Tenant Replacement

egg102530

Hi - here is my question. Help appreciated:

I have 3 tenants in my property under fixed term tenancy expiring Feb 2020.

Q1: 1 wishes to leave now - as its a shared tenancy I do not believe subletting or assignment is allowed? Therefore, tenant 1 will be unable to replace themselves using this route.

Q2: Tenant replacement under a licencee agreement has been suggested. If I refuse this can all tenants serve notice now or can I refuse without the tenants having the right to break their existing tenancy?

Thanks for your help!

Baby01032012

Answer 1 reassignment is allowed.

Answer 2 If you refuse above reassignment and new tenant is a reasonable replacement then they have the right to terminate the tenancy.

You would be entitled to any cost of re renting such as advertising or agent letting few and any rent due until new tenants are found. They will be entitled to balance of deposit back.

egg102530

Thanks. I have just received information from threshold.ie advising that the landlord has zero say in whether or not to accept a replacement tenant as a licencee and it would entirely be up to the existing tenants as to whether or not they want to do this.

Also that its a process the tenants would manage themselves and the remaining tenants (from original tenancy) take on all responsibility, e.g. if licencee does not pay rent etc.

Seems strange to me considering that the landlord IS allowed to decide on sub letting or assignment but not a licencee arrangement.

This was just one person at threshold and I am unable to find detail on this specifically - does anyone else have a view on this?

Browney7

If you're happy with the existing tenants and get on well with them, why not just meet them as part of an inspection of the property and vet the new tenant/licensee and add them to the lease if you're happy with them or even draw up a new one?

egg102530

Baby01032012 wrote: »

Answer 1 reassignment is allowed.

Answer 2 If you refuse above reassignment and new tenant is a reasonable replacement then they have the right to terminate the tenancy.

You would be entitled to any cost of re renting such as advertising or agent letting few and any rent due until new tenants are found. They will be entitled to balance of deposit back.

Sorry, just re-reading your message. Maybe my question wasn't clear / I made an incorrect assumption but:

From reading https://www.threshold.ie/advice/ending-a-tenancy/getting-someone-to-replace-you/ I am pretty sure that I have the right to accept or refuse a request to sub-let or assign. Perhaps I was incorrect to think that a shared house would not be eligible for this but in any case I guess it doesn't matter if I have a say in it happening.

The whole licencee situation is not exactly detailed and as I understand its a different type of arrangement to a normal tenancy which ultimately has the same result from a landlords perspective (rent paid etc) but also allows a tenant to move out while someone else covers their existing obligations under the tenancy agreement.

Key point from the above is that sub-letting/assignment and a licencee agreement are 2 very different different things. I am clearish on the former but not the latter, hence 2 different questions.

FishOnABike

AFAIK it's pretty academic if tenant #1's replacement comes in as a licencee as after six months they can request to be added to the lease as a tenant and that request can't be unreasonably refused.

Most tenancy agreements would have all tenants jointly and several liable for rent etc. so it there is any shortfall or arrears they are all equally liable to make it good / be issued with a notice of termination.

egg102530

FishOnABike wrote: »

AFAIK it's pretty academic if tenant #1's replacement comes in as a licencee as after six months they can request to be added to the lease as a tenant and that request can't be unreasonably refused.

Most tenancy agreements would have all tenants jointly and several liable for rent etc. so it there is any shortfall or arrears they are all equally liable to make it good / be issued with a notice of termination.

I agree its fairly academic but I just want to confirm if I have any rights to refuse this situation in the first place. Sub-letting/Assignment are from what I read entirely at landlords discretion and if I was to refuse, the tenants have the option to service notice. They would of course need agreement amongst the others in the house to do this as its an all or nothing.

Assuming the above is correct, then it surprises me that if they were to replace with a licencee I would have no say whatsoever and then matters would be complicated further should we go passed the 6 months and we have different people at the property with different rights based on length of time at the property.

Claw Hammer

It is not reassignment, it is assignment.
You have the right to refuse to allow any sub-tenancy or licensee or assignee come onto the premises but if you allow someone i, then you are stuck with them.
You could refuse to allow anyone in and tell the existing tenants they pay the full rent or go. Failing that you could allow an assignment of the departing tenants interest. You could instead allow a licencee who can become a full tenant after 6 months.

Dav010

Threshold are not always known to give correct or impartial advice.