Whether or not you can sublet your property to an individual tenant, or tenants, will depend on the terms of your lease.
Modern leases do not tend to impose restrictions on the letting of leasehold properties on assured shorthold tenancies for term of a year or less, but there are always exceptions.
Older leases may well require you to obtain the landlord or the management company’s consent before you can sublet.
Older leases may well require you to obtain the landlord or the management company’s consent before you can sublet.
That consent may could also be subject to conditions. For example, perhaps references for the tenant need to be produced to evidence that the tenant is employed and capable of paying the rent that will be due under the terms of the tenancy. Perhaps there is a condition that only allows you to sublet provided you have complied with all of your obligations under the lease (i.e paid your ground rent and service charge and complied with your repair and decoration obligations.) If you are in arrears of ground rent, the landlord may have grounds for opposing an application for consent to sublet. Consider those conditions and whether you have complied, before incurring costs making the application.
Usually however, a landlord is unable to unreasonably withhold consent to such a request, so provided any conditions, like the ones above, have been satisfied, you should be given the green light to proceed.
The landlord or management company may however, charge a fee for a) considering the application for consent and b) if approved, setting out that the request is approved in a letter or licence to sublet. It is important that there is proof that the consent was given so there can be no allegation later on that you have been subletting without consent. This could be a breach of the lease and could cause various issues, especially on a remortgage or sale.
These fees can be expensive, particularly if you regularly change tenants and are required to keep reapplying for consent every 6 to 12 months or so.
At Mandeville, we do not charge any fees for considering or documenting a request for permission to sublet. We feel this should be part and parcel of our management service.
Anyway, in summary, it is important to remember every lease is different and so careful attention should be given to the terms of your particular lease before you decide whether or not to let your property. We recommend you consult with a specialist if in doubt.
