2nd Year Accomodation

JemJam

TDQO wrote: »

Never, ever, ever sign a joint contract!!! If anyone moves out then everyone else has to cover their share of the rent... NOT a good deal!

Yip that happened to us, luckily it was only about 2 weeks till another mate moved in but it could have got very messy, make sure you know what you're signing, its so easy to be blinded by "woohooo we gotta house!!" then when the shizz hits the fan it's not so exciting lol:rolleyes:.

We were lucky with costs mind, in Liveprool city centre we had a 4 double bedroom house, "all mod cons" and was only £450ish a semester so we were soooo lucky with that one, espesh as halls were £600 a semester and some miles out of the city!!

Jem

Jaynee123

Hi Everyone,

Just one more question, my son's girlfriend is at the same Uni can they share a room in a flatshare or will they have to pay for 2 seperate rooms? I'm not sure if this would affect their grant? They are in the same flat in halls but they have had too each pay for a room even though they only use one. Obviously I realise they would have to pay some sort of suppliment,

Thanks

Jaynee123

dannymccann

They could go around looking at 1 bed student flats, or a 2 bed flat / house (each paying for one of the rooms but obv only using 1 for themselves or w/e). One thing to note is that if its a 1 bed place, to be all legit really should let the landlord / letting agency whoever know there is 2 people not just the one. Of course, you could chance it and they will probably never know (or even care if they did find out).

Oh and also, dont pay the upfront charges for your son, I am in my 3rd year and have paid my way completely through, yet am not even in overdraft. I have friends at uni who get weekly anything from £20 - £50 from their parents yet they are always on the brink, they really havent got a clue whats coming to them post-university

edit to say - I now live with my full time working girlfriend, so obv my costs will be lower as we split bills and what not between us, but even last year I never really touched the overdraft

Jaynee123

Thanks dannymccan - I hate to admit I'm a bit of a softie with my offspring but I will try and be tough over the flat money! I was just wondering though wether it would make any difference to their grant/loan(can't remember which bit pays for the accomodation)if they were sharing a room?

Jaynee123

Oldernotwiser

It makes no difference to the amount they receive as loans and grants what they choose to spend the money on in the way of accommodation; it's theirs to do as they like with. Some LLs rent out double rooms at a premium but it's worth considering what happens if they split up.

dannymccann

Oldernotwiser speaks the truth here in their entire post.

In Lincoln the student accomodation people Pavillions rent out 1 bed studios for more affluent / older / married etc and they are something like +£100 a month on top of the normal rooms, but obv they get everything to themselves, no shared kitchens etc. Split 2 ways its a decent way for a couple to save money on guaranteed accomodation, inclusive of bills etc, but all this kind of thing will change in every location

Gingernutmeg

dannymccann wrote: »

They could go around looking at 1 bed student flats, or a 2 bed flat / house (each paying for one of the rooms but obv only using 1 for themselves or w/e). One thing to note is that if its a 1 bed place, to be all legit really should let the landlord / letting agency whoever know there is 2 people not just the one. Of course, you could chance it and they will probably never know (or even care if they did find out).

It depends on the area, property and agency, but most letting agents WILL care if you rent a flat for one person but move two in, if you're going for a private rather than a 'student' rental. They will insist on credit checking both people who live there which can add up to a lot in extra fees and they really won't be happy if you've got someone living there who's not on the contract. It will probably be much easier to go for the option of two rooms in a student house (student landlords, in general, are much less stringent about credit checks etc than landlords in your average non-student rental) or a shared double room. They could apply for one of the flats or the couples accommodation at uni (assuming that there is any) but as an undergrad, non-married couple they'd be a long way down the list of priority. That kind of accommodation is really limited, and ime tends to go to postgrads, mature and married students first.

What I will say is that having lived with people who've moved boyfriends and girlfriends into a house, it's much easier all round if you organise it properly rather than assume that everyone in the house will be ok with you moving someone in and extra person living there all the time, especially if they don't contribute anything to the bills and general costs (like buyiing milk and loo roll lol!) It can be a massive source of household frustration when someone does this!

Jaynee123

They are both looking together with a group 3 other Uni friends but the one letting agents they tried said no to them sharing a room and would insist on them having a 5 bed house rather than a 4! I think I will leave them to it for a bit and see how they get on without mother interfering!

Thanks everyone for the advice

Jaynee123

Aliiyn

I assume from your post that your son is planning to rent from a private landlord as opposed to Brookes accomodation? If this is right, I would look into studios/1/2 bed flats/apartments etc but not get my hopes up. Oxford/Headington is really quite expensive when it comes to rent rates and those kind of properties are normally marketed more at young professionals than students, meaning bigger deposits and guarantors. I remember when I went flat hunting not that long ago, many agents in Oxford wouldn't even show us properties because I was a "young student" despite the fact my boyfriend has a good job and I'm doing a post-grad!

When it comes to sharing, I would definitely recommend your son and his GF nominally renting rooms in their own names. As ONW pointed out, this means that in the unfortunate event of a break-up they still each have somewhere to live/if one wants to move out, the other can remain etc.

The other big advantage to 2 rooms is that they can get some space from each other if they need it! My bf and I live together in a shared house and we each rent a room in our own names; accordingly we have the whole of the top floor of the house to ourselves, with one room set up as a study/guestroom and one as a bedroom. This means that if I have an essay crisis I have somewhere to work while he has somewhere to get to sleep. As your son and his gf are both students, I would take into account the fact that their work patterns may not coincide and that stressed people with exams often need somewhere quiet to be on their own! I certainly think living in one room with my bf around coursework time would have led to his untimely death :rotfl:

Last bit of advice which I hope won't contravene anything-I'm not getting paid!: Finders Keepers Student Lettings are good. The Letting Shop not so much (lots of complaints from friends that they aren't good at returning deposits or responding to maintenance problems.)

Jaynee123

Hi Aliiyn,
Thanks for the info, I believe from what he's told me that Brookes accomm has already gone ( he seems to think it was all assigned by Nov?). I will tell him about Finders Keepers just in case he hasn't tried them! Thanks again

Jaynee123