No lease, need to sublet, looking for advise

OmegaRed

Hi folks,

I was wondering could you provide some advice for me on an issue I have below

Back in July 2013, I signed a new 12 month lease in an apartment along with my best friend. We had already been living there for 2 years but the ownership of the apartment changed hands. The landlord lives outside of Ireland and uses a property manager to manage the property. Both are pretty hands off and we never really interact except for the odd repair needing to take place. I have now been living there in total for 5 and a half years.

The new lease expired in July 2014 and we continued to pay the rent as normal between the two of us. We never signed a new lease and just continued to pay as norm.

In April 2016 my friend moved out to live with his gf and my gf moved in. Technically this was in breach of the lease as I was not allowed to sublet / I should have informed the landlord of any change in tenancy. Unfortunately my gf and I broke up and she has now moved out. I really don’t want to leave the apartment but I can’t afford the full amount on my own.

If I place an ad and bring in another individual, I technically have no right to put a lease in place with them (the original 12 month lease clearly states no subletting).

Financially, I’m in a position where I could realistically afford to stay there myself until the end of September but then I’d have to leave. I really don’t want to call the landlord and organise a new lease with a new individual as it will give him an opportunity to up the rent (out of sight, out of mind kind of approach). It’s a high demand area and I know some people are paying 400 to 600 more per month for the same kind of apartment.

What should I do? Put a 6 month lease in place with a new individual? My worry is that I get someone else in paying 50% of the rent, which is cheap for the area and then the landlord comes back out of the blue and 1) ups the rent and 2) see’s that I am subletting.

Any advice would be great

campingcarist

My understanding of the law is that you would not be subletting but renting out a room with you as a live in landlord - therefore the person would be a lodger or a licensee.

You could not have a lease agreement with this person who would therefore be a tenant. You cannot have a property in which there are two leases (except for a property let room by room) as you have exclusive use of the property and if you had someone else as a tenant that person would be unable to have exclusive use of the property which every tenant has. In a house share all the tenants as a group have exclusive use of the property and are also 'jointly and severally' liable for the rent.

As you did not sign any new lease, you have a Part 4 tenancy with all the rights that go with it. Basically the same as your fixed term lease but without the time frame of a fixed term. If you want to leave, you only have to give the correct amount of notice and vacate - you don't have to find a replacement tenant.

I am open to any correction of errors in the above.

Mrs OBumble

campingcarist wrote: »

My understanding of the law is that you would not be subletting but renting out a room with you as a live in landlord - therefore the person would be a lodger or a licensee.

This is what I understand too.

However after six months there, the new person gets the right to be added to the lease, and so gets tenancy rights. If they do this, then you will have to 'fess up to the property managers. But if they don't (and many people choose not to because that way they only have to give reasonable notice), then you can continue to operate under the radar.

I know that the original lease says no sub-letting. But often this is just a standard clause, and provided you are taking responsibility and not taking the p*** (eg not putting four students into the room, are paying on time, keeping it clean, reporting maintenance issues), many agents/LLs will be happy because it means they don't have to handle the re-tenanting.

campingcarist

campingcarist wrote: »

In a house share all the tenants as a group have exclusive use of the property and are also 'jointly and severally' liable for the rent.

Unless it's a houseshare where the rooms are let separately then every housemate is only responsible for their own rent.

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

However after six months there, the new person gets the right to be added to the lease, and so gets tenancy rights.

Why do they get this right, I understoold that they could request to be added to the lease but that request can be denied. Also what if there is no lease how can they be added.

Its silly stipulation anyway, a person being a licensee to a lease holder should be no different to a person who is a licensee to a home owner and after 6 months the person renting a room from the owner certainly gets no more rights so why can't a lease holder keep the person as a licensee if they wish so that they can maintain full control of the house they are renting.

Elliott S

Erin Spicy Mink wrote: »

Also what if there is no lease how can they be added.

Well, there being no physical lease doesn't extinguish tenant rights. If anything, not having a physical lease might make it easier to argue that you are a full tenant in the house.

Elliott S

Elliott S wrote: »

Well, there being no physical lease doesn't extinguish tenant rights. If anything, not having a physical lease might make it easier to argue that you are a full tenant in the house.

An original lease naming only the lease holder and no mention of the licensee who is looking for rights with no proof of move in date or anything would make it quite difficult I would imagine.

Elliott S

Erin Spicy Mink wrote: »

An original lease naming only the lease holder and no mention of the licensee who is looking for rights with no proof of move in date or anything would make it quite difficult I would imagine.

I was responding to you saying if there was no lease, how could they be added? As for being added to the lease, I don't think that request can be reasonably refused though someone else here might know more about that than me.

4ensic15

You should organise an assignment between your original flatmate and the new one. If the landlord shows up and causes trouble you just ask for permission for the assignment.

Askthe EA

4ensic15 wrote: »

If the landlord shows up and causes trouble you just ask for permission for the assignment.

Whose the one causing trouble here?? Landlords arent all out to get you you know.

campingcarist

4ensic15 wrote: »

You should organise an assignment between your original flatmate and the new one. If the landlord shows up and causes trouble you just ask for permission for the assignment.

My understanding is that an assignment comes when one tenant wants to leave and is replaced by someone else who takes on the responsibilities of the original tenant. This is not he same as renting a room to a licensee under the rent-a-room scheme.

68 lost souls

Just to be clear is the friend who moved out still technically on the lease?

OmegaRed

68 lost souls wrote: »

Just to be clear is the friend who moved out still technically on the lease?

He is. That's the lease we signed in 2013 for 12 months.

4ensic15

campingcarist wrote: »

My understanding is that an assignment comes when one tenant wants to leave and is replaced by someone else who takes on the responsibilities of the original tenant. This is not he same as renting a room to a licensee under the rent-a-room scheme.

The rent a room scheme is a tax and welfare relief scheme. It has nothing to do with tenure.