A private tenant who sub-let a spare room via Airbnb has been told to quit.
The eviction of Leo Cassini by the landlord, who used the Section 21 procedure, highlights the issue of the forthcoming ban on tenancy agreements which contain “no sub-letting” clauses.
Cassini’s own agreement, with landlord Rugby School, had just such a clause.
However, in the Budget the Government said it would legislate to make them illegal.
Cassini, who has lived in the two-bedroom central London flat for 13 years and is due to quit in a couple of weeks, said he needed the money because a filming project had fallen through.
In a statement, Rugby School said: “[We] have been aware since October 2013 that Mr Cassini has been repeatedly sub-letting the property in breach of the terms of the tenancy agreement.
“He was reminded on several occasions, both verbally and in writing, of the terms of his tenancy agreement, and was requested to desist from sub-letting; however, despite giving a commitment on more than one occasion that he would stop, Mr Cassini has continued to sub-let the property.
“The Governing Body of Rugby School, which owns the property, has been patient with Mr Cassini but was left with no alternative but to follow legal procedures to terminate the lease due to Mr Cassini’s frequent breaches of the agreement.”
Alex Hilton, of Generation Rent, said: “If renters hit a difficult patch, they are damned if they sub-let and damned if they don’t.
“It is excellent news that the Government wants to protect renters who sub-let their space space, but as long as Section 21 exists the rights of the landlord will always over-ride those of their tenants.”
The Guardian had the full story here
I am not sure I quite follow Alex’s thinking. The ability to sub let indicates a demand from others to rent property. Is Alex really advocating some weird sort of first dibs squatter rights on rented property where the first tenant can claim a right to tenure in perpetuity because they were there first? That somehow a landlord has to accept their investment can be used by a tenant, with no financial investment in the property as a means of the tenant earning income and profit even if it is only to meet obligations they(the tenant) had previously agreed to.
Surely Mt Hilton ought to be advocating that tenants facing a change in circumstances do the right thing and move on so those who are effectively tenancy blocked by those who were there first can enjoy a straight forward and equitable tenancy.
I have to wonder how HMRC are going to view and track the income generated by sub tenants.
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I do find it amusing that Generation Rent seem to be implying that they approve of tenants making money out of other tenants; I’ve yet to find a tenant who sublets their property who doesn’t charge significantly more than the rent he actually has to pay. We evicted one from a property in Mitcham who was charging 3 subtenants 300% more than she was supposed to pay the landlord as well as making a huge markup on utilities.
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“the rights of the landlord will always over-ride those of their tenants.”
Seriously? What about the Landlords who have been left in financial difficulty over Tenants who don’t pay their rent but also refuse to leave, meaning that the Landlord has to go through the expense and stress of taking them to court? What about the rights of those Landlords?
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I just cannot understand how the government feel it is acceptable for landlords to potentially be in a situation where they don’t know who is occupying their property. If a tenant wants someone else to move in, for whatever reason financial or otherwise, then there are ways and means that this can be done i.e reference the new occupant and add them onto the agreement as a tenant or a permitted occupant.
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Having seen Alex Hilton on stage at the recent Arla Conference, and now reading his comments in this article, I am convinced that he “just doesn’t get it”. Furthermore, I don’t think he wants to either.
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