Research by landlord insurance provider Direct Line for Business reveals that one in six tenants in the UK admits to having rented out part or all of their property to someone not on the lease agreement.

A quarter of tenants who sub-let their property did not check the terms of their agreement to see if it was permitted, while over a third had not informed their landlord of the decision.

Of those who did not inform their landlord, a fifth got found out anyway.

In 11% of cases the tenants named on the lease were evicted with 6% losing their deposit in the process. Other repercussions include increased rent.

In spite of this, research for insurer Direct Line for Business reveals that will be a likely rise increase in the number of tenants sub-letting their properties, with some using sites such as Airbnb.

Over the last two years, Landlord Action have seen an 18% increase in the number of instructions from from landlords with sub-letting cases.

Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action, said: “Sub-letting is fast becoming one of the leading grounds for eviction.

“This has been fuelled by sky-high rents preventing some tenants from being able to afford even single-unit accommodation, forcing many to resort to bedsits or shared accommodation.

“Organised sub-letting scams are also becoming more prevalent, where tenants, or sometimes even fake tenants, advertise properties and rooms on holiday/accommodation websites in order to cream a profit without the landlord’s consent.”

Sub-letting is most common in the north-west, west midlands and London, where around a quarter of private tenants say that have sub-let their properties.

Direct Line warns that sub-letting is not covered under most insurance policies.