Can you let out, sublet or Airbnb a leasehold flat?

In England and Wales, a leasehold flat can usually be let only if the lease permits it or the required consent is obtained; the lease wording matters more than the word subletting itself. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different long-lease systems, so this article flags those differences where they change the answer.

Can you let out or sublet a leasehold flat?

You can let out or sublet a leasehold flat in England and Wales only if the lease allows it, or if the lease requires consent and you get that consent before letting. Government guidance puts the practical starting point simply: “Some leases require you to get the freeholder’s consent before sub-letting.” If the clause says no underletting without consent, section 19 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 normally implies that consent is not to be unreasonably withheld, but an absolute ban is different: LEASE says, “If your lease bans subletting, the landlord does not have to consider your request and does not have to respond.” In Scotland, qualifying ultra-long leases mostly became ownership on 28 November 2015, so the English leasehold-flat problem rarely arises in the same way; in Northern Ireland, Housing Executive flat owners are told, “You are entitled to sublet your Flat but your tenants must not breach any of the covenants set out in the Flat Lease.”

What counts as subletting?

Subletting means the leaseholder or tenant grants someone else a right to occupy for less than the leaseholder’s own remaining term, rather than transferring the whole lease. HMRC’s property manual gives the cleanest legal distinction: “Where a transfer purports to be an assignment, but is for a period of less than the remainder of the term, even if only one day less, it is not an assignment but a sub-lease.” A subletting clause in a lease may ban underletting of the whole flat, underletting of part, parting with possession, taking paying occupiers, short lets, or use other wording, so the label matters less than the rights actually granted. A lodger arrangement, a room licence and an assured tenancy can produce different results, but if the occupier has exclusive possession of the whole flat or a defined part, the arrangement is much more likely to be treated as subletting.

What counts as illegal or unauthorised subletting?

Unauthorised subletting of a private long lease in England and Wales is normally a lease breach, not a crime; the criminal offence and the widely repeated £7,000 figure belong to social-housing secure tenancy fraud, and even there the statute says level 5, not £7,000. LEASE states the private leaseholder position in practical terms: “If permission is needed and you sublet without it, you could be in breach of your lease.” The criminal offence in the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 is different: “A person convicted of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.” Unauthorised subletting therefore means letting when the lease bans it, letting before required consent is obtained, exceeding a consent’s conditions, or using the flat in a way that breaches a user covenant, such as very short holiday lets where the lease requires private residential use.

Does using a letting agent count as subletting?

Using a letting agent does not itself count as subletting, because the agent is normally marketing, arranging or managing the tenancy for the leaseholder rather than taking possession of the flat. In England and Wales, the statutory definition of letting agency work describes “things done by a person in the course of a business in response to instructions” from a prospective landlord or tenant, which is agency work rather than a grant of occupation to the agent. The tenancy point is also basic property law: Street v Mountford says, “There can be no tenancy unless the occupier enjoys exclusive possession; but an occupier who enjoys exclusive possession is not necessarily a tenant.” A fully managed letting agent may collect rent, arrange repairs and deal with tenants, but unless the agent itself is granted the right to occupy or underlet, the subletting is the tenancy granted to the occupier, not the appointment of the agent.

What if your lease says nothing about subletting?

If a long lease in England and Wales says nothing about subletting, the common-law starting point is that the leaseholder can sublet without consent, but older or badly copied leases should be checked carefully before relying on silence. The Law Commission’s summary of the common law is direct: “At common law the tenant is able to assign or sublet without consent if there is no express covenant which prohibits the tenant from doing it.” That rule is for leases generally and is not the same as the rule for a periodic assured tenancy, where Housing Act 1988 section 15 implies a no-subletting term unless the landlord consents. Silence is also uncommon in modern flat leases; the Law Commission noted, “In practice, it is rare for a professionally drafted lease or tenancy agreement not to include an express covenant dealing with the question of assignment and sub-letting.” For a leasehold flat, the real risk is missing a user, alienation or parting-with-possession clause that does the same job under different wording.

Do you need the freeholder's written consent before you let a leasehold flat?

