Paying the mortgage. In breach of your lease. Unable to remove your tenant. Since the Renters' Rights Act abolished no-fault eviction, the order you do things in matters more than it ever used to. Four checks, in the right sequence, before you sign.
Built at Hafer Road by leaseholders who lived this. A solicitor's letter on subletting typically costs £250-£500; your first LEASE-iQ question is on the house. Information only, not legal advice - always take professional advice before acting.
You rent out your flat. Something goes wrong. You try to get your tenant out, and discover you never had proper consent to sublet in the first place. Now three things happen at the same time.
Subletting without the consent your lease requires is a breach of covenant. Fees, demands, s.146 noticesSection 146 of the Law of Property Act 1925. The statutory pre-cursor to forfeiture. Before a landlord can forfeit a long residential lease for breach (other than non-payment of rent), they must serve a s.146 notice specifying the breach and usually requiring remedy. For long residential leases the breach must first be admitted by the leaseholder or determined by the First-tier Tribunal under s.168 of CLRA 2002. legislation.gov.uk, and in rare cases forfeiture proceedings all become live.
The Renters' Rights ActThe Renters' Rights Act abolishes Section 21 "no-fault" evictions and reforms Section 8 possession grounds under the Housing Act 1988. Landlords can no longer evict simply by giving two months' notice: they must rely on specific statutory grounds, most of which require the landlord's own position to be clean. abolishes Section 21 "no-fault" evictions and tightens the Section 8 grounds. If you are in breach of your own lease, several possession routes get harder. Some may not be available at all.
Mortgage. Service charge. Ground rent. Legal fees. The costs stack up fast while you wait for the system to move. That is the "jam in the sandwich" position, and it is almost entirely preventable.
The good news: none of this is unavoidable. It comes down to one document. Your lease. Read the right clauses, do the paperwork in the right order, and the trap never closes.
The advice is different depending on where you are. Jump straight to the bit that matches.
Both routes start with the same document. Your lease. The free route takes longer and you do the reading. The paid route cites the clauses for you in under a minute.
Open the PDF or printed copy of your lease. Use the search (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) for these terms. Click each to see what it means in plain English.
The legal word for creating a tenancy under your own lease. If this appears with "not without consent" attached, you need the freeholder's written permission before you can let.
Same thing as underletting - different leases use different words. Look for it anywhere near "consent", "condition", or "notice".
A wider catch-all that can cover any arrangement where someone else occupies your flat. It includes letting, lodgers, and arguably Airbnb. If this is prohibited absolutely, you have less room than you might think.
Transferring the whole lease to someone else (selling it on). Different from subletting but often sits in the same clause - check whether the rules are the same or different for each.
The crucial word. "Consent not to be unreasonably withheld" is your friend - the freeholder has to give good reasons to say no. "Sole and absolute discretion" is the opposite - they can refuse for any reason, or none.
Modern leases often ban these outright even where longer lets are allowed. Older leases won't mention them by name but may catch them under "part with possession" or "business use".
A separate post-letting obligation most people miss. Often 21 or 28 days after the tenancy starts, sometimes with a notice fee. Missing this is its own breach, even if consent was granted.
You are looking for three things: whether consent is needed, whether conditions are attached, and whether notification is required after the letting starts.
Upload your lease. Ask in plain English. LEASE-iQ quotes the clauses back to you with paragraph numbers so you can check the source yourself.
First question is on the house. No card required.
Your lease will usually contain some combination of these. Find them first. Everything else follows.
Your lease will do one of four things: ban subletting outright, require written consent, allow consent that cannot be unreasonably withheld, or let you sublet on notification only. The wording matters. "Sole and absolute discretion" is a different animal from "consent not to be unreasonably withheld". Read carefully.
Many leases allow subletting only if you give references, limit the term, or require your tenancy agreement to mirror the head lease covenants. Ignoring these conditions can render a granted consent invalid.
Many leases also require you to formally notify the freeholder within a set window after the tenancy starts, often 21 or 28 days, sometimes with a modest fee. This is separate from consent. Missing it is itself a breach, even where the let was otherwise permitted.
Even if your lease allows subletting, short-term lets (Airbnb, booking.com) are often separately restricted. In London, planning rules also limit short-term lets to 90 nights a yearGreater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973. Properties used beyond 90 nights per calendar year require planning permission from the local council. without planning permission.
Do these before you sign a tenant. Not after. The order matters because each step depends on the previous one.
Your lease will contain covenants about subletting, assignment, and parting with possession. The wording determines whether you need consent, whether it can be reasonably withheld, and what conditions apply. Upload your lease to LEASE-iQ and find out in seconds, not days.
