Subletting or selling your home
Subletting a council managed property
As a council leaseholder, you can usually sublet your property. However, you must register the sublet with the council first. Failing to do so breaks your lease's terms.
When registering a sublet with the council, you must submit a copy of the tenancy agreement for each of the tenancies you have offered. You must also provide a valid gas safety certificate for the property you are subletting.
Subletting for more than 12 months
If the sublet is for 12 months or more, you must also complete a Deed of Covenant. It confirms that your tenancy agreement with your tenant has the same conditions as your lease.
As the leaseholder
As a leaseholder, you are always responsible for the lease's terms and your tenants' conduct while the property is sublet.
You must also give us your new contact details. We need them to reach you urgently, if necessary. We also need to send your invoices to the correct address.
Check the details on registering a sublet of your council-managed leasehold property. We need the information and documents to complete the process.
Registering your sublet and handling safety
If you are subletting your home, you must register your sublet. You must also follow the relevant rules for subletting leaseholders.
Ensure the property is safe and not overcrowded. All relevant safety certificates, like electrical and gas safety certificates, must be in place.
If there is an incident, like a fire or water escape, due to your failure to fix poor health and safety conditions or fire risks, you will be liable and may be prosecuted for any resulting losses or damages.
House in Multiple Occupation (HMO)
If you sublet your home and three or more unrelated people occupy it, your home is an HMO. They must not form a single household and must share amenities, like bathrooms. You would require a licence from the council to sublet your home in this way.
For more information and to find out what licence(s) you would need to obtain please contact Environmental Health and Trading Standards.
Tel: 020 7364 5008
Email: housinglicensing@towerhamlets.gov.uk
Before you sublet your property
If you have a mortgage, you need your bank's permission to sublet your property. It may be a condition of the mortgage that you live in it.
If you sublet your property, your building insurance might not cover accidental damage. Please inform us about the sublet. This allows us to confirm if your insurance claim is covered.
Letting your property on short-term holiday let platforms like Airbnb is not allowed. It does not count as legitimate subletting.
Your tenant must also be made aware of this.
What is a Deed of Covenant?
A Deed of Covenant (for subletting) is a legal document between you (the leaseholder) and your tenants when you sublet your property. It ensures your tenants agree to the same conditions and rules as in your lease with your landlord (LBTH).
As the leaseholder, you are responsible for your tenant(s)' behaviour. For tenancies of 12 months or more, you must complete a Deed of Covenant. This requirement also applies if an existing tenant has been in the property for over 12 months between agreements.
E-signatures aren't enough for the Deed of Covenant. It needs a physical signature and an independent witness. Managing Agents can witness the agreement but can't replace Tenant signatures. If you're giving up the property, a deed of covenant is mandatory.
Your managing agent or any company must be informed that by signing the deed of covenant, they agree to your lease terms. This includes the responsibility to register all future sublets with the council.
You can find the needed information for the Deed of Covenant in your Lease Agreement. Your solicitor has a copy, or you can download it from the UK Land Registry website.
We recommend you read the guidance notes with this letter. If they're missing or you have questions, please call us at 020 7364 5015.
Sublet registration documents and information
A £25 sublet registration fee (or as specified in your lease) is payable on registration for each tenancy at this address.
We are currently only accepting telephone call back payments using a Debit/Credit Card for this service.
Select the option on the update form. Then, provide a contact name and number when you submit it.
Rights and responsibilities of Leaseholders who sublet their property
Register a sublet for your council-managed leasehold property. If you own multiple properties, register each sublet separately.
Register a leasehold sublet
Failure to disclose all information and documents required to register a leasehold sublet.
If you don't disclose all relevant information, your application to register a leasehold sublet will be delayed. This includes submitting all correct, relevant documents.
If we have written to you to request more information to proceed with your sublet registration, please submit additional subletting information/documents
Please provide full details or copies of the relevant documents, as specified.
Tel: 020 7364 5015
Request a service online
Additional requirements set by the council
The council has introduced a number of additional requirements depending on where the leasehold property is located and how it is let to tenants.
To find out more on if your leasehold property is subject to these additional requirements visit private tenants landlords and homeowners.
Here is a summary of the additional requirements set by the council:
1. Landlord Licensing Scheme
The council has introduced a Landlord Licensing Scheme that came into force on 1 October 2018.
Currently the scheme operates within three of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets wards. These are:
- Spitalfields and Banglatown
- Weavers
- Whitechapel
The scheme applies to all private landlords renting properties to tenants within the selective licensing area and requires all landlords to obtain a licence from the council before a property can be rented out in these areas.
