An Aussie landlord has questioned his rights after discovering a tenant turned the investment into a lucrative Airbnb side hustle that generated about $23,000 in just one year.

The Sydney landlord said he was shocked to find his own property listed on Airbnb and generating about $450 a week – an income of which he never saw a cent.

The landlord said the tenant turning the property into a side hustle without seeking permission had left him stunned.

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The Sydney landlord was shocked to find his tenant profiting from the investment property.

“I kept rent increases modest because I know how tough things are for tenants at the moment, particularly in Sydney,” he told Yahoo News.

“So you can imagine my shock when I discovered my tenant has been listing my apartment on Airbnb without my permission.

“For more than a year, they appear to have been renting it out to strangers and pocketing around $450 a week while I had absolutely no idea it was happening.

“I feel completely blindsided. I trusted them to look after my property, not turn it into a short-term rental business. What are my rights?”

The Sydney investor questioned what legal rights he had to terminate the tenant’s lease and claim some of the Airbnb profits.

It is a situation that Maurice Blackburn legal expert Jillian Barrett said could be pretty straight forward in one area while proving difficult in the other.

The landlord may have grounds to terminate the lease.

“If your tenant has been renting out the apartment to Airbnb guests without approval, you may have grounds to take action, including seeking termination of the tenancy and potentially pursuing compensation,” Ms Barrett told Yahoo News.

“Under the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW), a tenant must not transfer a tenancy agreement or sublet the premises without the landlord’s consent.

“If your tenant moved out and rented the entire apartment to short-term guests through Airbnb, that is likely to be treated as a subletting arrangement.

Ms Barrett said the landlord could seek a tenancy termination through the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

The issue of claiming back any of the Airbnb money earned by the tenant, however, was more legally complex, Ms Barrett said.

“This is where many landlords are surprised,” she said.

While it feels inherently unfair that a tenant may have earned thousands of dollars from a property they do not own, there is no automatic right to receive every dollar they have made through Airbnb.

“However, landlords may be able to seek compensation through NCAT where they have suffered a loss because of the tenant’s conduct.”