If your lease requires consent, you need to write to the freeholder (or managing agent) before you sublet. The letter should include: who the tenant is, the proposed rent and term, confirmation that the sublease will comply with head lease covenants, and an offer to pay any reasonable admin fee the lease specifies.
Getting this right matters. A vague email is not the same as a proper consent request. LEASE-iQ will draft the letter using the actual terms from your lease.
Consent to sublet and notice of sublet are two different things. Most leases also require a formal notice to the freeholder after the tenancy is granted, usually within a fixed window (21 or 28 days is typical) and often with a modest notice fee. This is separate from any consent fee you already paid.
Miss the window and you are in breach even if consent was granted. The notice usually needs a certified copy of the tenancy agreement attached. Check your lease for the exact wording - the clause is often called "notice of underletting" or "notice of dealings."
People get consent, sign the tenant, and assume they are done. They are not. The post-letting notice is a separate obligation with its own deadline. Missing it is a technical breach of covenant - enough for a freeholder to serve a s.146 notice if they want to.
Most leases require the sublease (your AST) to incorporate the head lease covenants. That means your tenant needs to be bound by the building rules: no noise after certain hours, no alterations without consent, communal area obligations, pet restrictions, and so on.
If you are using OpenRent or another platform, the standard AST template will not include these. You need to add an additional clause that refers to the head lease and attaches the relevant covenants as a schedule.
Standard AST templates do not cover leasehold buildings. You need to add a clause that binds your tenant to the lease covenants. If you skip this and your tenant breaches the building rules, you are personally liable to the freeholder for the breach. LEASE-iQ will draft the exact clause based on what your lease requires.
The Renters' Rights Act makes it much harder to refuse a tenant's request to keep a pet. But if your head lease says "no pets," your tenant's pet is your breach of covenant, not theirs. The tenant has a statutory right to ask; you have a lease obligation to say no. The two collide in your AST.
Your AST needs to reflect your lease position clearly, and you need to be ready to explain it to your tenant before they ask. See the full pets page →
If your lease requires freeholder consent before subletting, use this template to make a formal request. Copy, fill in your details, and send by email or registered post. For a version pre-filled with your exact lease clauses, use the LEASE-iQ prompt above.
Not sure where you stand? Talk to us.
We have been through this ourselves at Hafer Road. Happy to point you in the right direction.
Email us →If the tenant is already in and you skipped a step, you are not stuck. You are exposed. There is a difference. Fix it in this order.
The Renters' Rights Act 2025Renters' Rights Act 2025. Abolishes s.21 "no-fault" evictions for Assured Tenancies and tightens Section 8 grounds. All ASTs convert to periodic Assured Tenancies. abolished no-fault eviction. Your tenant has much stronger security than they did two years ago. And you are sitting in the jam in the sandwich: your freeholder can enforce the lease against you, but you cannot easily remove the tenant you installed.
If the freeholder serves a s.146 noticeSection 146, Law of Property Act 1925. The pre-forfeiture notice a freeholder must serve before forfeiting a lease for breach of covenant other than non-payment of rent., you have a clock ticking on the head lease while your tenant sits tight. This is fixable but only if you move quickly.
If you subletted without asking, write to the freeholder now. Acknowledge the position, provide the same details you would have in a pre-letting request, and ask for consent to be granted retrospectively. Most freeholders will grant it on the same terms as a normal consent request - especially if the tenant is quiet and paying.
Tone matters. Do not pretend you did not know. Do not be hostile. A clean "I should have asked first, here are the details, I'd like to put this right" works far better than defensiveness.
If you missed the notice window, serve the notice anyway. A late notice is better than no notice. It puts you on the front foot and shows the freeholder you are taking the obligation seriously now. Attach a certified copy of the tenancy agreement and pay any notice fee the lease specifies.
Do this at the same time as the retrospective consent letter if you missed both.
If the AST you signed does not bind your tenant to the head lease covenants, agree a side letter or variation that adds the missing schedule. Your tenant does not have to agree, but most will if it is presented as housekeeping rather than a new restriction.
If they refuse, that is a signal. Get advice before the next renewal.
Since the Renters' Rights Act, you cannot serve a s.21 no-fault notice. To recover possession you need a valid Section 8 groundSection 8, Housing Act 1988 (as amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025). The fault-based possession route that survived s.21 abolition. Grounds were tightened in the 2025 reforms.: rent arrears, anti-social behaviour, breach of tenancy, or (for some grounds) landlord-occupation or sale. Each ground has its own notice period and evidential threshold.
If the tenant pays and behaves, you may not be able to remove them for years. Plan accordingly. This is why getting the front end right matters so much.
Already got a s.146 notice or a solicitor's letter?
Do not reply until you have checked what the freeholder can actually enforce against your exact lease. The first question on LEASE-iQ is free.
