Sub-letting
Quick answer
A tenant granting occupation rights to a third party (a sub-tenant) while the original tenancy continues. Most ASTs prohibit sub-letting without written landlord consent; under the Housing Act 1988 unauthorised sub-letting is ground 12 (discretionary) for possession and may also be a banning-order offence under section 79 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 if rent is taken from the sub-tenant beyond the rent paid to the landlord (“rent-to-rent fraud”). The Renters Rights Act 2025 retains sub-letting consent as a contractual landlord right with a reasonable-refusal threshold.
At a glance
- Usual position
- Prohibited without the landlord’s written consent
- Possession ground
- Ground 12 (breach of term), discretionary
- Hidden risk
- Unauthorised occupiers can make the property an HMO
- Insurance
- Cover is commonly void where subletting is undisclosed
Full guide
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Open full guideWhy Sub-letting matters for landlords
Unauthorised subletting is rarely just a contractual annoyance. If extra occupiers take the property to three or more people from two or more households sharing facilities, it becomes an HMO — potentially a licensable one — and the licensing offence is **yours**, not the tenant’s, with a civil penalty of up to £30,000 and Rent Repayment Order exposure attached to it. Short-let subletting through platforms adds an insurance problem, since most landlord policies exclude it, and often a breach of the head lease in a flat. Deal with it as a breach of term under Ground 12, and check the property rather than relying on the tenancy agreement to have prevented it.
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Official sources
LetCompliance editorial reviews this entry every quarter against the sources above. Always confirm specific duties with a qualified solicitor or your local council.
Related terms
Leasehold
Owning the right to occupy a property for a fixed number of years under a lease, while a separate freeholder owns the land and building. Most flats in England are leasehold. Leaseholders usually pay ground rent and service charges and must observe lease conditions, including any restrictions on subletting.
Section 47 Notice (Rent Demand Address)
Section 47 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires a landlord’s name and address (or that of an agent in England and Wales) to appear on every rent demand for a residential property. If the demand omits this, no rent is legally due until a Section 48 notice (or compliant rent demand) is served. Routinely missed by individual landlords self-managing without a template; the breach blocks rent recovery and pauses any Section 8 ground 8/10/11 arrears clock until cured.
Section 48 Notice (Landlord’s Address for Service)
Section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 requires a landlord of a residential dwelling in England or Wales to give the tenant a written address in England or Wales at which notices can be served. Until a compliant address is given, no rent is legally due. A common cure for an overseas landlord is to use the letting agent’s UK address (with the agent’s consent), but the address must be the landlord’s address for service, not a generic correspondence address.
Article 4 Direction
A planning tool councils use under article 4 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 to remove permitted-development rights, most commonly the right to convert a single-family home (Use Class C3) into a small HMO (Use Class C4) without planning permission. In an Article 4 area, every C3 → C4 conversion needs a full planning application, and operating without it can trigger an enforcement notice, a planning contravention notice or a refusal of HMO licence.
Banning Order
A court order under Part 2 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 banning a person convicted of certain housing offences from letting property, engaging in lettings agency work or holding an HMO licence. Triggered by a banning-order offence (Schedule 1 of the Act): includes serious housing-condition offences, illegal eviction and unlawful HMO operation. A banned landlord is added to the national database of rogue landlords and breach of the order is itself a criminal offence with up to 51 weeks’ imprisonment.
Civil Penalty Notice
A financial penalty up to £30,000 a local housing authority can impose as an alternative to criminal prosecution under the Housing and Planning Act 2016, the Housing Act 2004 (HMO offences) and various tenancy offences. Common triggers: failure to comply with an Improvement Notice, breach of HMO licensing, unlawful eviction, breach of selective licensing or letting an unsafe property. The landlord can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal within 28 days; unpaid penalties are recoverable in the County Court.