Surely this is not allowed? Landlord + keys

blaeme

Shared house with 6 people, starting on August 1st.

Landlord says he will not give anyone keys unless everyone pays the first months rent on that date or before it.

Meaning that if I pay the rent for August (say, sometime in July), and wish to get the keys and move in, if one of the other people hasn't paid, he will not give me the keys? Even though I have signed the contract saying the tenancy starts on August 1st and have paid the rent for August?

ComeTheRevolution

If you all signed up together, eg. as a group of students, it's probably written in your agreement. You'll also run into trouble if anyone else is late with rent or trashes the house.

grifferz

Tenancy doesn't begin until you are given keys anyway. You are still bound by it once you've signed it though (as is the landlord).

jamie11

blaeme wrote: »

Shared house with 6 people, starting on August 1st.

Landlord says he will not give anyone keys unless everyone pays the first months rent on that date or before it.

Meaning that if I pay the rent for August (say, sometime in July), and wish to get the keys and move in, if one of the other people hasn't paid, he will not give me the keys? Even though I have signed the contract saying the tenancy starts on August 1st and have paid the rent for August?

If all 6 of you are on a joint tenancy then you are collectively 'the tenant'.

So your landlord is correct that if 'the tenant' has not paid the rent and deposit in full then you don't get the tenancy and keys.

There is no such thing as a share of the rent in a JT, each of you is responsible for the whole of the rent at all times, it's up to the 6 of you how you deal with that.

blaeme

Wow.. sounds like this is a recipe for disaster. I've always been individualistic when it comes to things like this.. "do what you want as long as it doesn't effect me".

grifferz

blaeme wrote: »

Wow.. sounds like this is a recipe for disaster. I've always been individualistic when it comes to things like this.. "do what you want as long as it doesn't effect me".

Yet it's a very common arrangement amongst students and other small groups of friends who want to rent a property. Thousands upon thousands of people do it and manage to not get into too much difficulty.

We certainly do see some nightmare threads on here about some tenants disappearing and leaving others with all the bills etc., but then we do only hear about when things go wrong, not when joint tenancies go without a hitch.

The student ones seem the worst to be honest as these are often groups of people that don't know each and have never lived together before. First year in halls to make friends is a really good idea!

rpc

I think the LL is on dodgy grounds. If the contract is signed by all parties and *any* rent has been paid, then the contract is legally valid (the law merely requires some consideration, not necessarily the full amount). At that point, of course, the full rent is due.

If the landlord hasn't signed, then it is trickier.

You are liable for everyone else's rent if it is a joint tenancy where you all signed the same contract. There is only one tenant, that tenant just happens to be a group of six people with joint and several liability.

dominoman

blaeme wrote: »

Wow.. sounds like this is a recipe for disaster. I've always been individualistic when it comes to things like this.. "do what you want as long as it doesn't effect me".

I wouldn't worry too much. It is normal that you are all jointly liable in a shared house. As long as everyone is reasonable it will be fine.

I've houseshared for 10 years, often with people I didnt know, and never had any big problems. The worst that happened was one guy who moved out and didnt pay his rent or give notice, so the other three of us had to cover it. But that's rare, and not the end of the world when divided amongst several people.

Go for it.

G_M

1) each occupant has an individual contract signed by himself and the landlord (or agent). He pays his rent/deposit etc, & he receives a key.

2) all occupants have a single "joint & several" contract, signed by all 6 + LL/agent. They (as a group) pay the (entire) rent/deposit, and receive the key.

In 2) above there is no such thing legally as 'my share' of the rent. You are ALL responsible for ALL the rent. If one of you, for example, does a bunk to South America, the remaining 5 are still responsible for the full rent.

So the LL is not going to hand out a key to one of you until the (whole) rent is received.

blaeme

G_M wrote: »

You are ALL responsible for ALL the rent. If one of you, for example, does a bunk to South America, the remaining 5 are still responsible for the full rent.

So if one of the housemates runs away, would I go to prison/be made bankrupt? I can barely afford my own rent, nevermind someone else's on top

PasturesNew

blaeme wrote: »

So if one of the housemates runs away, would I go to prison/be made bankrupt? I can barely afford my own rent, nevermind someone else's on top

You'd be liable to pay.... and somebody would have to pay ... and, ultimately, you could be taken to court and, ultimately, that could lead to a bankruptcy....

.... and if they trashed the place before they ran away you'd be liable for the costs of putting that right too....

.... and if they all ran away ..... and you were the only one that could be found, you'd be responsible for all the rent to the end of the tenancy and all the bills and all the fixing after the trashing.