Problems in shared student house. Advice needed please

Lady_K

Trying to keep it brief.

Daughter has moved in a student house with her friend, there was one tenant already in there, a lad prob about 18-20

They each pay rent to the landlord and the bills are split between them or should be, water, gas(card meter), elec, tv license and Internet.

She moved in last Friday and immeadiately there were problems. They had been assured that the internet was in and connected but it was not. The lad said it had been disconnected while he was away and didnt know why (they found a bill from ntl for outstanding debts of £100+ in another lads name) The girls, my daughter and her frend are student nurses, they are on placement and need the internet for study. The lad said he'd arrange installation then went off he said for a couple of days but has not come back, this is almost a week ago now. He isnt answering texts or calls so in the mean time the girls had to arrange internet installation themselves in my daughters name. An NTL man came round today to inform them that the lads instalation had been refused but didnt say why. The girls should go through ok.

We are very worried because it seems likely there are going to be problems getting money from this lad for the bills. All the bills they have found were in another lads name and none were in his. The other girl has now changed the gas and elec into her name but there is still the water and tv license to sort out. The lad told the landlord that he didnt know whos name the water bill was in before he went. My daughter does not mind sharing bill responsibility but I am reluctant to advise her to put any more in her name until he has something in his.

They asked the landlord if there had been problems with him before but he said he knew nothing. I don't believe this because he was chasing him before my daughter moved in and asked her to contact the lad to see if he replied. The lad was not answering the landlords texts or calls yet answered my daughters straight away. But it was in his interests to answer hers I guess as without her moving in he might have been concerned how the bills would be paid I'm thinking.

I am very worried and sick thinking that it was only 3 days before she moved in that her friend decided to move in too or she would have moved in alone with this lad and had to deal with things alone. We are not a well off family and she deals with her finances herself so things are difficult for her as it is let alone having to pay someone elses share of the bills.

They had to provide guarantor signatures before moving in and sign a tenancy agreement all 3 of them. The landlord has not picked up the signed tenancy yet but I have told my daughter not to give it to him yet until things are more sorted out, maybe even try to get a different agreement to include bill costs?. The landlord said he has nothing to do with the bills but what can my daughter and her friend do about this if he does not pay anything?

Apparently he comes from London and goes there and back very regular he says his mum and dad pay all of his bills including rent. He did say that he got himself 5 student accounts and racked up overdrafts on all 5 and I'm not sure if he had credit cards too and his parents paid the whole lot off for him.

If his name isnt on any of the bills I suppose he doesnt have to legally pay anything towards them? I dont want her to have this worry while shes trying to study. Can the landlord evict him if there are problems paying bills?

Do they have any power to get the landlord to set a rent to include all bills?

The lad did live in the house last year with other people but every one of them left I'm wondering if its because he would not pay towards the bills

Could do with any advise you can give me please

lynzpower

Aww the eternal sagas of living in student digs. Ive been there, and know what you mean. If the bills are in his name hes liable, if they are in anyone elses name they are liable. thats really the top & bottom of i t as I understand it. Getting the money off others can be like getting blood out of the proverbial stone, but these are unenforceable arrangements. The only thing the girls could do in worst case scenario is to pay his share then take him to small claims court to try to recover some of the money.

the bills as I understand it are not the concern of the LL, in my experiecne LLs couldnt have cared less whether the bills went paid or not as long as the rent was paid.

Is there any chance they could find a little flat together just the two of them. it might mean forfieting the deposit, but it might be a good idea as far as peace of mind goes

Lady_K

Well because they had to have a guarantor it means that person will have to pay the rent if they leave. They like the house and have 2 years more to do and said they would like to stay for the rest if the time but if this is going to be a problem its not going to be very pleasant.

The gas and elec did say that the bill could be in all of the tenants names but the other girl went ahead and put them both in hers. What should they do about the water and tv license? What would happen if they didnt change the names on them? in fact they don't know where the tv license is and I'm not even sure if they can watch one either because theres no tv aerial and the ntl tv has been disconnected.

I have told them to get money in advance for the bills and give reciepts to anyone when they pay. Even though the elec is card meter I can't imagine him putting any in or he will prob lie but we will see. If it comes to taking him to court they should do but wether they actually get the money is another thing even if they are awarded any.

Do you think they could get the landlord to make the rent include bills? And do you think holding back the tenancy agreement might strengthen their case with the landlord? And if things get bad could the landlord get him out?

