Breaking up if you live in your partner's home

If your partner is the sole tenant or owner of the home, you may not have the right to stay after you break up. You'll have stronger rights if you're married or in a civil partnership.

You could ask to take over the tenancy if your ex-partner wants to move out.

If you need to leave you can get homeless help from the council.

If you're married or in a civil partnership

You’ll automatically have occupancy rights. This means your ex-partner legally cannot:

• force you to move out or stop you from returning home

• sell the home or end the tenancy without your permission

You can negotiate with your ex-partner about what happens to the home. A mediator could help you to come to an agreement. You can find a mediator on the Scottish Mediation website.

If you cannot come to an agreement, either of you can apply to court to make decisions about the home. You'll need legal help to do this.

Find a solicitor on the Law Society of Scotland website.

If you're cohabiting partners

If you’re living together but you do not have a legal partnership, you do not have automatic occupancy rights in your partner's home.

You can apply to a court for occupancy rights for up to 6 months at a time.

This can give you time to put the home in your name or look for somewhere else to live.

A housing or family law solicitor can help you apply for occupancy rights.

Find a solicitor on the Law Society of Scotland website.

Taking over your ex-partner's tenancy

If your ex-partner wants to move out and you want to stay in the home, you could ask their landlord's permission to take over their tenancy.

If you're married or in a civil partnership, you could apply to court to ask for the tenancy to be transferred to you.

Council or housing association tenancy

Your ex-partner can ask the council or housing association to assign the tenancy to you if:

• you've lived in the home for at least 12 months

• you told the council or housing association when you moved in

If you meet these conditions, the council or housing association can only refuse to assign you the tenancy if they have a good reason. They should explain in writing why they're refusing.

You could also ask the council or housing association to:

• give your ex-partner a new tenancy, and transfer the tenancy to you

• give you a new tenancy

To understand your options, ask the council or housing association if they have any written policies on relationship breakdown.

Private landlord or letting agent tenancy

Your ex-partner can ask the landlord to assign the tenancy to you, no matter how long you've lived there.

The landlord can decide whether or not to assign the tenancy to you. They may check if you can afford the rent when making their decision.

Get help to pay the rent

If you take over the tenancy, you'll be responsible for paying the full rent.

Depending on your income, you could get benefits. Check if you could get:

• Universal Credit to help pay rent

• Discretionary Housing Payment if your benefits do not cover the rent

If you’re worried about being able to afford your home, speak to a money and debt adviser.

They can help you reduce your costs, get benefits, and negotiate repayments on any debts. Check where to get debt advice.

If you need to move out

You could consider:

• applying for social housing

• finding a private rented home

If you’re living in your partner’s social tenancy, you could get priority for another home with the council or housing association.

Contact them and explain your situation. Ask for the allocations policy to understand what priority you should get.

Getting homeless help from the council

You’re legally homeless if you’re not on the tenancy agreement, or if it's not reasonable for you to stay in the home. You do not have to be living on the streets to be homeless.

Tell the council that you need to make a homeless application because you do not have legal tenancy rights.

They must offer you temporary accommodation as soon as you need it.

Check our advice on making a homeless application.