A sublease is when a tenant wants to give a third party (known as the subtenant) rights to rent all or part of their rental property for the remainder of the lease or rental agreement. The landlord must also consent to the sublease.

The tenant may want to sublet the property for a variety of reasons.

For example, if a tenant is leaving the country for an extended period of time, instead of having to pay rent for a property they are not living in, they could have a subtenant take over their lease.

A tenant may also want to use a sublease to rent out a portion of the property to someone else. For example, it is common to have a parent or in-law living in an accessory apartment, which is usually located in a sectioned-off part of the home or property.

A Sublease Agreement can be used for any type of residential property, such as a/an:

• House
• Condo
• Apartment
• Accessory apartment (also known as a granny flat or in-law suite)
• Townhouse
• Duplex
• Basement apartment or suite
• Garage
• Room

A Residential Sublet Agreement is sometimes referred to as a:

• Sublease Agreement
• Sublease Contract
• Sublet Contract
• Share Housing Agreement

LawDepot's Australian residential sublease agreement can be customised for use in the following states and territories:

• Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
• New South Wales (NSW)
• Northern Territory (NT)
• Queensland (QLD)
• South Australia (SA)
• Tasmania (TAS)
• Victoria (VIC)
• Western Australia (WA)

The parties in a Residential Sublet Agreement are the:

• Landlord, who owns the rights to the residential property and made a Lease Agreement with the original tenant
• Sublandlord, who is the original tenant in the Lease Agreement and acts as landlord to the subtenant
• Subtenant, (also known as the co-tenant, boarder, or lodger), who is the person that is renting the property from the sublandlord

You can sublet a property by creating a Sublet Agreement, which is a legally binding contract that states both the tenant's and landlord's consent to the sublease.

Keep in mind that the Sublet Agreement does not invalidate the terms of the original lease, so the sublandlord (the original tenant) is still responsible for all the obligations of the lease, including any potential damages to the suite or property.

The subtenant and the sublandlord should sign the sublease and both parties should keep a copy of the document for their records.