Swapping one tenant for another on a house contract

[wellyed]

My son is going into his third year His second year house share is breaking up as the others are having a year abroad. He's been offered a place in another flatshare, replacing one person. He asked whether it will be a new contract, or whether he will be subletting. They said it would be the same contract, but the landlord is usually happy to swap one name for another, subject to references via the agency. They also said he needs to pay the deposit to the departing tenant. This makes me a little nervous in case he will be inheriting liability for any damage caused by the previous tenant. Does the process sound legitimate?

It’s pretty standard.

As a landlord I am used to sharers swapping. However they need my permission, which I normally give if I am happy with the reference. The letting agent then draws up some sort of contract amendment simply swapping names. It is normal for the new tenant to pay the deposit to the departing tenant.

Your DS should ask to see a copy of the inventory and evidence that the deposit is protected (the letting agency/landlord, by law, should have supplied this when the tenancy started). He should look through the inventory and if there are big discrepancies between it and the current state of the property, he should ask the outgoing tenant to make a contribution to any likely end of tenancy deductions. If the inventory says the property was professionally cleaned when the tenancy started, the landlord will almost certainly demand a professional clean at the end.

Thanks @Needmoresleep , it's through a well known agency, and I can see now that all tenants need to sign a "deed of assignment" so I'm googling that. Good advice about the inventory. I will advise him to do that.