Moving out of uni halls

nikinak

princeofpounds wrote: »

The student DOES have a contract. The tricky point is working out what type, and without knowing a lot of details about what was said verbally and what documents passed between the parties it is not straightforward.

If this were an AST, that would be easy. But university halls are not AST tenancies.

How does that work then? If you don't have a contract how do you have a contract?

nikinak

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Too expensive? Were the costs kept secret when she signed up? I doubt it. It's more likely that this student isn't used to having to budget. I have little sympathy for young peeps being "home-sick". Uni is the big, bad world of adults and some just aren't prepared for it. Trying to find a way to live by their decisions should be the start of cutting the apron-strings.[/QUOTE

I was actually asking for advice on whether they could force her to pay not your opinion on how independant she needs to be or money management thanks very much!
Her reasons for wanting to move out are neither here nor there.
We don't want sympathy just advice on the legalities of the situation.

hazyjo

I think there's more to this 'stalker' story and that's the reason. I've been in a similar situation before with a couple of exes and ended up at the police station at one stage over one (nasty veiled death threats sent in the form of an anonymous poem signed 'The Grim Reaper'. Nice). I broke down in the station and can tell you it's horrendous to be looking over your shoulder and not knowing if you're being watched, or jumping every time the phone rings.

I'm guessing someone else is going to need to be involved. From my experience with men like that, it'll only get worse. She needs to sort this out now. I think the Uni need to know, and she has to be firm with him once and for all - with someone next to her. No nicey nicey, just somewhere in front of someone else (staff? office?) where she says her bit once and for all. The 'friendship' ends now.

Maybe someone will be able to swap blocks with her?

Jx

N79

nikinak wrote: »

How does that work then? If you don't have a WRITTEN contract how do you have a ORAL / STATUTORY contract?

If you add a couple of words to your sentence then how it works becomes clear.

N79

princeofpounds wrote: »

But university halls are not AST tenancies.

Quite - in fact they are not normally tenancies but are licences.

OP - here are a couple of tips for how a court will go about trying to put some concrete terms on the licence.

1. How frequently is rent paid? A good starting point is that notice should, at the minimum, be equal to the rent payment frequency (ie if rent paid monthly then notice period of at least a month etc).

2. Does the organisation have a standard contract or terms and conditions which were available to view (eg on their website / notice board etc) by your daughter before she took up residence (irrespective of whether she actually signed them). A court might reasonable infer that the university always intended these conditions to attach to the offer to let the room and, provided the licensee was aware of them, that there were accepted when they moved in.

nikinak

She has spoken to a tutor, who has told her she'll keep an eye on this bloke, and that she shouldn't be forced into socialising with him. She doesn't really know who else to tell and I think she's VERY nervous of being accused of being racist. It was just unfortunate really as she was put with him for a group project in her first week of lectures and he just wont back off. He initially after she first told him to back off (this was a conversation on facebook) said sorry but then followed it up by saying you need to come to my house now (it was about 11pm) which of course she said no to. Then about a week later he moves in to her block. Everyone has noticed him staring at her and people keep telling her he was asking after her or that he's waiting for her downstairs or outside the flat door or something. It is tricky as he's not actually done anything wrong. I mean what do you complain about? It all seems a bit lame when you break it down to 'he stares, waits for me and keeps asking where I am all the time'. Still intimidating for a young lady though. I do wonder if it is that situation though, thats made her want to move back home, because I nearly fell of my chair when she said she wanted to come home. She has never been homesick in her life and she's been going away with the youth parliament and french exchanges since she was about 12 and utterly loved it. I know thats differnt but I just really didn't see this coming from her. My other two kids yes, I can imagine that either of them may, but not that one.

silvercar

nikinak wrote: »

How does that work then? If you don't have a contract how do you have a contract?

Clearly some sort of contract exists as she pays rent and they provide accommodation.

By accepting the key and moving in you acknowledge that a contract has been created.

Normally student halls provide contracts as licences to occupy rather than ASTs.

Niv

Please be aware that some Uni's will hold back the degree certificate if the accomodation has not been paid. So please make sure whatever happens, there is an agreement that she has paid all she owes or it may come back to bite her later.

Niv

Svenena

Has she considered trying to move accommodation? I knew several students that got swapped about at the beginning of the first year when I was at uni, because they had various problems with where they'd been allocated. She might be able to move into cheaper accommodation if that's available. There are usually several people dropping out, which frees up rooms and enables this shuffling, so it's worth approaching the accommodation services if she hasn't already.

One of my best friends at uni moved into my halls after two months of not getting on with her original flatmates (our original flatmate had dropped out after about a month), and clicked really well with us and we then chose to live together through all three years, so a move can work out.

BitterAndTwisted

Your daughter needs to contact Student Services or any other organisation the Uni has about this bloke's unwelcome attention. Some tutor or other saying they will "keep an eye" on him is trying to be helpful but completely inadequate. This isn't about any possible threats of racism being chucked about but a potential stalker whose behaviour is quite rightly distressing her. She needs to organise a face-to-face conversation with him with a witness present to make her feelings clear.

I really don't think that leaving halls and commuting to Uni from home is likely to solve this problem in itself. It'll just cost him more in fares to follow her around. And quite possibly on quiet train platforms in the dark.