student tenancy agreement issue

[Deleted User]

My sympathies for the stress this has caused. I suspect the LL realises he is on a sticky wicket though.

If its any consolation my OH and I are splitting up and would you believe he handed over £200 as deposit for a house share without getting a receipt or seeing any paperwork. The owner of the house told him she needed another £200 as deposit when he went to move in and of course, he has no proof at all that he gave her the original £200. He went round there to sort it out last night and she wasn't in.., when he told me I said 'yep, I should imagine she's out having a good time on your money'. He is living in cloud cookoo land and think he can just ask for his deposit back and get it. I'm slightly more cynical lol.

I hope you will be able to make sure your son learns from this.., unlike my OH who is probably three times his age.

[Deleted User]

You need to find the exact wording of the tenancy agreement, does it say that each tenant is responsible for (rent)/(number of tenants) or (rent)/6? If it's the latter, the number of tenants doesn't matter. That's unlikely but if it's a student let they may have a student specific contract they use.

Your son needs to contact the 2nd co-tenant (the one that has chosen to find somewhere else) and explain to her in no uncertain terms: she is legally liable for the rent and if she chooses not to pay she will find herself in a sticky situation. I guess your son better hope she has parents with deep pockets.

Personally I'd go with the suggestion of just telling the landlord they're not moving in and finding somewhere else -- although is it possible to find a new student let this late into the year? -- because if your son tries to move in to this place with only 1 co-tenant and literally cannot afford the rent, they can be evicted very quickly and then they'll be in an even worse spot. At least if the landlord tries to sue them for breaking the contract they can put off dealing with the consequences for a while (how long does he have left before he starts working?). They need to focus on "where are we going to live?": they're up !!!! creek unless they find 4 new tenants which seems unlikely, so they should prepare for the worst. Minimise the impact on his next year, even if it's a long term sacrifice (getting sued... probable ccj...)

At least your son is learning early on that you never sign anything that can go wrong.

tbs624

edalsmum - all Ts should , as you say, have been present to sign the tenancy agreement.

Further, IIRC, where a tenancy is not to begin "immediately", then the tenancy agreement must be executed as a Deed. The agreement needs to state that it is to be executed as a Deed, and the signatures need to be witnessed.

Your son and his fellow students should get themselves along to a solicitor who is experienced in LL& T law ( check via the Law Society) and ask for a fixed fee appointment. Some will even give an initial free 20 mins slot. Have you spoken to the parents of the other students so that you can all give your offspring some appropriate support?

They will of course have learnt from this that they should *always* get an advance copy of any potential tenancy agreement and get it checked out *before* signing. Most Unis will have someone in the accomms office who can help with this. This means standing up to gobby LAs who try to tell young Ts that they have no need to see the tenancy agreement in advance.

edalsmum

Thanks again for all this help - it's very valuable to us and gives me confidence to fight this if we have to.
The 2nd co-tenant who dropped out, to be fair, has a parent who has been so supportive and understands the 'fix' they're all in and will stand alongside if this gets awkward - he's already done so much already. I can understand when he says he's rather this man not be his daughter's LL now anyway!
DaftyDuck - wish you were my son's LL!!