Lady_K

Do these tenancy agreements have cooling off periods as I'm wondering if they might be able to try and get a 2 share flat thing in the uni grounds. It just really all depends on the guarantor thing aswell

rosysparkle

I very much doubt whether they could persuade the landlord to be responsible for the bills. Holding back the tenancy agreement won't do anything, it's a legally binding contract no matter who has possession of it. If the tenancy is joint, the landlord can't get this lad out without breaking the contract that your daughter and her friend have, and to do that may be problematic depending on the terms of the AST.

Leaving the house will mean that all three of them, and the guarantors, will be liable for the rent and outgoings of the property until another tenancy agreement is signed or the expiry of their cotract, whichever is sooner. In practice this means that the landlord will pursue whoever has the deepest pockets, usually the guarantors.

As the tenancy agreement is in the name of all three of them, your daughter and this other girl are in a strong position if they ever needed to take the lad to small claims for his share of the bills, but hopefully it won't come to that. If they can get his signature to an agreement to pay one third of the bills, all the better. There shouldn't be any reason why he wouldn't sign, particularly if his parents pay his rent and bills!

Once the NTL installation gets the TV back on, your daughter and her friend should contact TV licensing to see if there is a licence, and if not, they'll need to obtain one and charge this lad a third of the cost.

rosysparkle

Lady_K wrote:

Do these tenancy agreements have cooling off periods as I'm wondering if they might be able to try and get a 2 share flat thing in the uni grounds. It just really all depends on the guarantor thing aswell

Unfortunately not, a signed tenancy agreement is a legally binding document.

Edited to correct creative spelling!

Lady_K

Thanx I'll ask them both to make sure they have copies of the tenancy agreement.

They will not be having the ntl tv put back on as its extra expense but I thought the landlord should really make sure there is a tv aerial as most people want to watch tv. I dont think they should have to have ntl just to be able to watch tv. If he wont put one in the property they will have to tell the tv licencing they no longer have a tv and she can bring hers home but I hope the lad doesnt have one in his room and use a portable aerial or anything because they may be in trouble for having no license.

I was going to tell my daughter to get his share of the water bill from him asap so it can be paid for the year then its done and one bill out of the way. Wouldnt normally do that but in this case I think its necessary. Also better to pay the elec monthly rather than 3 monthly and get them to all buy a certain amount of gas cards in advance each month. And if he has any bills in his name which I very much doubt he will that they go with him to pay it because I don't think it would get paid.

He says his parents pay everything but who knows he may not be telling the truth. From my daughters experience the first time around at uni even if students come from wealthy families it doesnt always mean they will pay their way, in fact those ones wasted money the most. They just spent spent spent on designer clothes, beauty spa treatments, going out to posh places and in some cases drugs and alsorts. Luckily that time my daughter was in accom which the rent included bills.

This lad may have always had everything paid for by his parents and has no idea about how to budget or even care. His behaviour is very odd though constantly going off for weeks and days on end and the fact that all his friends have moved out of the house is worrying.

Should they change the other bills to one of thier names or all of thier names on each? I'm just worried if his names on any mixed with theirs and it fails a credit check that it will affect their credit rating too when they havent done anything. I would prefer they try and get him to put his name on alone. At the moment the water and tv license wherever it is will be in someone elses name

VickyA_2

Just a thought: does each tenant have a separate tenancy agreement for their room? Or does this lad have a separate one to your daughter and friend?

If the answer is yes to either of these, then the lad will be solely responsible for his own tv licence. If your daughter had a tv in her room, she'd be solely responsible for her own tv licence, but only if they have separate tenancy agreements.

A tv in a communal area should, I believe, have a separate tv licence. However, I'm happy to be corrected as I can't find the exact piece of info about this particular part...

Lady_K

The only tenancy agreement my daughter has spoken of is the one where its signed by all 3 of them. I dont think they would want to have to pay for a tv license each though, its just more money. As for a tv downstairs thinking about it I don't know who would want to put their tv in there. She can trust her friend but I wouldnt trust the lad, everything may be lies and things could go missing. I've told her to keep her room locked at all times too.

Lady_K

rosysparkle wrote:

Unfortunately not, a signed tenancy agreement is a legally binding document.

Well seeing as they havent given the landlord back the signed agreement could they rip it up and ask for a more suitable one to help with these problems?

In the mean time I just remembered I'll have to mention to my daughter about getting an agreement written up regarding them all sharing towards the bills. How can they make this official?

jennifernil

Do they have to pay for water? Up here in Scotland students don't have to pay for it.