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Subletting Parts of Your Rented Property

Reducing Your Cost of Living

There are two main types of subletting:

1. Subletting the whole of your property whilst you are away
2. Subletting part of your property whilst you are still living there

If you are looking for somewhere to live, want to rent, but also need to keep costs down, then subletting may help you. Subletting is an arrangement where you let parts of your property, whilst living there.

There are different forms of subletting, depending on the layout of the property. If it is split into self contained apartments or flats, then each tenant leads a separate life to yours. If you have one integrated property, and sublet individual bedrooms, then your life may be integrated to the extent that each subtenant is, in effect, a lodger.

Another option for cheap living, similar to subletting but perhaps with less financial responsibility, is to find the owner of a large property with a number of tenants who wants a part-time, live-in caretaker to manage those tenants. In those circumstances, your residence may be provided free or at a significantly reduce cost, in exchange for some of your time being spent in managing the tenants, on behalf of the landlord.

Main Advantages

Subletting can be useful when you have a large property that you are renting, but are not utilising all the space. It provides a way of you reducing the cost of renting.

Case study

Shirley has just left university and doesn't have enough cash to buy her own house. However, she has plenty of financial acumen, and saw a property for rent that could be split into several bedsits. Knowing that there is a high demand in the area for bedsits, she rented the house, and quickly filled all the rooms.

The income from the bedits covers the rental of the property, so she is able to save much of her salary each month. When she has saved enough, she will buy her own property. She'll probably continue to rent the bedsits out, but also the room that she was occupying. However, she realises her own house will need to be near enough so that she can continue to manage the subtenants.

Main Disadvantages

You have to pay rent to the landlord, no matter what your subtenants do. If they don't pay you, or you can't find a tenant, you still have to pay the main rent.

Subletting can involve a lot of management on your part, because on the one hand you have liabilities to the landlord that you must meet. On the other hand, you have subtenants you have to manage, from whom you have to collect money, limit their behaviours, resolve problems, etc..

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