Shanghai 40㎡ Group Rental Housing with 10 Tenants: How Can the Landlord Reclaim the Property? Lawyer Advises Terminating the Lease Contract
Recently, a news story in Shanghai about shared rental housing drew widespread attention: after a property owner rented out their 40-square-meter two-bedroom apartment, the second landlord illegally converted it into a shared rental for ten people. When the owner discovered the situation and tried to reclaim the property, the actual tenants refused to move out, leaving the owner in the awkward position of "wanting to take back the property but being unable to do so." This is not an isolated case. In first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, the phenomenon of shared rental housing persists despite repeated bans, leading to endless rental contract disputes, housing safety risks, and even public security issues. As a property owner, what legal remedies are available when facing unauthorized shared subletting? What legal risks do tenants living in shared rentals face? This article will analyze the legal dilemmas behind shared rental housing from a lawyer's practical perspective, drawing on the Civil Code and relevant judicial interpretations.
Legal Characterization of Group Rental Housing: Issues of Illegal Subletting and Contract Validity
In this case, the property owner leased the house to a sublessor, who then divided the house and sublet it to ten people for residence. This conduct first involves the determination of illegal subleasing. According to Article 716 of the Civil Code, if the lessee subleases the premises without the lessor's consent, the lessor may terminate the contract. Meanwhile, Article 8 of the "Measures for the Administration of Commercial Housing Leasing" issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development explicitly stipulates that the rental of residential housing shall use the originally designed rooms as the minimum rental unit, and the per capita rented floor area shall not be lower than the minimum standard prescribed by the local people's government. Kitchens, bathrooms, balconies, and underground storage rooms shall not be rented out for residential occupancy.
In Shanghai, according to the "Shanghai Municipal Measures for the Administration of Residential Housing Leasing," the number of occupants in each room of a leased residential dwelling shall not exceed two persons (except in cases of legal guardianship), and the per capita living area for occupants shall not be less than 5 square meters. A two-bedroom apartment of 40 square meters housing ten people clearly fails to meet the per capita area requirement and constitutes a typical case of illegal group renting.
From the perspective of contract validity, if the lease agreement between the sublessor and the property owner explicitly prohibits subleasing, the sublessor's act of subleasing constitutes a fundamental breach of contract, and the property owner has the right to terminate the agreement. Even if the contract does not explicitly prohibit it, under the Civil Code, if subleasing occurs without consent, the lessor may raise an objection within six months from the date they knew or should have known of the sublease. If no objection is raised within that six-month period, the lessor is deemed to have consented to the sublease—a timing trap that property owners often overlook when enforcing their rights.
Property owner's path to taking possession of the unit: pursuing contract termination, filing a lawsuit for eviction, and lodging administrative complaints in parallel.
In response to the chaos of group rentals, the core of owners' rights protection lies in reclaiming the property. In practice, lawyers advise owners to adopt a dual-track strategy combining "civil and administrative" measures.
First, on the civil level, the property owner should preserve evidence, including but not limited to: photos and videos of the property being partitioned and altered, proof of the number of people in the group rental, and communication records with the sublessor. Subsequently, based on Article 716 of the Civil Code, a lawsuit should be filed with the court to request termination of the lease contract and the return of the property by the sublessor. If the sublessor has already sublet the property to actual occupants, can the property owner directly demand that the actual occupants vacate? According to the principle of privity of contract, the contractual relationship between the property owner and the sublessor cannot directly bind the actual occupants. However, if the sublessor's subletting is confirmed invalid or the contract is terminated, the actual occupants lose the legal basis for occupying the property, and the property owner may name them as third parties in the lawsuit and jointly demand their eviction.
Secondly, at the administrative level, property owners can file complaints about group rentals with the local sub-district office, the housing and urban-rural development commission, or the 12345 citizen hotline. According to the Shanghai Housing Rental Regulations, for illegal group rentals, the district housing management department shall order corrections within a specified period; if corrections are not made within that period, a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan may be imposed. The administrative authority's rectification notice or penalty decision can serve as strong evidence in civil litigation to prove the illegality of the group rental, thereby accelerating the court's judgment process.
In practice, many property owners are puzzled by the question: "Even if we win the lawsuit, what if the tenant refuses to move out?" After the court judgment takes effect, if the tenant still fails to fulfill the obligation to vacate, the property owner can apply to the court for compulsory enforcement. However, the enforcement process may be time-consuming, and if the group rental includes special groups such as the elderly or children, the court will act with greater caution during enforcement. Therefore, lawyers advise property owners to file complaints with administrative authorities before litigation, using administrative pressure to push the tenant, which often facilitates a faster voluntary move-out.
