PLEASE HELP! I'm being THROWN OUT of my student accomodation...

LittleMe

Thanks everyone for your helpful advice. I really do appreciate it, and couldnt thank you enough :-)

princeofpounds, thanks for the detailed response!

The terms and conditions even state that they need a court order.

It is definitely a private agreement, has nothing to do with my uni. the only condition is i have to be a uni student to stay there.

thanks again everyone

i'm going to try and come to an agreement with the accom to still stay there and go to my union

if that fails, i will ask for a written notice sayin that i have to leave by thursday

i will then make a point that this is against my rights, and tell them to give a proper notice and go for a court order.

this should give me more than enough time to find an alternative place to stay.

however i do hope to get this sorted and stay in the same accom.

pinkshoes

Jowo wrote: »

If the landlord did not authorise the 'guests' then I guess they should be considered as 'unauthorised' ones - the tenant had no right to authorise them to be there !

Jowo wrote: »

Whether we want to call it something other than subletting and query the right to guests, as far as I am concerned the OP was extremely complacent about her responsibilities as a tenant and the fact they were not aware their assumptions were wrong is an irrelevance and it is understandable that the behaviour has angered the landlord.

The point is that the accommodation have accused her of subletting, and thus trying to evict her.

The arguement is that she was not subletting, therefore there is no reason for eviction.

Students are permitted to have guests to stay, so if the accommodation hasn't outlined guidelines for this, how is a tenant supposed to know which rules to follow?

LittleMe, how on earth did they know you had two guests staying whilst you weren't there? Did your guests tell them? Does it state in the tenancy that you're not to give your key to anyone else?

I think they're skating on VERY thin ice here.

RecoveringAlcoholic

Bear in mind that we only have one side of the story.

I have been told that it has been known for students in Sheffield to abuse alcohol and also to use illegal substances.


.

DVardysShadow

Jowo, you are throwing away the OP's case here. You are demolishing fully 2/3 of what she has going for her.

Jowo wrote: »

....

I think we are going down the wrong route here and we should focus on whether the accommodation provider has any right to expect the tenant to leave at such short notice, arbitrarily retain the entire deposit as a penalty for the breach and force the tenant to provide a replacement in those circumstances. ...

Couldn't disagree more. You are proposing that we look at the remedies part of the contract and try and mitigate consequences of a breach. That presupposes a breach - and also takes the OP straight down to a single line of defence.

The right thing to start with is to establish whether there was a breach at all as the first line and only if that fails to proceed to defend the OPs position on remedies.

Whether we want to call it something other than subletting and query the right to guests, as far as I am concerned the OP was extremely complacent about her responsibilities as a tenant and the fact they were not aware their assumptions were wrong is an irrelevance and it is understandable that the behaviour has angered the landlord.

Angering the Landlord is not grounds for eviction. It is not breach of contract. Whether this was subletting, unauthorized guests or no breach of any substance is very much at the core of this. Also, if OP's assumptions were wrong, this is very relevant as another possible line of defence - that there was no intent, that there is no need to proceed to remedies as the breach will not be repeated

I'm sure a large accommodation block cannot function if the tenants hand over their keys to pals willy-nilly. I believe the accommodation manager is right to serve notice on the tenant and ensure that this practice never flourishes. What kind of parents want to send their kids to a block where anyone could be living there?

These are adults. They sign their own tenancy agreements. They don't give a damn about what their parents or other parents think. They go there to get away from that, every last one of them.

Lynsey

RecoveringAlcoholic wrote: »

Bear in mind that we only have one side of the story.

I have been told that it has been known for students in Sheffield to abuse alcohol and also to use illegal substances.

It seems then that what goes on with students in Sheffield is very similar to what goes on in the rest of the world then - obviously not by everyone and not by all students.

Lynsey

JayZed

LittleMe, you really must go to the student union today and seek their help and advice. That's what the union's there for. People on this forum may be able to debate the ethical and legal pros and cons of the situation, but we can't offer you any practical assistance. The union can.

silvercar

OP have you actually moved in yourself? This may all hinge on the fact that your guests were there without you having ever moved in. In that guests they are not guests without you being there.

silvercar

RecoveringAlcoholic wrote: »

Bear in mind that we only have one side of the story.

on another forum,

"the other flatmate actually put in a noise complaint which is how the accomodation found out."

Jowo_2

It is rarely welcomed by any landlord for the tenant to hand over the key so that someone else, not on the tenancy agreement and without the knowledge or consent of the landlord, can stay there. It is an unacceptable practice to compromise the possession of the property and the integrity of a tenancy agreement by handing over keys to someone who is not supposed to be living there.

In my book, it is fully justified for the organisation to ask a tenant to leave who lets other people move in without permission, they just need to do it the right way.

Jowo_2

Here are the Ts & Cs for accommodation in England for Unite

The Tenant will not sublet the Room or part with possession or share occupation of the Room or any part of it under any circumstances.

http://www.unite-students.com/unite-stage2/static/england-termsandconditions.page