Tenant wants to sub-let for a few months

[prcoop]

I have an international student renting a studio, she is being placed on a student exchange for 4 months swapping with another student from Italy whom she knows from previous research together. Personally I don't have a particular issue with it, she's very mature and wouldn't want just anyone staying in her apartment. My letting agency have told me it's not possible but I sometimes wonder whether they can't be bothered with the hassle. I certainly don't want to fall foul of any laws but I'm rather sympathetic to her paying rent for 4 months for an empty studio. I'm a nice LL but not quite nice enough to let her off the rent.

My agency have told me it's about serving Sctn 21.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

Pete

[jpkeates]

If your tenant sublets and moves out, the tenancy, strictly speaking, should stop being an AST.
That impacts all sorts of things, including your ability to serve s21 notice, which applies to ASTs only.

I'm not sure how that plays out in real life, as tenancies that morph from an AST to a different type of tenancy and then back doesn't seem practical.

In this case, if you trust the tenant and are confident that they're going to return and the temporary visitor is going to then leave, it might be best if you just ignored it and let them sort it out.
That's not what a solicitor or your agent would advise though.

[thesaint]

It certainly is possible.
Even if the tenancy prevents sub-letting, that is up to you whether you want to stick to that.

Personally, I would just let her.

[Darth Wookie]

Surely if she paid four months rent up front over the summer holidays, you would be none the wiser and wouldn't need to worry until the end of that period. If, after that period, the rent stopped and you 'discovered' someone else living there, the repossession process would be quick and easy.