You need the freeholder’s written consent before letting a leasehold flat in England and Wales only if the lease requires it, but if it does require written permission you should get it before advertising as well as before the tenant moves in. LEASE says, “If your lease says you need written permission (often called a ‘license’ or ‘consent’) to sublet, you must get it before advertising or subletting the property.” There is no separate national rule that every leaseholder must obtain freeholder consent: section 19 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 applies to a lease that already contains a covenant against underletting without licence or consent. If the covenant is qualified, the freeholder must deal with a written application within a reasonable time; the Landlord and Tenant Act 1988 says that, once a written application is served, the person whose consent is needed “owes a duty to the tenant within a reasonable time”. Abodient can store the lease and consent documents against the property, which matters because the consent condition, not the marketing date alone, decides whether the letting is authorised.

Can the freeholder forfeit your lease for subletting without consent?

A freeholder in England and Wales can pursue forfeiture for subletting without consent only if the lease contains a forfeiture right and the statutory preconditions are met; it is not automatic. The key protection for long residential leases is section 168 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002: “A landlord under a long lease of a dwelling may not serve a notice under section 146(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (c. 20) (restriction on forfeiture) in respect of a breach by a tenant of a covenant or condition in the lease unless subsection (2) is satisfied.” The Law of Property Act 1925 then requires the section 146 notice before the right is enforceable. In practice, forfeiture is usually a pressure tool for serious or repeated breaches, not the first step after a single mistaken underlet, but the risk is real because a sublet can be a continuing breach until cured, consented or compromised.

Can you rent out just a room in a leasehold flat?

You can rent out just a room in a leasehold flat only if the lease allows room letting, lodgers or underletting of part, and any required freeholder consent has been obtained. LEASE gives the basic leasehold answer: “Before subletting your leasehold property, check if your lease allows it and whether you need your landlord’s written permission.” If you still live in the flat and take in one lodger, that may be treated differently from granting a tenancy of a room, but many leases ban parting with possession of any part, taking paying guests, business use, or occupation by multiple households. Tax relief does not override the lease: rent-a-room can exempt up to £7,500 a year, and the statute says, “The basic amount for a tax year is £7500,” but HMRC’s helpsheet limits the scheme to furnished accommodation in your only or main home. An owner plus one lodger will not usually be an HMO, but three or more unrelated occupiers sharing facilities can be.

Can you Airbnb a leasehold flat?

You can Airbnb a leasehold flat only if the lease, planning rules, mortgage conditions, insurance and any local short-let rules allow it; in England and Wales, very short lets can breach a private-residence covenant even where ordinary residential subletting might be allowed. In Nemcova, the Upper Tribunal said that “in granting very short term lettings (days and weeks rather than months) as the appellant has done necessarily breaches the covenant under consideration.” The same decision warned that lease wording is not universal: “Each case is fact-specific, depending upon the construction of the particular covenant in its own factual context.” In Greater London, short-term letting has a separate planning limit: the statutory exception applies only if the required conditions are met, and the London guidance states that “Londoners are restricted to renting their property short term for a maximum of 90 nights in a calendar year.” Scotland has mandatory short-term let licensing; no equivalent 90-night national cap applies across England outside London.

Is it illegal to put a rented house on Airbnb?

Putting a rented house on Airbnb is not automatically a crime in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, but it can breach the tenant’s tenancy or occupation contract, trigger possession action, and in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales or London create separate licensing, certification, registration or planning offences. In England, Housing Act 1988 section 15 implies a no-subletting term into periodic assured tenancies unless the landlord consents, and the statutory wording includes “sub-let or part with possession of the whole or any part of the dwelling-house let on the tenancy”; that Housing Act 1988 point applies in Wales only to any remaining legacy HA 1988 tenancies, because Welsh renting now generally runs through Renting Homes occupation contracts. For England and any such legacy Wales case, breach of a non-rent tenancy obligation is a discretionary possession ground: Schedule 2 says possession may be sought where “Any obligation of the tenancy (other than one related to the payment of rent) has been broken or not performed.” Scotland’s private residential tenancy terms require written agreement before subletting, and short-term lets need licensing. Northern Ireland makes uncertified tourist accommodation an offence, and Wales requires visitor-accommodation registration from October 2026.

Can you run an HMO in a leasehold flat that must be let to one household?

