Service Occupancy Agreement
This Service Occupancy Agreement is for use where an employer provides an employee with living accommodation on site so that the employee can carry out their duties under the terms of their employment. It is sometimes known as "tied accommodation".
This template is suitable for use in England only. If your property is in Wales, you will grant an occupation contract instead. Model written statements for occupation contracts can be found in the Renting Homes Wales folder.
Service occupier or service tenant?
A service occupier is different from a service tenant. A service tenant lives in accommodation provided by their employer but does not need to live there to do their job.
Since 1 May 2026, no new assured shorthold tenancy can be created in England, because the Renters' Rights Act 2025 ended that category for the private rented sector. A service tenant in England who occupies the property as their only or principal home now holds an assured tenancy, which is periodic and cannot be ended under section 21. If you are providing accommodation to a service tenant in England, you should use our Assured Tenancy agreements.
When to use this agreement
Certain professions may require the employee to live on site, such as a nanny, carer, security and hotel staff or housekeeper.
This agreement can be used where the terms of the employee's occupancy are to be kept separate from the employment contract, which may be done for administrative reasons, or where the existing employment contract does not contain service occupancy provisions. Alternatively, you could use the template EMP.MAN.01 Manager Employment Contract With Accommodation, which includes the terms of the employee's accommodation.
Licence and termination
This agreement creates a licence for the employee to occupy the property for as long as they are employed by the employer. It terminates automatically when the employment contract ends.
The first page of this document does not form part of the agreement. It contains a template clause to insert into the employment contract, requiring the employee to live on site so that they can perform their duties under the terms of their employment. For there to be a service occupancy, there must be a strong link between the employee's occupation of the property and performance of their duties under the terms of their employment, so the employment contract should contain this clause.
This agreement does not provide for the payment of a licence fee. This is because in practice payment would be deducted from the employee's wages.
Right to rent checks
Service occupancies are excluded from the requirement for landlords to carry out right to rent checks under the Immigration Act 2014. This is to avoid duplication where employers are required to carry out right to work checks on their employees. If other people occupy the property with the employee, it would be prudent to carry out right to rent checks on them.
The licence has been updated to include additional licensee covenants in respect of fire safety.
Related templates in other packages: this agreement is used alongside the employee's contract of employment. Contract of employment templates are in our Employment package: Contract of Employment Templates. The alternative mentioned above, the Manager Employment Contract With Accommodation, which includes the accommodation terms in the contract itself, is also in our Employment package.
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