Subletting in Boston: A Guide for Students and Interns

Who Sublets in Boston, and When

Boston and Cambridge hold Boston University, Northeastern University, Boston College, Emerson College, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among others. Students on 12-month leases leave in May and need someone for June, July and August.

Northeastern runs co-ops, which are paid work terms built into the degree. Its six-month cycles run January to June or July to December, so a student working in another city often sublets for exactly one of those halves. Students who study abroad sublet for the fall or spring semester.

The September 1 turnover matters. Northeastern’s off-campus housing office tells students that most leases in the city begin that day, so a sublet that ends on August 31 lines up with almost everything.

Where Students and Interns Live

• Near Boston University: Allston, Brighton and Brookline along Commonwealth Avenue, on the MBTA Green Line B branch, with the C branch on Beacon Street.
• Near Northeastern: Fenway and Mission Hill, by the Green Line E branch on Huntington Avenue and the Orange Line at Ruggles.
• Near Boston College: Brighton and Chestnut Hill, at the end of the Green Line B branch.
• Near Emerson: Downtown, Beacon Hill and Back Bay around Boston Common, at Boylston (Green Line) and Park Street (Green and Red Lines).
• Near Harvard and MIT: Cambridge and Somerville on the Red Line at Harvard, Central and Kendall/MIT, and the Green Line Extension into Somerville.
• Near the offices: Downtown and the Financial District (State and South Station), Back Bay (Copley and Back Bay station), the Seaport (Silver Line) and Kendall Square (Red Line).

Getting Around Without a Car

Most students do not keep a car. The MBTA, called the T, runs four subway lines (Red, Orange, Blue and Green), the Silver Line and buses. The Green Line splits into B, C, D and E branches west of downtown, so check which branch a sublet is on. The Charles River paths make walking and biking between Boston and Cambridge practical in warm months.

The Rules to Check Before You Sublet in Boston

Start with your lease. We could not confirm a Massachusetts rule that gives tenants a right to sublet, so treat the lease and your landlord’s written consent as what decides. Many leases require consent in writing. The Attorney General’s guide to landlord and tenant rights is the official place to read about leases in the state.

Short stays are a separate matter. The City of Boston defines a short-term rental as renting a home for fewer than 28 consecutive days for a fee, requires registration, and describes these rentals as allowed only in owner-occupied homes. A sublet of a month or longer is outside that definition.

If you rent from your university, or live in a building it manages, ask the housing office. School housing often has its own sublet policy.

How to Sublet Your Place in Boston

1. Read your lease for a sublet or assignment clause, and note the end date. If it ends August 31, your summer sublet should end that day too.
2. Ask your landlord in writing, and get the approval in writing before you list. An email that names the subtenant and the dates is far better than a phone call.
3. Talk to your roommates. If they are on the lease, the lease may need their written agreement too.
4. Set exact move-in and move-out dates that sit inside your own lease term.
5. Price it near your own rent. As an example of the math, not a local price: if you pay $1,000 a month and leave for 3 months, an empty room costs you $3,000.
6. Put it in writing: names, dates, rent, what is included, how the deposit is handled and the house rules. Both of you sign and keep a copy.

Choose a subtenant on the stay only: dates, ability to pay, references, pets, smoking. Fair housing laws make it illegal to choose or refuse someone because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or family status, and many states and cities add gender identity, sexual orientation, age, lawful source of income and more.

• How to Handle Your Sublet, Start to Finish
• Going Abroad: The Apartment Checklist

How to Find a Sublet in Boston Without Getting Scammed

Sublet Buddy lists sublets of 30 days or longer. Its listings are live in New York City today, and Boston is on the way.

• See the place in person, or on a live video call where the person walks from the street door to the room.
• Ask to see the page of the lease with their name on it, and the landlord’s written approval of the sublet.
• Never pay a deposit or rent before you have a signed agreement. Be wary of anyone who wants a wire transfer, gift cards or crypto.
• Be wary of pressure. “Three other people want it today” is a reason to slow down, not to pay.

• Sublet Scam Warning Signs (Written for New York, but the Warning Signs Are the Same)
• Boston on Sublet Buddy