People living in property with no agreement, no rent. What are my rights

hasitbeen

Hello everyone,
Before anyone says it, I know I am an idiot.
I rented a house from a landlord I have a written agreement.
I sub-leased the house , the landlord knew but nothing formal with the landlord or new occupants.
After a couple of issues the 2 or the 3 people I sub-leased the property to left the property.
1 guy who was OK and paying etc stayed. I gave him a new set of keys. Now unfortunately I don't know how but the previous occupant who had left got hold of the keys, (I believe it was by force but can't prove it) and he is back in the property and refuses to get out.
I have 3 months left of the tenancy agreement.
Can I do anything? Can the landlord do anything? to get this guy out?
Can I somehow find a way to get my deposit back at least?
Thank you in advance.
Again, I appreciate I am an idiot

HampshireH

Can I ask a genuine question as I have seen this few times on the forum.

What benefit is there to rent a house privately and then sublet it out?

hasitbeen

For me, I had to move out of the area and couldn't get out of my tenancy. I know others do it for the money, but I gained nothing financially

HampshireH

Thankyou. Sadly the costs associated with the removal of these people and the damage they may cause could be very costly for you.

G_M

Relatively simple to answer.

Complicated to deal with!

You are a tenant with obligations (eg rent payments, damage etc) to your landlord.

You are also a landlord (in that you are sub-letting). There is NO relationship between your tenants (the sub-tenants) and your landlord.

So:

1) you must continue to pay rent to your landlord as per your contract, and
2 you must (eventually) return the property to your landlord in the same condition as when your tenancy started (or pay for the damage).

As a landlord yourself, I assume you
3) took a deposit from your tenants?
4) registered it in a government scheme?
5) gave them an EPC? A gas certificate? a copy of the gov leaflet?
6) declared the rent you charged to HMRC on your tax return?
7) complied with the other 76 regulations relating to lettting of property?

Moving rapidly on (as I suspect I know the answers above), we would need to know
8) exactly what kind of contract each of the 'sub-tenants' had with you,
9) whether they were individual or joint & several,
10) whether they were ongoing or had expired
11) if expired, how and when

But assuming this individual you are concerned about now has no tenancy agreement but has either broken in (a criminal offence) or got in without consent (trespass), you could use the police (breaking and entering) or the courts (trespass) to remove him.

But beware! He may claim to have a tenancy agreement and accuse you of illegal eviction (also a criminal offence), or accuse you of somee other 'oversight' eg not registering his deposit or complying with the 76 regulations...........

To help you understand what you should have been doing, see

* New landlords: advice, information & links

I repeat - just because you are a tenant renting from a landlord/property owner does not remove or reduce your duties as a landlord yourself, letting to sub-tenants.

thelem

What do you mean the two who you had problems with "left". Was there any agreement to end the tenancy, or did you just change the locks while they were away for a week?

I assume you didn't live in the property while you were subletting it?

hasitbeen

They were arrested by the police for beating someone up.

I saw an opportunity and changed the locks.

They always paid in cash I never asked for a deposit all utilities stayed in my name.

hasitbeen

And no I didn’t live in the property. Only reason I sub let it was because I had to move for work.

Lysimache

When you sublet it to these dodgy folk, were you living in the house at the time (i.e. so they were lodgers not tenants and so had no rights re eviction) or were you not living in it from the very start of their time there?

Out of interest, did your friend from last Christmas who had similar problems resolve his/her problems?

capital0ne

Don't forget to declare the rent you received to HMRC

Doozergirl

Lysimache wrote: »

When you sublet it to these dodgy folk, were you living in the house at the time (i.e. so they were lodgers not tenants and so had no rights re eviction) or were you not living in it from the very start of their time there?

Out of interest, did your friend from last Christmas who had similar problems resolve his/her problems?

It was less than three weeks ago. Come on.