2. House in multiple occupation (HMO)
A HMO is a house or a flat which is occupied by three of more unrelated persons, who do not form a single household. A HMO will also share facilities like the bathroom and kitchen. It’s sometimes called a ‘house share’.
A HMO could be a:
- house split into separate bedsits
- shared house or flat, where the sharers are not members of the same family
- hostel
- bed-and-breakfast hotel that is not just for holidays
- shared accommodation for students – although many halls of residence and other types of student accommodation owned by educational establishments are not classed as HMOs.
i. Mandatory HMO licensing criteria
You must have a licence if you’re renting out a large HMO. Your property is defined as a large HMO if all of the following apply.
- all HMOs with five or more occupiers living in two or more households regardless of the number of storeys. Effectively this means the storey requirement will be removed from the current definition
- self-contained flats where there are up to two flats in the block and one or both of the flats are occupied by five or more persons in two or more separate households. This will apply regardless of whether the block is above or below commercial premises.
This will license certain flats above high-street shops. It will also license small blocks of flats not linked to commercial premises.
As now, the individual HMO must be licensed, not the building it is in.
This means that, where a building has two flats, each occupied by 5 persons from 2 or more households, each flat will require a separate HMO licence.
ii. Additional Licensing Scheme
In April 2019, the council introduced an 'Additional' licensing scheme for multi-occupied premises under the Housing Act 2004.
This scheme will cover the whole borough, except for the current selective licensing area: Spitalfields and Banglatown, Weavers, and Whitechapel (pre-2014 wards).
The Additional Licensing Scheme extends the HMO licensing above. It will cover all properties with 3 or more tenants from two or more different households, regardless of property type. This includes all flats and houses.
If any of the above licensing requirements apply to you, you must obtain a license. If you fail to obtain a relevant license, you may be subject to rent payment orders, loss of eviction powers and unlimited fines.
For any license related queries, leaseholders can contact the Health and Housing team on 020 7364 5008 or via email at housinglicensing@towerhamlets.gov.uk.
Gas safety obligations for landlords
If you sublet your home, you will be responsible for the landlord’s duties arising under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998.
This means you are legally responsible for making sure your gas appliances, pipework and flues are safe and well maintained.
You must arrange for an annual gas safety check by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
You must make sure your tenant is given a copy of the annual gas safety check (called a CP12). And you must provide a copy of the CP12 to new tenants before they move into the property.
Failure to meet gas safety requirements can lead to criminal prosecution, resulting in a fine or possibly even imprisonment.
For more information on gas safety obligations for landlords, see the HSE and Gas Safe Register website:
National Grid Emergency Line
Tel: 0800 111 999
Selling your home
Selling within five years of the Right to Buy purchase
If you bought your home as one of our tenants under the Right to Buy scheme, and you sell within five years, you must repay some or all of the discount we gave you.
This will be worked out as a percentage of the price for which you are selling your property.
There are some exceptions to repayment of the discount. For example where the property is compulsory purchased or transferred to you as part of a divorce settlement.
If you're looking to re-mortgage within the first five years of your right to buy purchase, you may also need to request a postponement of the charge we have registered with the land registry against your property to protect the discount.
If you're unsure if this applies to you or would like confirmation of this please email us on leaseholder.services@towerhamlets.gov.uk and we'll confirm this to you.
Getting a management pack
As a leaseholder, you can sell your property at any time. You will need to make all the arrangements yourself with estate agents and solicitors. (We do not allow estate agent boards to be fixed to our blocks, property or estates.)
Your solicitor must notify us when you have accepted an offer on your property. They should ask us for information relating to your accounts and property to assist with completing the sale.
We call this a "management pack." We will only provide it to your solicitor, not the buyer or their solicitor.
We charge £150 for this service. It requires us to compile information about accounts, outstanding charges, a schedule of planned maintenance and major works, and insurance policy details.
If there is an estimated charge for services or for major works in progress, you must agree with the buyer on how to pay any future bills. This is for those you are awaiting a final account for.
The buyer's solicitor may want you to settle these in full. They may also want to agree on an amount to withhold from the purchase price for these future bills.
This amount is known as a “retention” and is held by your solicitor until the final account is known.
Request a Management Pack
Notifying us about change in ownership
When you sell your home and the sale is complete, the new leaseholder or their solicitor must notify us. We need to register the assignment of the lease and record the mortgage provider's details.
There will be a small charge for registering a Notice of Transfer.
Issue a notice of assignment or charge
Contact
Tel: 020 7364 5015
Request a service online