Tenant has sublet room in shared house

Landlord Discussion Legal
1

Hi OpenRent Landlords. Please could you advise on the following …

I rent out a 4 bedroom house, to a group of 4 friends, on a joint tenancy agreement. The tenancy started in early April 2023 last year, and is coming up to the 12 month mark. Our rental property has an ‘Additional HMO Licence’, which is now a requirement in our borough of London.

I’ve just found out that one of the four tenants, who I will call Tenant X, has sublet her room, presumably to a friend! I believe Tenant X moved out some time last year, to live/work abroad, and has sublet her room without asking my permission.

Tenant X did email me back in November last year, 4 or 5 months ago, to tell me about an ‘exciting job opportunity abroad’, but only requested that they be removed from the tenancy agreement in April this year (which would be 12 months into the tenancy). She suggested a new person/friend, who she would find, would move in and go on the tenancy in April 2024. Tenant X did not mention moving out before April this year, and they did not ask me if they could sublet.

Rather naively I just assumed Tenant X’s new job started in April this year, and that she didn’t need to move until then.

Due to a lack of communication from Tenant X, and the fact I haven’t seem her since she moved in, I recently started to have doubts about whether she still lived at our property. Then today I looked her up on Linkedin, and found out she’s actually been living abroad since the start of August last year!!! She’s definitely not living at our property anymore.

Interestingly I carried out a house inspection a couple of months ago, and noticed how different Tenant X’s room looked from when she first moved in. As I looked round I just thought: ‘this isn’t her stuff’! Someone is living and renting her room, just not Tenant X.

My question is this… should I confront our tenants about the subletting? Should I let them know that I know?! The tenancy is coming to an end in early April, and there is only a matter of weeks left to go before they move out. Is it worth falling out with them over this? Apart of me thinks I should just grit my teeth, ignore the situation, and celebrate after they’re gone!

If you’re feeling sorry for our tenants, I should let you know this … We’ve been letting out this house for many years, and previously had a really good experience with different tenant groups. Unfortunately this particular tenancy has been awkward from the start. I won’t go into details but they’re the first tenant group I’ve ever regretted taking on! I’ve been worried about the tenancy and house from the start. They’ve done some really immature things, and even caused internal damage through carelessness.

Thoughts on the subletting please. Do I say something?

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Have you been paid all the rent that you are owed on this tenancy? If so and they’ve only got a month left until they all leave then i don’t see the advantage of pursuing it.

If any of them ever request a reference in future, you can give it honestly stating that they permitted subletting.

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Is this a joint tenancy? If so, all the tenants are renting the whole house, so one cant sublet part of the space without creating 2 concurrent tenancies for the same space and a legal mess.

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How is the tenancy coming to an end? Have any of the tenants given notice ?

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Thanks for your response Tatemono. Yes, all rent has been paid, and on time. I’ve had no problems with the rent payments.

I agree that the best time to raise the issue might be at the reference stage!

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Yes, they’re on a joint tenancy. They rent the whole house together.

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Hi David79. The tenants gave me notice months ago. It was agreed they would leave at the 12 month point (of a 18 month tenancy) as we have a 12 month break-clause in place. The tenancy is now due to end in April.

Last year (at the time that Tenant X told me she wanted to be replaced in April), the group asked to carry on the tenancy for the full 18 months, which would have led to September this year, with a new person moving in April.

I was slow to say yes to this request, as I was already having doubts about the tenancy. Eventually they handed in their notice, which I felt was a good outcome!

The tenants must have just gone ahead and sublet a room, maybe from as early as August last year.

1 Like
8

Releasing one tenant from a joint tenancy is not possible. You can assign the whole tenancy to a new group that includes those that want to remain, but it has to be done properly via a deed.