Rights and Risks of Group Rental Tenants: Contract Invalidity and Responsibility for Residential Safety
Actual residents in shared rental housing are often young people striving to make a living in big cities. They choose shared rentals due to low rent, yet frequently overlook the legal risks hidden within. In terms of contract validity, if the lease agreement between the sublessor and the property owner is terminated, the sublease contract between the sublessor and the tenant also loses its basis for performance. In such a case, can the tenant continue to reside there? The answer is no.
However, tenants are not entirely without recourse. Under Article 717 of the Civil Code, if a lessee subleases the leased property to a third party with the lessor's consent, and the sublease term exceeds the lessee's remaining lease term, the portion exceeding the original term is not legally binding on the lessor. In other words, if the contract between the sublessor and the property owner has already expired or is about to expire, the property owner has the right to refuse to recognize the portion of the lease term agreed upon between the tenant and the sublessor that goes beyond the original term.
What deserves even more attention is the risk to housing safety. Shared rental apartments often have hidden dangers such as unauthorized electrical wiring, illegal use of high-power appliances, and blocked fire escape routes. In the event of a fire or safety incident, tenants' personal safety and property will bear the brunt of the consequences. According to Article 1165 of the Civil Code, a person who causes damage to another's civil rights and interests through fault shall bear tort liability. If a tenant is injured because a shared rental apartment fails to meet safety standards, the sublessor, as the direct lessor, shall bear primary compensation liability; if the property owner, knowing of the sublessor's group rental activities, fails to stop them, they may also bear corresponding supplementary liability for failing to fulfill their reasonable duty of care.
Lawyers here remind all tenants that when signing a lease agreement, it is essential to verify the landlord's property ownership certificate or legal subletting authorization, to avoid falling into the trap of a "unauthorized sublease" by a second landlord. If you discover that the property you are renting is a group rental in nature, you should proactively report it to the relevant authorities, and never overlook your own safety and legal rights for the sake of cheap rent.
Legal Lessons and Prevention Advice for Ordinary People from Group Rental Disputes
The frequent disputes over group rentals reflect deeper issues of information asymmetry and regulatory gaps in the housing rental market. For landlords, renting out a property is not simply a matter of "signing and done." Lawyers advise that when signing a lease agreement, clauses such as "no subletting," "no structural alterations," and "maximum occupancy limits" should be clearly stipulated, along with regular inspections of the property's usage. Once signs of group renting are detected, landlords should immediately issue written notices requiring the tenant to rectify the situation and preserve evidence, preparing for potential contract termination and legal proceedings.
For tenants, when renting, priority should be given to choosing a legitimate agency or signing directly with the landlord, and verifying the property ownership information. If shared renting is necessary due to financial constraints, be sure to confirm whether the number of co-tenants complies with local regulations, to avoid being evicted for group renting and left homeless.
Additionally, it is worth noting that in 2023, the "Shanghai Housing Rental Regulations" were officially implemented, imposing stricter rules on housing rental enterprises, brokerage agencies, and individual landlords. The governance of group rentals has shifted from "post-hoc penalties" to "source prevention." Nationwide, cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou have also introduced similar regulations, as legal risks and regulatory enforcement concerning group rentals continue to escalate.
When faced with difficulties in reclaiming property, evicting tenants, and high costs of rights protection caused by group rentals, property owners often feel isolated and helpless. In such cases, seeking the assistance of a professional lawyer becomes particularly important. Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm has深耕 the field of real estate and lease disputes for many years, having represented numerous cases involving the eviction of group rental tenants and the termination of contracts for illegal subleasing, accumulating extensive experience in both litigation and non-litigation practice. If you are currently troubled by issues such as your property being used for group rentals, rent arrears, or lease contract disputes, please feel free to contact our team of lawyers. We will provide you with one-on-one legal consultation and rights protection solutions to help you resolve these issues efficiently and lawfully.
The issue of group rental housing is not simply a dispute of "landlords evicting tenants"—it concerns everyone's housing safety and property rights. Exercising rights rationally within the legal framework is both a protection of one's own interests and a safeguard of order in the rental market. I hope this article provides you with clear guidance, so that when faced with similar difficulties, you will no longer feel at a loss.
