Licence to sublet checklist

Read the Letter to make sure it meets your needs. Remember that, if you have any questions, you can Ask a lawyer for advice. 

In particular, the landlord should check whether the sublease is for a whole or a part of a commercial property - the landlord may only be willing to grant one or the other of these. Proceed with the Licence only if the landlord is absolutely content with the terms of the sublease. The landlord may be entitled to refuse consent without giving a reason, but check the terms of the original lease to see if this is allowed before doing so.

This Licence to Sublet is a special type of document called a deed. Deeds must be executed (ie signed) in a certain way in order to be legally binding. In this case, the landlord, tenant, and subtenant must all correctly sign the Licence.

To sign your Licence to Sublet, you should:

1. Print a copy of the Licence for each party.

2. The landlord, tenant, and subtenant should all sign each copy of the Licence. Each signature must be witnessed. A witness should be: 

   1. not another party to the deed (ie not the landlord or subtenant or a representative of either for the tenant)

   2. independent and unconnected with the parties (eg not a family member)

   3. over 18 years of age, and 

   4. of sound mind

3. After watching a party sign the deed, the party’s witness should sign the deed and add their name, address, and occupation directly underneath the relevant party’s signature.

It is usually possible for deeds to be signed electronically, but if this is done, extra care must be taken to ensure that all of the execution formalities for the particular type of deed are met. This deed is, therefore, designed to be signed by hand (ie wet-signed) to ensure that it is correctly executed (eg witnessed).

For more information, read Execution of deeds.

The date of the Licence is the date on which the parties sign, if that is the same day. If they sign on different days, the date of the Licence is the day on which the last person signs.

All parties should keep their own original signed Licence.

A copy of your Licence to Sublet will also be stored automatically in your Rocket Lawyer account ‘Dashboard’.