Clause in lease stop AirBnB??

cublet

Hi all,

My solicitor has pointed out that a clause in the lease of the property I am in the process of being states I can't rent out a room in my property. They say it is a very common clause.

I was all ready to buy it but, as it's a two bedroom, my plan was let the second room out via Airbnb (or similar) and stay under the tax threshold.

If it's a common clause I suppose it just comes down to the weather the freeholder/management company find out and try and stop me.

What does everyone thing? I was ready to go. But now I'm unsure.

Steve

G_M

I'm surprised. Are you sure your solicitor understands you want a lodger, not a tenant?

It is commn for leases to prohibit letting/subleting but I've never heard of a prohibition on a licence for a room.

antrobus

cublet wrote: »

Hi all,

My solicitor has pointed out that a clause in the lease of the property I am in the process of being states I can't rent out a room in my property. They say it is a very common clause.....

It's quite common for leases to contain various restrictions such as only permitting occupation by a single family and specific prohibitions on sub-letting part of the property.

cublet wrote: »

...I was all ready to buy it but, as it's a two bedroom, my plan was let the second room out via Airbnb (or similar) and stay under the tax threshold.

If it's a common clause I suppose it just comes down to the weather the freeholder/management company find out and try and stop me.

What does everyone thing? I was ready to go. But now I'm unsure.

Steve

Don't know. My understanding of Airbnb is that it allows people to rent out their spare rooms on a day by day basis as if they were running a hotel. If the property concerned is a flat, some of your fellow leaseholders might object to this constant stream of strangers in their building and rat you out to the freeholder/management company. They might threaten you with forfeiture unless you cease and desist. Simply having a lodger would be less of an issue I imagine.

PlutoinCapricorn

I suggested this to a friend of mine as a way of getting a bit of extra money. He definitely does not want a permanent lodger, so AirBnb would have been ideal. Unfortunately, his lease does not permit this sort of thing and as previously said his neighbours think that strangers would be a security risk.

cublet

I think I might have to contact the head of the leaseholder committee and see what their view is. Of course, this might make it worse.

But I can't afford the mortgage alone but the flat (in a city centre) is too small for two people full time.

All thoughts on contacting the leaseholder committee welcome! Not sure it is the right thing to do.

S

mrginge

cublet wrote: »

But I can't afford the mortgage alone but the flat (in a city centre) is too small for two people full time.

All thoughts on contacting the leaseholder committee welcome! Not sure it is the right thing to do.

Why are you buying this flat if you cant afford it?

PlutoinCapricorn

My friend did ask the chairman of his management committee, who said that the other residents would not want a string of strangers with their own keys to have access to the area, which is all flats. Someone suggested to my friend that he go ahead anyway in the hope that no one would notice, but he could not live in fear of discovery.

It is similar to the rule about running certain types of business from home: neighbours do not want the customers coming in and out all the time.

Doozergirl

cublet wrote: »

I think I might have to contact the head of the leaseholder committee and see what their view is. Of course, this might make it worse.

But I can't afford the mortgage alone but the flat (in a city centre) is too small for two people full time.

All thoughts on contacting the leaseholder committee welcome! Not sure it is the right thing to do.

S

You're hopeful if you genuinely expect the management committee to truly understand leasehold law.

Their understanding will stretch as far as what suits them. Ask them, they will simply tell you what suits them. Your solicitor is the one that should know and you should ask clearly if that affects lodgers.

As far as tenancy law goes, you only create a true tenancy where you have different facilities (ie kitchens and bathroom facilities) from your tenant. If you are sharing facilities, they are a lodger. A lodger is not a tenant and does not have anywhere near the same rights.

PlutoinCapricorn

Having a more or less permanent vetted lodger who will become familiar to the neighbours is one thing; having hundreds who book online and who stay just one night or two is something else.

princeofpounds

Big fuss about this in the London papers the last couple of days. People in flats getting very frustrated with AirBnB people trooping in and out like a hotel.

In fact there are apparently some buildings which are effectively de factor operating as hotels without being hotels to dodge legislation and planning (paper cited a block with ~40 AirBnB listings and signs on the doors saying 'check-out at 12')

superdudeo

antrobus wrote: »

It's quite common for leases to contain various restrictions such as only permitting occupation by a single family and specific prohibitions on sub-letting part of the property.



Don't know. My understanding of Airbnb is that it allows people to rent out their spare rooms on a day by day basis as if they were running a hotel. If the property concerned is a flat, some of your fellow leaseholders might object to this constant stream of strangers in their building and rat you out to the freeholder/management company. They might threaten you with forfeiture unless you cease and desist. Simply having a lodger would be less of an issue I imagine.

Having a lodger or AirBnb visitor wouldn't be subletting part of the property. The visitor would have access to the whole of the property like the host. If you have the one family clause as the flat above me does then it could be a stumbling block. I think the solicitor is a bit amateur tbh.