Tenant sub letting

B

Broadcaster

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We recently rented our 3 bed house to the son of our last tenant who was looking for his own accommodation . Given the good track record of his parents and having checked his references we agreed on a 6 months trial so he signed a lease for that period.

We now find he is subletting a room to a friend but we are not happy with this as our agreement is only with him and we have no idea about this “friend”. Is there anything we can do about this. If we wanted to rent to more than one person we could easily have done so ourselves with the added assurance of being able to check their references etc. Are we stuck with this until the 6 months is?

Thanks for any advice.
 
We would Prefer not to have the tenant subletting at all But we cant police this without visiting unannounced.
 
Broadcaster said:
We would Prefer not to have the tenant subletting at all But we cant police this without visiting unannounced.
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Legally afaik you rented him the house he is entitled to sublet. he may have to ask your approval which you cannot unreasonable withhold.

Did you let a 3 bed house to just one person. Did you charge them rent in line with a 3 bed house or in line with one person.

'Police', 'unannounced' wrong mindset. Have a conversation any other approach is likely to be to your disadvantage.
 
The tenant has a 2 yr old and intention was that he and his partner would move in. Partner has not moved in but the tenant looks after the 2 yr old every second weekend. The rent is only 1100 pm so well under market rates. We did not increase it after his parents mover out.
I prefer to know who is occupying the house and don’t think that is unreasonable. maybe I need to add something to the lease agreement in relation to subletting. Will have to review the lease If we renew.
 
So your lease agreement with him never disallowed sub-letting?
In which case he is not in breach of the lease?
 
I am fairly sure that the question of sub-letting is covered in law. Not a matter for the contract.
 
Just check the lease again and sure enough it does stipulate in the lease that permission must be sought and given.
 
Broadcaster said:
Just check the lease again and sure enough it does stipulate in the lease that permission must be sought and given.
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Personally, I think you are better off not knowing about it.

That way you have one tenant only; anyone who shares the property is the guest and responsibility of your tenant. As a guest they have no rights of residence; should your tenant move out or you give them notice, the guest has to leave also.
 
If you let the 6 months pass without challenging this he is into a full tenancy.
If you have a lease there should be a clause preventing sub lets - if this is the case and he has signed it then you point that out to him in writing and ask him to remove his friend.
If you dont have a lease and/or a clause. I would be ending the tenancy at 6 months and putting rent up within RPZ allowances and re-letting. Do it through an agent, get a proper lease.
I assume you are RTB registered and you have a record of payments otherwise you are in a whole ball of fun...
My tenants have an explicit lease which has a section on sub letting( if not there they can go and do rent a room or AirBnB...)
 
Thanks Thisismax, The lease informs that there can be no sublet without the permission of the landlord. That is all it has. Maybe it needs to be even more specific. We are registered with RTB and fully tax compliant so no difficulty there.
 
Then thats clear. Write to him, registered post and email pointing out the lease clause and asking him to remove his friend in x days. Point out that further infringement of this clause will be grounds for ending of tenancy. You might look at your lease and strengthen that bit and re issue as a new tenancy to him at end of 6 months.
 
Your tenant is not sub-letting, they have a guest under license. Their guest is not their tenant or your tenant and has no rights under the RTA.

You can have a chat with the tenant but legally you can do nothing once they are paying their rent. Just keep up a regular inspection regime and make sure that the presence of an additional person is not adding excessive wear and tear.

TBH in a tight rental market like today’s anyone with two spare bedrooms will have many friends offering to pay to move in
 
Is there a specific RTB form for this - I know there is a very strict procedure if the rent is not being paid. I'd check the RTB website first before contacting the tenant. You do not want to have the whole thing deemed invalid because you haven't followed the correct format.
 
There is some bad tactical and legal advice in this thread.

Legal
It’s not a sublet. He simply has someone in his house as a licensee. Tenant is obliged to tell you this but you cannot prevent him once it’s not overcrowded. The only thing you can do legally is terminate the lease after the six months.

Tactical
In your shoes I would have a chat with him and see what the story is. Make sure that he knows that the house has go be kept in excellent condition no matter who is living there. If you want you can insist on a new lease after six months with the friend as co-tenant but you will be stuck with the same below-market rent. Same as with a totally new tenant.
 
If you are going to have a chat, I'd make sure he knows the guest is just that and has no legal standing.
 
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