student tenancy agreement issue

edalsmum

I’d be very grateful for some advice – I’lltry to keep it short!

My son is in his first year at uni and hassigned an assured shorthold tenancy agreement for a 6-bed shared house nextyear. It starts on the 1st July 2013.

He signed on a Sunday morning in Feb withtwo others, and the landlord let them sign and agreed the other 3 would signthe next day when they were available. Of course they didn’t know any betterand duly signed. They were given a blank copy as the original was kept for theother signatures. They weren’t advised at any stage to all sign together asthis would be legally binding. No guarantor forms were handed over and only one(not my son) paid a deposit.

The other 3 changed their minds and thelandlord will not surrender the agreement, which of course they can’t afford.

After some careful negotiation he hasagreed to re-advertise the property but has held onto the agreement in case itisn’t let. One of the girls who signed with him has signed another tenancyagreement and is no longer interested.

My son has tried to find other housematesbut can only find two others. So there are at the moment only 4 and none canafford the rent for 6 rooms – the two new girls will look for something else soonif there is no other interest.

He is doing his very best, but this isbecoming a desperate situation now – we can’t afford extra rent and he hasnowhere to live next year at present. Two of them can’t move into a house theycan’t afford.

I know he signed a legally bindingagreement – all the advice I’ve had (from CAB and some over the phone legaladvice) is for him to find more tenants – but this just isn’t happening.

Basically if my son can’t afford to move inand the landlord takes legal action, what will happen? Because of legal aidchanges he won’t be entitled. He survives on a student maintenance loan forrent/bills and £50 a week from me for food and clothes. He doesn’t have a job.

He’s doing so well at uni, but this isaffecting his sleep and I’m worried for him. I can’t afford legal bills either,all my money is going towards his keep at the moment.

Any advice very gratefully received.

pimento

Has he spoken to the university accommodation office? They may be able to advise.

Loads of students leave getting accommodation until the last minute/clearing. Ask the uni to put your son's house on their list of available accommodation. There will also be a housing day before term starts, I would make sure someone is there to show prospective tenants around the house on that date.

G_M

i've struggled with this one... but unfortunately your son has signed a contract for the property at a rent of £x pe rmonth (the full rent for the property), along with 2 others.

His options I think are

1) move in with the other 2 and pay the full rent (6 rooms)
2) move in alone (the other 2 'drop out') and pay the full rent.
3) move in as 1 or 2 above, but start getting into rent arrears. Get
a) evicted and/or
b) sued for unpaid rent
LL/agent is likely to go after the occupant first as easier than chasing the 'dropped out' tenants
4) find 3 more joint tenants
5) 'drop out' along with the other 2, and hope the LL does not sue one or all 3
6) Negotiate a surrender of the tenancy.

4 & 6 seem to me the best options.

It is May. I'm sure the LL/agent could find new tenants if the property were put back on the market. Or is it an un-lettable dump? If your son (with/without the other 2) offered to pay the re-marketing costs, perhaps the LL would agree?

edalsmum

Thanks for replies so far.
He has spoken to the uni accommodation office, but they and everyone else just keeps telling him to find more tenants, which he's trying to do but not succeeding. The two girls who are interested haven't signed so far and won't if all rooms aren't let.
He certainly can't afford extra rent so would be evicted if he and the other moves in. He needs somewhere to live next year.
I know I'm looking ahead, but if he 'drops out' and the LL takes legal action, what happens if he has no money or earnings?
The house has been on the market again with the LL's agreement since Feb, but nothing happening. It's an ok house, no palace but suitable for students.
What a mess!

pimento

Get your son to join a student forum. I think there's one called The Student Room. There should be a sub forum for each university. He can tout the house there. Get on Facebook. A lot of the unis have pages. Tout the house on there.
He might have to wait until the results come out but he should be able to find replacements for the drop outs.

Which university is it?

edalsmum

He has advertised on the uni forum and Facebook etc.
He's doing his best, but because the contract starts in 6 weeks he doesn't know what to do. There's been no communication with the LL, no negotiation because my son is young and has no idea! Neither do I
Uni is Southampton Solent.

G_M

edalsmum wrote: »

.....
I know I'm looking ahead, but if he 'drops out' and the LL takes legal action, what happens if he has no money or earnings?
...

Don't want to depress you but... you asked....

If the LL takes him to court, and wins, the court will order him to pay.

They will take into account his earnings/assets and order him to pay so much per week/month till the debt is repaid.

If a case was brought just against himself, he would be wise to get the other two who signed joined to the case (if they weren't already) so the court would spread the cost between all three.

If he defaults on court payments, he'll get a CCJ recorded on his Credit File, which will make applying for credit (credit cards, mortgage ect) hard in the future. He'll also have difficulties renting in future as the CCJ will show up on searches.

princeofpounds

If they can get 5 people together then they should probably move in with the original 3 guaranteeing the spare room. They can continue to shop around for an extra tenant and it may only be a few weeks before they find someone. Many people have things fall through. They may need to get hyper-proactive though; advertise in the union, on the website, at the accommodation office etc etc. Try the other university in town too, plus any higher colleges. They should also not leave the worst room free; will make their task harder.

If they back out now as a 3 then they might end up accumulating liabilities at three times the rate, and it's probably harder to let to 6 than find just one more.

If your son reads this thread, he should be assured that lots of people get stung by housing issues at university. He and you should not be toooooo hard on him.

princeofpounds

Oh, and if the situation is very desperate the LL can't evict them until two whole rental payments are overdue (or the fixed term ends or a break clause opens up). In a house of six, that would mean the spare room would have to be unpaid for the whole year.

So there may be some time buffer, though a forward reference from the LL may be an issue later on.

edalsmum

Thank you for all the advice. The only thing is that one of the original 3 who signed has dropped out, signed a new agreement and paid rent for the new agreement so is no help really. My son and the remaining girl are left, and as there is the usual 'joint/severally liable' clause if they move in they'll be liable for her rent as she can't pay it. They do have the other 2 new girls who are interested, but they won't sign unless 2 more are found. Most students are finishing around about now and going home for the summer.

danielanthony

I wouldn't worry about it, what's the worst that can happen as your son has no money? Is the LL going to spend all that time and effort going to court to collect money from someone who has none?