Subletting your Property

There follows some general points you need to be aware of if you are thinking about, or in the process of, subletting your property.

The guidance here is of a general nature and is not intended to be comprehensive. It should not be interpreted as legal advice. You should seek the advice of your solicitor and letting agents in respect of your legal obligations under your lease or house deeds and statutory requirements.

Managed Partnerships Limited accept no legal liability for the guidance given in these notes, which may be altered, amended or removed at any time in the future without notice.

For the sake of simplicity we refer only to your “lease” in these notes, but the points apply equally to your deeds should you own a freehold property.

Before you let your property

Before you let your property please check the terms of your lease. You may need the prior licence or consent of a Freeholder or Resident Management Company (“RMC”) before letting your property. If this is required please contact us as early as possible as the process so that we can let you know to whom you need apply and the process and fees involved. You may also need the permission of your mortgage company, if you have one.

Your lease may not allow your letting agent to put up a “To Let” board. Please check your lease and contact us if you are in any doubt. If a “To Let” board is put up in breach of your lease you will be charged the cost of its removal.

Holiday and Short-term Lettings – e.g. AirBNB

Your lease will almost certainly have a provision limiting the use of the property to private residential use by a single family. The lease will also include a covenant against doing anything which may void the buildings insurance or which may result in a higher premium being charged.

Short-term lets, such as via websites like AirBNB, will usually be regarded as a commercial use. Because of this and the higher risks, such use may result in a higher buildings insurance premium being charged.

If it is found that you are letting your property in such a way without the prior written consent of the Freeholder or RMC (as appropriate) you will be required to immediately remove anyone currently occupying the property, remove any online advertisements and cancel all future bookings.

Health and Safety

Please ensure your tenants are provided with a copy of the fire action plan for the building. This is displayed next to the communal front door of the building and is available on the Resident Portal. If you need a copy, however, please let us know.

Please ensure your tenants are made aware of basic safety guidance including, but not limited to:

Not propping open any communal corridor door, the front door to the building or the flat itself and any fire door inside the property

Not leaving bicycles, shoes or other items outside the front door to the property or in any communal area. Such items can pose a fire risk or could cause an obstruction or a trip hazard to people evacuating the building in an emergency.

Not storing any item in a riser cupboard located in the communal areas.

Smoking

Smoking is not permitted in any internal communal area, which may include entrance halls, corridors and stairwells (including fire escapes), a covered car park or a shelter in communal gardens. This is the law and a criminal offence irrespective of the terms of your lease.

You are still free to allow your tenant to smoke inside the flat should you so wish, but please ask them to be courteous and not leave cigarette butts outside the building or throw them out of windows or off balconies. Please also ask them to be mindful that smoking on a balcony can be a nuisance to residents of flats nearby.

The smoking of any illegal substance whether inside the flat or not is not permissible.

Security

Your tenant shares the responsibility for the security of the building and development of which your property forms part with all other residents. Please remind them of this responsibility, for example:

Not to hold open any communal gate or door for someone they do not know.

If there is a door entry system, not to “buzz in” a caller claiming to be another resident or a visitor or delivery person to another flat.

Not to share door entry codes with non-residents.

If a key or fob to a communal gate or front door is lost to let us know immediately.

Lease Obligations

It is very important that you remember that you will remain liable under your lease for any breach of covenant, even if that breach is committed by your tenant. For example, if damage is caused to a communal corridor by your tenant when they are moving in or out you will be responsible for the cost of the repair. Other lease provisions you should bring to the attention of the tenant include:

Pets – your lease may not allow pets to be kept in the property, even if you are minded to allow them in a tenancy agreement.

Balconies – your lease may limit what can and cannot be placed on balconies. For example plants, drying clothes, bicycles or screening.

Television – your lease will not allow a satellite dish or other aerial to be put on the wall or housed on a balcony.

Noise – by far the most common complaint against tenants relates to noise. This could be parties, loud television or music, loud conversation in communal areas and banging doors or children being allowed to play in communal areas.

Parking – if the property comes with an allocated space please ensure the tenant knows where to park. They must not park in other residents’ spaces or use visitor bays as a space for a second vehicle.

Parking enforcement – if applicable please ensure the tenant has an up to date valid permit for the space and it is properly displayed in their vehicle. Parking tickets cannot be rescinded just because the tenant hasn’t been given a valid permit or that they were unaware that it had to be displayed in their vehicle. If a new permit is required, or time required to get one to the tenant, please let us know.

Underletting – the section above on short-term and holiday lets apply equally to your tenant. It is regrettably not uncommon for tenants to let the property out on AirBNB (or other such sites) without the owner’s prior consent.

If your tenant is in breach of any of the covenants set out in your lease, whether listed above or not, legal action could be taken against you for the costs incurred and/or requiring you to evict your tenant. We suggest you give your letting agent a copy of your lease so that they can ensure the tenant is aware of all obligations.

After letting your property

Your lease will require you to issue a formal Notice of the letting to either us on behalf of the Freeholder or RMC or directly to one of them. A fee will be payable. Your letting agent should be able to assist in doing so.

Please let us have your new correspondence address. Sometimes we have to serve documents by post, even if you have elected to receive communications electronically. If we do not have your up to date address it may delay you receiving an important document or stop you receiving it at all.

If your correspondence address is abroad we will still need a UK postal address for service.

Please let us have the name and contact details of your letting agent and your tenants (if they consent to you doing so). This enables us to contact them in an emergency if we cannot easily reach you.

Please ensure your tenants know who to contact in an emergency. Your letting agent will probably have emergency contact details. Please do not give the tenants our number as we are not responsible for anything within your property. But please give our details to your letting agent. They can contact us if an issue arises that we can assist with, for instance a leak into the property from elsewhere.

We suggest you let your letting agent have a copy of your lease so that they can ensure that they and the tenant are aware of the covenants therein and incorporate them into the tenancy agreement.

Letting Agents

Managed Partnerships are not Letting Agents. We cannot assist you in letting your flat or house or subsequently managing it. To find a local Letting Agent we suggest you visit the following website - www.arla.co.uk.