Check my position →When you buy a flat with a tenant in place, you inherit the tenancy. If that tenancy was granted without proper consent, you inherit the breach too. Your lender may find out. Your freeholder almost certainly will.
Written consent. Dated. Addressed to the seller, not to you. If the seller cannot produce it, assume it was never obtained. That is a breach you will inherit at completion.
Ask for a copy of the notice of underletting and the receipt for any fee paid. Most solicitors do not check this as standard. You need to ask.
Does the tenancy agreement bind the tenant to the head lease covenants? If not, you are buying a tenant who is not required to follow building rules - and you will be liable for anything they breach.
If you want to move in yourself, check whether the Section 8 ground for landlord-occupation will be available to you, and how long the notice period is. If you want to keep the tenant, make sure your lender is comfortable lending on a buy-to-let basis. "Vacant possession by completion" is the safest clause if either is in doubt.
After exchange you are committed. Before exchange you can renegotiate, require vacant possession, or walk. The leverage is entirely on one side of that line.
This is not a niche problem. If you own a flat in England, the odds are overwhelming that your home is governed by a lease you have probably not read end-to-end - and that lease almost certainly has something to say about subletting.
The government has proposed a draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform BillAnnounced January 2026 for pre-legislative scrutiny. Would replace forfeiture with "lease enforcement claims." Not yet introduced to Parliament. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 did not address forfeiture. that would replace forfeiture with a new enforcement process, but this has not yet been legislated.
If you're a director of an RTM, SoF, or management company, unauthorised subletting affects the whole building. Insurance cover. Fire safety. Evacuation planning. Neighbour relationships. You cannot manage what you do not know about.
Are flats being rented out without consent? Short-term lets can be harder to spot. Directors may need to monitor and investigate carefully.
As freeholder or RTM company, you may have the right to require consent applications. Check what powers your lease grants before taking action.
Unauthorised subletting - especially short-term lets - may affect your buildings insurance. Check your policy terms and notify your insurer if needed.
You need to know who is actually living in each flat. Not who is on the lease. Unauthorised sublets mean your occupancy list is wrong and your duty to manage the building is compromised.
If a disabled resident moves in without your knowledge, they have no Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan. In a stay-put building that just lost compartmentation, an unknown vulnerable occupant becomes a life-safety risk.
Covenant enforcement can strain neighbour relationships. Document everything, follow proper process, and seek legal advice before escalating.
A PEEPPersonal Emergency Evacuation Plan. A bespoke plan for a resident who cannot self-evacuate in a fire (for example because of a mobility or sensory impairment). Building on the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 findings, the government has committed to a Residential PEEPs policy; the Home Office published guidance on Emergency Evacuation Information Sharing in 2023 pending full regulation. only works if the Responsible Person knows the resident is there. Unauthorised sublets can mean a wheelchair user, a deaf resident, or someone with a cognitive impairment is living in a flat the evacuation plan still assumes is occupied by the original leaseholder.
Post-Grenfell, that is not an admin gap. That is a life-safety risk sitting inside your building that nobody is tracking.
You cannot inspect flats. You can audit the public record. Search your building's postcode on SpareRoom, OpenRent, Rightmove Lettings, Zoopla Lettings, Airbnb and Booking.com. Cross-check every live listing against the flats you have consented to let. Any listing you do not recognise is a prompt to write to the leaseholder and ask.
Tip: on Airbnb, filter by your borough and look at the map pin; short-let listings rarely name the building but the pin will usually drop within 100m. Screenshot anything that looks like it is in your block and keep a dated record.
Under the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022. Came into force 23 January 2023. Imposes duties on the Responsible Person for multi-occupied residential buildings over 11 metres, including information to residents and, for high-rise buildings, information to fire and rescue services., the Responsible Person must give residents fire-safety information, maintain evacuation plans for residents who cannot self-evacuate, and (for buildings over 18 metres) share floor plans and external wall information with the fire service. All of that depends on knowing who lives where.
Under the Building Safety Act 2022Building Safety Act 2022. For Higher-Risk Buildings (18m+ or 7+ storeys with 2+ dwellings), the Accountable Person must prepare and maintain a safety case and a resident engagement strategy. Occupancy knowledge is foundational to both., higher-risk buildings need a safety case and a resident engagement strategy. You cannot engage residents you do not know exist.
BLOCK-iQ helps directors track lease covenants, maintain occupancy records, and manage building obligations in one place.
See how BLOCK-iQ works →Upload your lease (any age, any format). Ask a question in plain English. Get a clause-cited answer in seconds - not hours of reading.
See how it works →Three paths depending on whether you are asking, refused, or preparing to ask.
First question on the house.
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