Sub-letting – Can the tenant sub-let the residence to others?

Sub-letting means that the tenant further rents out the residence to someone else. This means that the tenant, who sub-lets, enters into their own tenancy agreement with a new tenant, in addition to the tenancy agreement they have with the landlord.

The main rule is that sub-letting is not permitted without the landlords approval.

The tenant may still sub-let:

• a part of the residence
• if the tenant is temporarily absent for up to two years
• if the original tenancy agreement is time specified.

In these cases the tenant must have approval from the landlord. The landlord can however only deny approval if he has a just cause to deny this specific sub-tenant, or if the residence will be clearly overpopulated.

Example: If the person the tenant wants to sub-let to (the sub-tenant) has poor references, the landlord may deny sub-letting to that person.

The tenancy agreement with the landlord is not terminated by a sub-let agreement. The new tenant has their obligations towards the tenant who sub-lets. The tenant who sub-lets still has their obligations towards the landlord.

This means that if the new tenant for example does not pay rent, the tenant who is sub-letting the residence is still responsible for the paying rent to the landlord.