What is illegal subletting?
Illegal subletting is the subletting of the property without getting the owner/landlord’s permission to sublet the property.
Have you sublet illegally, or do you merely have a temporary lodger?
It is essential to understand the difference between subletting without the landlord’s permission (which could be potentially illegal) and merely giving permission for your lodger to have a guest stay in the property. Essentially the difference depends on whether your tenant is charging them rent or not, also, having a lodger under a licence agreement is not subletting because the lodger only has permission to occupy a room, they do not have exclusive possession.
What does illegal subletting mean for you?
As this is a breach of the tenancy agreement you could seek repossession of the property.
When can you expect eviction proceedings?
Subletting against your tenancy agreement gives your landlord a legal reason or grounds to start possession proceedings to evict you. The landlord must follow a specific legal process to evict you depending on the type of tenancy you have. This process involves serving you with some form of written notice (notice to quit) seeking the possession of your home. When the said notice expires, your landlord has to apply to the court for a possession order. By serving a notice to quit, your landlord does not have to provide legal grounds to evict you or prove to the court that it’s reasonable to evict you.
You can consider visiting the GOV.UK website for additional resources on this or if you are unsure you can obtain legal advice from Lestons Ltd.
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