You should not run an HMO in a leasehold flat whose lease requires occupation by one household, because planning permission or an HMO licence does not rewrite the lease covenant. In England, small HMO use may fall within planning Class C4, described in the Use Classes Order as “Use of a dwellinghouse by not more than six residents as a ‘house in multiple occupation’,” and some C3-to-C4 changes are permitted development unless restricted locally. Separately, an HMO licence can be granted if the Housing Act 2004 licensing criteria are met, but those criteria are not permission from the freeholder. In a 2024 tribunal case, the FTT accepted that “a potential breach of the Mr Gohil’s lease for 28 Rutland Court by using it as an HMO is a private law matter between the freeholder company and Mr Gohil.” A one-household covenant is exactly the sort of lease term an HMO model can breach even while the council licence remains valid.

Should you buy a leasehold HMO where the seller never got the freeholder's permission?

You should treat a leasehold HMO where the seller never got the freeholder’s permission as a defect to price, insure or walk away from, not as a paperwork gap that automatically disappears on completion. In England and Wales, the legal risk is usually covenant enforcement and forfeiture, not a statutory ban on buying the flat. Section 168 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 says a long-lease landlord may not serve a section 146 forfeiture notice for breach unless the statutory condition is satisfied, and section 146 of the Law of Property Act 1925 says a forfeiture right for breach “shall not be enforceable, by action or otherwise, unless and until the lessor serves on the lessee a notice”. Indemnity insurance may help commercially, but it does not cure the breach: one indemnity provider says bluntly, “It does not put the underlying problem right.” Contacting the freeholder before insurance is arranged can also destroy the market for cover.

Is it safe to let your lead tenant move sharers in and out on her own agreements?

It is not safe to let a lead tenant move sharers in and out on her own agreements as a long-term management model, because it can create unauthorised sublets, HMO exposure and a chain of occupiers whose rights the head landlord does not control. In England, a periodic assured tenancy has an implied term that the tenant must not sublet without consent; the Housing Act 1988 states that, except with the landlord’s consent, the tenant must not “sub-let or part with possession of the whole or any part of the dwelling-house let on the tenancy.” For that implied term, the 1927 Act’s reasonable-consent protection is disapplied. In Scotland, the model PRT terms say “The tenant may not, without the written agreement of the landlord—” and then prohibit subletting any part. Wales applies its own occupation-contract consent rules, while Northern Ireland has no equivalent general implied no-sublet term for ordinary private tenancies. In England, the superior landlord can also be pulled into HMO licensing liability where the house-share meets the HMO test.

What should a sublet agreement contain?

A sublet agreement should contain the parties, property, rooms or whole-flat rights, term, rent, deposit, permitted occupiers, consent conditions, repairing duties, bills, HMO rules, access, assignment and subletting restrictions, short-let bans, ending provisions and any head-lease conditions the subtenant must obey. In England, there is no special statutory sublet agreement PDF, but where the sublet is an assured tenancy the landlord must give the prescribed written statement before the tenancy is entered into; section 16D says, “Subject to subsections (5) to (7), the statement under subsection (2) must be given before the tenancy is entered into.” The prescribed information includes “The rent payable under the tenancy and when it is due.” Wales requires the occupation-contract written statement within 14 days of occupation, Scotland requires written PRT terms by the statutory deadline, and Northern Ireland requires prescribed tenancy information within 28 days; a template that ignores the nation, the head lease and the freeholder’s consent conditions is not safe.

Last reviewed September 2026.

