Tenant Has Sub Let in The AnswerBank: Law

The couple pay the tenant rent?

Rent is not usually charged 'per person' - rather a set amount for the size of property.

That's the jist I'm getting. Landlord doesn't like the fact the other people are paying towards the rent thinking s/he is losing out.

Fact of life...if you live somewhere you have to pay your share.

tamborine

Question Author

This is a friends Q. He wants more rent for extra tenants or out. The tenant wont pay extra or leave.

ummmm

Well he should have rented out by the room then!

Greedy so and so...

woofgang

difficult. I presume that the tenant is paying the agreed rent to the landlord at the agreed time? that the tenant is keeping the flat in good order and than not complaints have been made about him to the landlord? That there are no other breaches of the law?

237SJ

When you let the property, the price is for the property and not per person so I don`t think he can charge more. He is looking at the situation from a financial point of view but that aside, I can understand him not being happy with persons unknown moving in. When you let out a flat you choose who moves in and you obtain credit references etc and want to know something about the character who is moving in. You can`t just let any old Tom, Dick or Harry move in - they could be dodgy.

FredPuli43

As NJ says, it doesn't look like a sublet. A sublet involves the lessee vacating the property , or part of it, entirely and exclusively, to the benefit of another as a tenant. If I invite my elderly mother to stay, without reward, in my house , I am not subletting. She would only be a licensee at best; she is my guest. If she was a paying guest; I was using the property as a boarding house; I still wouldn't be subletting ,though I might well be in breach of another condition , that of not conducting any trade or business or suffering the premises to be used for the purpose of a business, but that's another matter.

A solicitor is needed to establish the facts and the degree to which this may fall within subletting.

tamborine

Question Author

ummm, its not greed, its how tenancies work. Tenants cant fill properies with live in mates, free or otherwise.

themorrigan

If he let out the property for say £600 per month then that is what he will get -regardless of if there are 2 people or 4. The couple are not sub-letting, they are giving him money towards his rent, which he assumably pays on time. the problem I see is not that he is not getting 'full rent' (which actually he is) but that if the Tenant and his son move out, leaving the Couple in the Flat, then they may claim squatters rights and it will be expensive if not impossible to get them out. My advice would be to have a meeting with all concerned and have the couple named on the Tenancy agreement, therefore giving all parties the legal right to end the Tenancy at the appropriate time.

ummmm

No it's not. The house next door to me is rented out for £800 per month regardless of how many people live there.

jackthehat

Issues of overcrowding aside.......

Your friend has a property that he is happy to receive '£x' per week/month/quarter.

He is receiving '£x' per week/month/quarter.

He needs to contact a Solicitor dealing in housing issues, but unless there are express terms in the TA barring anyone else apart from the Tenant and his son living there, he may have to wait until the TA expires before he can do anything.

tonywiltshire

As NJ says your tenancy agreement should state who is permitted to occupy the premises and there should be a no sub-letting (or assignment which would probably be when a tenant transfers in writing their entire interest in the property, sub-letting which can be a room or the entire premises), most leases contain a covenant not to assign or sub-let, in the absence of any provision to the contrary the tenant is free to assign or sub-let.
If the tenant is not complying with the agreement, which is probably an Assured shorthold tenancy and the fixed period has expired (usually 6 months), you can issue a section 21 notice to quit the premises giving 2 months’ notice and no reasons, but this must be correctly worded, you can bring proceedings for possession if the tenant is in breach.
If in any doubt take legal advice.

tamborine

Question Author

This tenancy agreement is between the Llord & one tenant with 'no sub-letting'. One bedroom and use of amenities is occupied by couple, including car park etc.

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Subletting

"...A landlord may prohibit a tenant from subletting the leased premises without the land-lord's permission by including such a term in the lease...."

jackthehat

You're not listening, are you?

He's *not* sub-letting..........he's letting a friend or friends stay and help him with the rent.

That is a different kettle of fish.

friedgreentomato

Subletting is when a tenant rents a unit out to another tenant. The landlord still has a lease with the original tenant, but now there is a subtenant who is lorded by the original tenant.

Usually, this happens when a tenant has to move, but doesn't want to break their lease. So, they rent the unit out to a subtenant, who pays rent to the original tenant, who forwards it to the landlord/owner.

Peter Pedant

None of us think this is a sublet - ( for which you need - exclusive possession, a term of letting and set rent )

he is a lodger -

Your fren' can either try it on (perhaps he has) saying the lease says no subletting and this is it...

or to wait for term and boot both out - and re let at a higher rent.

As a landlord, if they are paying rent on the nail he should be satisfied - so many tenants dont....

usually people take on lodgers because they cant pay the rent...

Tenant Has Sub Let

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