Tenant subletting without consent

ncooper1974

Thought i'd come back and give you guys a quick update...

I decided to put the family unit on to a 6 month fixed term contract, with the view that as long as they payed their rent on time, and I don't get any further complaints about noise (I haven't had any further complaints for over 3 months now), then I would keep them on and let the tenancy turn periodic.

So far, I have taken a months rent in advance, and 2 months security deposit - this has been registered with the DPS. They have already paid me the 2nd months rent on time, and I have been back to the flat recently and everything seems clean and tidy.

Ideally, I should have followed the advice of others on here to evict them (via the courts) and get in new, vetted, tenants. However, after spending time with them in the initial build up, the police call out, and subsequent visit, I took a punt to keep them on and, luckily, it has worked out. They seem like an honest family who were taken in buy my ex-tenant, and just want a place to live without any hassle (they tell me all they seemed to get my from ex-tenant was hassle).

With regard to the ex-tenant, I have finally given him back his deposit, less cost of replacement to minor items such as keys, permits and electric gate keys. I should have deducted more from him for the time I had to spend dealing with it, but I thought it a better use of my time to draw a line under it and move forward. I have no idea if he has given my current tenants back their deposit, but I have given them information with regard to this and it is up to them how they wish to deal with it.