Sources

• GOV.UK, How to let — “Some leases require you to get the freeholder’s consent before sub-letting.” Source
• Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 s.19 — “to a proviso to the effect that such licence or consent is not to be unreasonably withheld, but this proviso does not preclude the right of the landlord to require payment of a reasonable sum in respect of any legal or other expenses incurred in connection with such licence or consent; and” Source
• LEASE, Subletting — “If your lease bans subletting, the landlord does not have to consider your request and does not have to respond.” Source
• Registers of Scotland, Long Leases (Scotland) Act 2012 — “This guidance covers the Long Leases (Scotland) Act 2012, the provisions of which converted certain ultra-long leases into ownership on 28 November 2015 (the appointed day).” Source
• Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Leaseholders handbook — “You are entitled to sublet your Flat but your tenants must not breach any of the covenants set out in the Flat Lease.” Source
• HMRC Property Income Manual PIM1204 — “Where a transfer purports to be an assignment, but is for a period of less than the remainder of the term, even if only one day less, it is not an assignment but a sub-lease.” Source
• Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 s.1 — “A person convicted of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.” Source
• Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 s.168 — “A landlord under a long lease of a dwelling may not serve a notice under section 146(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925 (c. 20) (restriction on forfeiture) in respect of a breach by a tenant of a covenant or condition in the lease unless subsection (2) is satisfied.” Source
• Housing and Planning Act 2016 s.86 — “In this Chapter “letting agency work” means things done by a person in the course of a business in response to instructions received from—” Source
• Street v Mountford [1985] UKHL 4 — “There can be no tenancy unless the occupier enjoys exclusive possession; but an occupier who enjoys exclusive possession is not necessarily a tenant.” Source
• Law Commission, Renting Homes 1: Status and Security — “At common law the tenant is able to assign or sublet without consent if there is no express covenant which prohibits the tenant from doing it.” Source
• Law Commission, Renting Homes 1: Status and Security — “In practice, it is rare for a professionally drafted lease or tenancy agreement not to include an express covenant dealing with the question of assignment and sub-letting.” Source
• LEASE, Subletting — “If your lease says you need written permission (often called a “license” or “consent”) to sublet, you must get it before advertising or subletting the property.” Source
• Landlord and Tenant Act 1988 s.1 — “Where there is served on the person who may consent to a proposed transaction a written application by the tenant for consent to the transaction, he owes a duty to the tenant within a reasonable time—” Source
• Law of Property Act 1925 s.146 — “A right of re-entry or forfeiture under any proviso or stipulation in a lease for a breach of any covenant or condition in the lease shall not be enforceable, by action or otherwise, unless and until the lessor serves on the lessee a notice—” Source
• LEASE, Subletting — “Before subletting your leasehold property, check if your lease allows it and whether you need your landlord’s written permission.” Source
• Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005 s.789 — “The basic amount for a tax year is £7500.” Source
• GOV.UK, HS223 Rent a Room Scheme 2026 — “The Rent-a-Room Scheme allows owner occupiers and tenants to receive tax-free rental income if you provide furnished accommodation in your only or main home.” Source
• Nemcova v Fairfield Rents Ltd [2016] UKUT 303 (LC) — “Having considered the context of the grant of the lease, and the nature of the intended relationship between lessor and lessee taking account of the obligations entered into, I am of the view that in granting very short term lettings (days and weeks rather than months) as the appellant has done necessarily breaches the covenant under consideration.” Source
• Nemcova v Fairfield Rents Ltd [2016] UKUT 303 (LC) — “Each case is fact-specific, depending upon the construction of the particular covenant in its own factual context.” Source
• Greater London Authority, Short-term and holiday lets in London — “Unless planning permission is obtained, Londoners are restricted to renting their property short term for a maximum of 90 nights in a calendar year.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.15 — “(b)sub-let or part with possession of the whole or any part of the dwelling-house let on the tenancy.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 Schedule 2 — “Any obligation of the tenancy (other than one related to the payment of rent) has been broken or not performed.” Source
• Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (England) Order 2010 art.2 — “Use of a dwellinghouse by not more than six residents as a “house in multiple occupation”.” Source
• Housing Act 2004 s.64 — “If the authority are satisfied as to the matters mentioned in subsection (3), they may grant a licence either—” Source
• Gohil v Lambeth LBC, FTT decision 6 June 2024 — “The Tribunal agrees with the Respondent that a potential breach of the Mr Gohil’s lease for 28 Rutland Court by using it as an HMO is a private law matter between the freeholder company and Mr Gohil.” Source
• Sell Flat UK, What is an indemnity policy? — “It does not put the underlying problem right.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.15 — “Section 19 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 (consents to assign not to be unreasonably withheld etc.) shall not apply to a term which is implied into an assured tenancy by subsection (1) above.” Source
• Private Residential Tenancies (Statutory Terms) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 Schedule — “The tenant may not, without the written agreement of the landlord—” Source
• Private Residential Tenancies (Statutory Terms) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 Schedule — “(a)sublet the let property (or any part of it);” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.16D — “Subject to subsections (5) to (7), the statement under subsection (2) must be given before the tenancy is entered into.” Source
• Assured Tenancies and Agricultural Occupancies (Forms) (England) Regulations 2026 Schedule — “The rent payable under the tenancy and when it is due.” Source
• Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 s.31 — “The landlord under an occupation contract must give the contract-holder a written statement of the contract before the end of the period of 14 days starting with the occupation date.” Source
• Northern Ireland Tenancy Information Regulations 2023 Schedule 1 — “However, other terms and conditions of your tenancy are a matter for you and your landlord.” Source