united-kingdom rental-property breach-of-contract
If one stays in an AirBnB for which subletting is not allowed, is it your problem?
<p>This question is based on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/jul/14/during-a-stay-with-airbnb-we-were-told-the-let-was" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this consumer affairs problem on the Guardian site</a>, but the details are not explicit so I shall present a hypothetical:</p>
<ul>
<li>Alice owns a house</li>
<li>Bob lets the house from Alice, with a clause in the contract that specifically excludes the subletting of the property</li>
<li>Charlie sublets the house from Bob via AirBnB in breach of this contract</li>
<li>During Charlie's stay at the house, Alice approaches Charlie, informs them of the lack of permission to sublet and:
<ul>
<li>Demands additional payment to remain in the house</li>
<li>Demands Charlie leave the property before the end of their planned stay</li>
<li>Threatens to call the police if one or other of the above demands are not met</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>What is Charlie's legal situation here?  Is there any requirement for them to pay Alice anything?  Do they have the right to remain in the property?  Have they done anything the police may consider a crime?  Could they have a case against Alice for threatening behaviour?</p>
<p>I would have assumed that Bob has breached a contractual term with Alice, generating a potential civil case against him.  I cannot see that this would affect Charlie at all, but I do not know.</p>

<h2>Charlie is not a party to the contract between Alice and Bob</h2>
<p>Alice and Charlie have no contractural relationship and Alice cannot require him to do anything nor is he liable to Alice in any way.</p>
<p>Alice’s issue is with Bob who has clearly breached his contract. Alice can sue Bob for damages and <em>may</em> be able to end the lease.</p>
<p>There is no trespass because Charlie is there with the permission of the leaseholder. From Charlie’s position there is no reason to believe that Bob does not have the authority to give this permission so Charlie is not in breach of the law. The police will see this as a civil matter and won’t intervene.</p>
