Rental Guarantor for Uni Student

00ec25

G_M wrote: »

1) does each tenant have their own, seperate tenancy agreement, or are they all signing a single 'joint and several' tenancy?
2) is this an HMO?

if you read the link provided by the OP then
1) its several in respect of the rent as the charge is per bedroom but joint in respect of damage to communal areas (ie seems very reasonable to me in the circumatannces of letting a 6 bed house to students)

2) the TA is set up to treat it as an HMO

BobQ

OP you are getting good advice about the letting arrangements. Once you have sorted this also pay attention to the other shared bills. For example, if your daughter is named on the gas bill she and maybe you if you are a guarantor for it become jointly responsible for any non payment of bills etc.

Wyre

To clarify, it is in England (Portsmouth to be exact), the house is on 2 floors - 5 bedrooms, 2 on the ground floor and 3 upstairs.

I appreciate the LL/LA can let themselves into the communal areas, it is the private bedrooms that concern me.

All the girls are signing one tenancy agreement and the contract makes clear we are jointly and severally liable. Or so I thought but seems I may have mis-read some things. I'll have to have another read.

Regarding the bills they are covered in the rental price. One other mother is as concerned as myself and managed to get some things emailed to her that the LA told the girls, I am attempting to do the same.

00ec25

Wyre wrote: »

All the girls are signing one tenancy agreement and the contract makes clear we are jointly and severally liable. Or so I thought but seems I may have mis-read some things. I'll have to have another read.
.

the contract is a mix, read clause 5.1 again there are 4 several liabilities inclduing crucially this one:

The Tenants must pay to the Landlord:-
severally (and not jointly and severally):-
(a) The Tenant’s Share of the Rent to be received as cleared funds on or before the Rent Payment Dates.

there are also 2 joints in respect of the usage policy

and six halfway house clauses depending on the circs of how the shortfall arising from the breach arose (but this excludes a rent shortfall)

respectively severally (and not jointly and severally) or jointly and severally depending on whether responsibility for compliance with the covenants which has been breached is several (and not joint and several) or joint and several:-

Wyre

Can't believe I missed the rent bit - shows what happens when I panic read.

tbs624

Sorry - this is a long one and there are probably other bits in the TA that others could similarly comment upon.

There are some hefty charges listed under that Tenancy Agreement (these are listed as being net figures, VAT to be charged)

£50 as a late payment fee? Another 50 quid for written notice of breach of tenancy?

"Supervised Cleaning Appointment Fee - £105 for visits of up to 1 hour, £35 per hour thereafter"

That one presumably tied in to breach of this:

“7.2 Clean and vacuum all areas in the Property at least once during each week of the Term.”

and this:

“7.6 Execute as soon as reasonably possible all repairs and cleaning for which the Tenants are responsible and if the Tenants fail to execute such repairs or cleaning and the Landlord gives the Tenant notice requiring the Tenants to carry them out and the Tenants do not within ten days after service of a notice proceed diligently with the execution of such repairs or cleaning then the Tenants must permit the Landlord to enter upon the Property to execute such repairs or cleaning and the reasonable cost of such repairs or cleaning is a debt due from the Tenants to the Landlord and is immediately recoverable by action.”

Overly prescriptive – provided that the Ts are not causing the property and its furnishings/fittings to deteriorate, and/or are not blocking fire exits with bags of refuse etc (and they return the property in the appropriate condition at the end of the tenancy) it is up to them how often they clean and vacuum the place during the tenancy.

The Tenancy Agreement does acknowledge the Ts' right to quiet enjoyment but how about this particular fee?

Tenancy Agreement Enforcement Visit Fee £105 for visits of up to 1 hour, £35 per hour thereafter

Presumably related to this:

7.24 The Tenants shall attend at the Property on the reasonable request of the Landlord at reasonable times during the Term to discuss the Tenant’s obligations in terms of this agreement

The Agreement also says

"Each Tenant shall be severally liable to repair or replace any glass that is broken or damaged in the Tenant's bedroom during the Term. The Tenants shall be jointly and severally liable to repair or replace any glass in the Communal Areas which is damaged during the Term."

T can only be asked to cover the costs of such damage where it is specifically caused by their acts/omissions or those of their guests.

Then there is:

“7.9 Not allow any lodgers or allow any guests to stay overnight for more than one night and not to allow any lodgers or any guests to stay overnight without the consent of the other occupants of the Property.”

Not more than one night eh? Would that be one night at a time, one night per academic year?

7.21 If a Guarantor is declared bankrupt or enters into any arrangement for the benefit of his creditors then the Tenant (whose obligation had been guaranteed by that Guarantor) must notify the Landlord or Agent immediately and obtain a reasonably suitable replacement guarantor within 21 days alternatively must pay a deposit to the Landlord of a sum equal to eight weeks rent payable by the Tenant in terms of this agreement” (My bolding)

On top of the tenancy deposit already held? No indication from LA of how this extra deposit would be dealt with

12.1 The Landlord reserves the right to enter the Property on giving not less than 24 hours' prior notice to the Tenants (or such shorter period as may be agreed):

(a) to inspect the condition and state of repair of the Property at all reasonable times together with any of the Landlord’s agents or workmen;
(b) to exercise any rights or carry out the obligations of the Landlord under this agreement at all reasonable times;
(c) to take gas, electricity or water meter readings at all reasonable times;
(d) to show prospective Tenants or other persons around the Property between the hours of 1000h and 2000h;

provided that the Landlord shall only be required to give the Tenants as much notice as possible in an emergency and that the Landlord shall not be required to give the Tenants notice where the Landlord is responding to a request from the Tenants that necessitates access to the property.

