Council Tenants - Subletting Your Home

Subletting your Council tenancy
A sublet is when you want to let all or part of your house to someone else on a temporary basis. You may want to do this if you need to go away for a period of time, due to work or family commitments, or long-term travel plans.

If you have a Scottish secure tenancy, or a short Scottish secure tenancy, you must apply to us for written permission to sublet your home.  

Eligibility criteria
If you want to sublet all or part of your home, you must:
• have been the tenant of the house for 12 months or been living in the house  as your only or main home for 12 months immediately before you apply; and
• have notified us that you were living in the property.  The 12 month period starts on the date we are told that you are a member of the household.
You can tell us about any household change by filling in our online Tenant personal details form.

Applying to sublet your home
You must apply for permission by filling in our Application to Sublet your Home form.  

We will give you our decision in writing within 28 days of receiving your application. We will not refuse permission without a good reason.  If we refuse permission, we will tell you why and how you can appeal against our decision.

Reasons for refusing an application to sublet include:
• a notice has been served to recover the property;
• an eviction order is in place;
• the rent, deposit or any other payment you want to charge is not reasonable;
• the sublet would cause overcrowding;
• any major works needs carried out on the property;
• the proposed subtenant has been convicted of antisocial behaviour in the last 12 months or has a current antisocial behaviour order (ASBO);
• another person’s occupancy rights may be affected;
• you are leaving for an indefinite period of time and unable to specify when you may return.

If you sublet, you will still be our tenant and have responsibility for meeting the conditions of the tenancy agreement and making sure the subtenant also meets these conditions, including paying the rent. If you decide that you no longer want to sublet your home, you should ask the tenant to leave and either return to the home yourself, or end your tenancy.

If you sublet your home without our permission you may lose your tenancy rights and we may consider legal action to recover the property. You can get more information from our Subletting your home leaflet.