Renting land and subletting it to another at a higher rent

Question

Question: Within the compound of the mosque at the saint’s shrine there are some houses which are waqf; the houses are of a modest kind. The tenant of one of these houses spent some amount on the repair and improvement of his house, say four or five hundred rupees. Recently he gave this house of his to another man, who was compelled to take this house, taking from him a sum of three thousand five hundred. Regard this as a transaction of key money paid for the transfer of a tenancy.

Answer

Taking an amount equal to what was spent on the repair of the house is correct; he should give whatever exceeds that in sadaqa. [ar]وله السكنى بنفسه وإسكان غيره بإجارة وغيرها، ولو آجر بأكثر تصدق بالفضل إلا في مسألتين: إذا آجر بخلاف الجنس أو أصلح فيها شيئا[/ar] “He may live in it himself and house another in it, by lease or otherwise.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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