of residence while the long-term rights are being dealt with. 

Joint tenancy

If you are a joint tenant, both tenants have an equal right to occupy the property. You cannot force a joint tenant to leave against their will and the only way you can legally prevent a joint tenant from entering the property is with a court order. The only way that a joint tenancy can be changed is: 

• by one tenant surrendering their part of the tenancy voluntarily
• by a court order transferring the tenancy to one party 

If the joint tenant is preventing you from entering or from staying in the property you can apply to the court for an Occupation Order (Family Law Act 1996). 

Occupation order

An Occupation Order can:

• require someone to leave the property and give a date and time for them to leave. There may be a power of arrest if the person tried to come back
• reinstate someone who has been locked out
• decide who occupies which part of a property

The court will consider the resources, need and conduct of each party before making an order and will consider which party would suffer the greatest harm by being removed.  

An occupation order is time limited and normally given for six months to allow both parties to make arrangements to solve their problems. If you are married and start divorce proceedings you can apply for the tenancy to be transferred into a sole tenancy as part of the divorce settlement. If you are not married, you can use the Family Law Act 1996 to apply to have the tenancy transferred.

If you have children, the court will probably transfer the tenancy to whoever has the care of the children.