In line with legislation, as a Scottish secure tenant, you have the right to sublet all or part of your home. Subletting is where you can temporarily let your home to others, who will then become the subtenant of the property. As the tenant you will still be responsible for paying rent and for making sure that the conditions of your tenancy are met.
Yes. If you want to sublet all or part of your home, you must get our written permission before you can go ahead. We must tell you our decision in writing within one month of receiving your application. If you contact us we will send you an application form to fill in.
The application form we send you is easy to fill in. The questions that we ask include:
We will review the information that you have given us in order to make a decision. If necessary, we will arrange an interview with you and the proposed subtenant. We will give you our decision within one month of receiving your application.
When will permission be refused?
We will not refuse your request unreasonably. We may refuse permission in any of the following circumstances:
We might refuse permission if we have issued a notice of proceeding to you. For example, if you have rent arrears. A notice of proceedings is like a final warning, which allows us to apply to the court (within six months) for permission to start legal action against you.
Where the proposed sublet would lead to overcrowding we will refuse permission.
If we consider that the request would prove to be a problem, such as a history of well-documented antisocial behaviour, we may refuse permission. For example if you or your proposed subtenant has been convicted of antisocial behaviour in the last 12 months or has a current ASBO.
If we find that the rent which you charge not to be reasonable, we may refuse permission.
You must not charge more than 2 months rent as a deposit, or we will refuse our permission.
Where you are leaving the property for an indefinite period and are not able to tell us when you will return. This may mean that you are not meeting the obligations of your tenancy agreement, that is, you are not using the house as your main home. In such circumstances we may refuse permission.
If we give you permission, what will the conditions of sublet be?
If we give you permission to sublet all of your home, the sublet will be for an initial period of 6 months. We may allow a further sublet for a further 6 months. We will only give permission to sublet all of your home for a maximum of 12 months. If you are only subletting part of your home, we may give you permission to sublet for longer
You will remain responsible for paying rent to us and for the payment of any arrears.
You will remain responsible for making sure that the conditions of your tenancy are met. This will mean that you will be responsible for making sure that your subtenant does not breach the conditions of your tenancy, for example, by behaving antisocially.
You must ask for our permission to increase the amount of rent you that you charge your subtenant.
You must tell us of any change in circumstances relating to the sublet.
If you no longer want to have a subtenant you must ask them to leave. If you want to sublet your home for more than 6 months, we will review your application following a 5 month period and will tell you in writing of our decision.
Will your right to buy discount entitlement change?
No. You are still the tenant for the period of the sublet. The period that you sublet all or part of your home still counts towards your right to buy entitlement.
If you want more information, please contact your local area housing office.