12.2 Notice in terms of clause 12.1 may be given by the Landlord in writing by text message to the mobile telephone numbers provided by the Tenants or verbally.

LL is required to give 24 hours *written* notice to access those individual bedrooms. Ts do not have to agree to verbal or text messages: the LA warns at the start of the TA

"PLEASE DO NOT AMEND THIS AGREEMENT AS ANY AMENDMENTS ARE NOT BINDING ON THE LANDLORD."

...suggesting to young Ts that they do not have any option.


The LA says they use MyDeposits,who say in their blurb: "Ensure both you and your tenants attend the check out "

The tenancy agreement states:

13.4 The Agent shall carry out an inspection of the Property within 14 days of the end of the Tenancy to assess the extent to which the Tenants have complied with their obligations in terms of this agreement. As the Tenancy will have expired the Tenants will no longer be entitled to access the Property.

I would personally strike through (c) in this next clause because people change their email addresses, may not be able to access them on a daily basis and because I am a Luddite. For (b) notice would have to have been delivered by 4.30pm for it to have effectively been delivered that day, IIRC

14.1 Any notice sent to the Tenants under or in connection with this agreement shall be deemed to have been properly served if:
(a) sent by first class post to the addresses of the Tenants stated in the Parties clause or subsequently notified to the Landlord by the Tenants and shall be deemed to have been received the day after it was sent; or
(b) left at the address of the Tenants stated in the Parties clause or subsequently notified to the Landlord by the Tenants and shall be deemed to have been received on the day is was delivered; or
(c) sent to the e-mail address of the Tenants stated in the Particulars clause or subsequently notified to the Landlord by the Tenants and shall be deemed to have been received on the day is was sent;

This next is one of the clauses that concerned the OP. Note the bit in bold though OP: 'tis nice of the LA to confirm that their contract clauses cannot over-ride statute, whether it be PEA or the HA88. S8 notice requires that there be two months rent unpaid ( if rent due monthly)

11.1 The Landlord reserves the right to re-take possession of the Property if:
(a) the Rent is unpaid 21 days after becoming payable whether it has been formally demanded or not; or
(b) a Tenant is declared bankrupt under the Insolvency Act 1986; or
(c) the Tenants have breached the agreement; or
(d) any of the Grounds 2, 8, 10-15 and 17 set out in Schedule 2 of the Housing Act 1988 apply.
(Note: This clause does not affect any rights of the tenant under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977. The Landlord cannot re-enter the property or evict a Tenant without a court having first made an order for possession).

As for this one, the tenancy agreement provides a formal address at which to send notices etc, but the LA has a "portal"(is a Trekie perhaps? ) and insists the Ts are to use it for deposit deduction etc correspondence

14.2 Any notice sent to the Landlord under or in connection with this agreement shall be:-
(a) sent only via the Tenancy Portal or in such other manner as the Landlord shall prescribe acting reasonably in respect of any communications regarding any costs payable by the Tenants following the end of the Term; and
(b) in respect of all other matters shall be deemed to have been properly served if sent by registered post or recorded delivery to the address given for the Landlord at the head of this Agreement or at any other address for service of which the Landlord notifies the Tenant in writing.

As you've probably read on here before OP - currently anyone can set themselves up in business as an LA, without any formal training, accreditation, qualification etc and they are not yet subject to formal regulation.

This LA does not appear to voluntarily be signed up to UKALA or ARLA

Are they listed by the Uni accomms office? ( see post 2 question)

Wyre

Thanks tbs624. I have asked my daughter to find out if they are listed by the Uni accommodation office. At present she doesn't know as she didn't find the house, but I have linked her this thread and I told her it is important for her to find out.

G_M

You've had some good pointers above.

With a Tenancy Agreement like this...

I don't know what the supply/availability of accommodation is like in the area, but I would try and find somewhere with a less onerous, less dodgy TA, and equally critically, via aless dodgy letting agent/landlord.

tbs624

Have to admit it's the first time I've seen this one:

Tenancy Agreement Enforcement Visit Fee £105 for visits of up to 1 hour, £35 per hour thereafter

I envisage perhaps a couple of big blokes - "ello- we're the lads, we've come on an Enforcement Visit. Here's yer invoice for 140 quid (edit: plus VAT!) cos we speak slowly"

Hell's bells.

thelem

Wyre wrote: »

There aren't 'normal' locks on the door, it's done by a keypad for each bedroom so we can't just change the barrel and change it back at the end of the tenancy. The letting agent looked up the codes (on his phone) to the rooms of the tenants that weren't in to show the girls the room.

If it's one of the common mechanical locks similar to the one below, then they are usually quite straight forward to change just by unscrewing the back and moving some pegs around.