Can landlord restrict size of TV I use?

dimbo61

My Son has just spent the last 2 years in halls of residence ( Private)
The LL has inspections every couple of months and at the end of the contract sent bills if any damage but at the same time if a light bulb goes out they only have to ring the office to have it replaced.
Unfair terms and conditions in the contract
What would happen if the 60" inch Plasma TV weighting 50/60 KG fell on a fellow student????
You have quiet enjoyment of your room
When they want to visit you put the TV in the wardrobe!!!

bitsandpieces

Your student union will likely have an advice centre - can you speak to them? There are likely other students in a similar position, so they should be able to help you deal with this company.

If it is an AST, though, it would be bizarre for them to try to evict you for having too big a TV. Have they said why they object (I take it you don't have a behemoth so heavy it risks breaking furniture/going through the floor?!)

Guest101

Its an AST, your safe.

If a tv fell on a student then its exactly the same as if it was your hime

and s.8 would be silly for a fully paying student.

and you dont have to let anyone in anyway, not even the LL

Niowrtt

dimbo61 wrote: »

You have quiet enjoyment of your room
When they want to visit you put the TV in the wardrobe!!!

At my halls, the wardens would just let themselves in whenever they liked it, whether I was there or not. I've heard the same from others at different institutions.

One day there was a knock on the door, and in the time it took me to stand up and walk over they had unlocked the door and had opened it in my face. On other, I came back and found my door unlocked (no way did I leave it like that).

No amount of protestations made any difference - we didn't matter, we were just in the way of them doing their jobs.

G_M

SideB wrote: »

Thank you everyone - to clarify it is an AST!

Is it? Are your sure...

See Housing Act 1988

SCHEDULE 1 Tenancies Which Cannot be Assured Tenancies

Lettings to students

A tenancy which is granted to a person who is pursuing, or intends to pursue, a course of study provided by a specified educational institution and is so granted either by that institution or by another specified institution or body of persons.
(2)In sub-paragraph (1) above “specified” means specified, or of a class specified, for the purposes of this paragraph by regulations made by the Secretary of State by statutory instrument.
(3)A statutory instrument made in the exercise of the power conferred by sub-paragraph (2) above shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

As asked on landlordzone:

Who is your landlord - part of the university? a private firm? a private individual?

You mention not disturbing anyone, but is this a requirement quoted in your tenancy agreement? Please give the exact wording.

Where is the requirement regarding the tv stated, in the tenancy agreement, or the house rules? please give the exact wording.

Do you have a TV licence or not?

So five questions, answers please, and we may be able to help.

BobQ

It may or not be the case that you have rights under whatever contract you have. It may also be the case your landlord may have no prospect of enforcement. However, if you want to live in a hall of residence in the future ignoring the rules may make this more difficult.

While I agree it may seem to be a petty rule, the OP is losing sight of the purpose of having a room in a hall of residence. It is to provide you with a relatively inexpensive, safe, quiet and conveniently located accommodation in which you can live and study. If everyone did what they wanted and ignored the rules it would soon detract from this.

ValHaller

HappyMJ wrote: »

Really...a few 10's of watts difference...it'll make little difference. What about irons and hair dryers...they use a lot more energy?

If they want to limit electricity usage then why don't they just put a 8A trip switch to each room which will limit each room to around 1800W. They could still have 25 rooms on a 100A main fuse without any major modifications to the electricity supply. The use of any electric heater would trip just the one room out immediately. It will still be enough for an iron or a hair dryer.

Is there anything in the rules regarding electric heaters?

Hairdryers using more energy than TV's? 0.1 hours of hair drying at 1 kW is 0.1kWh. 10 hours of TV at 150W is 1.5kWh. I think you are comparing apples with oranges to get an answer in bananas.

G_M

I'm not sure comparing the relative electricity consumption of different appliances is uesful. Or 2nd-guessing the precise thinking behind the rule/clause.

What matters is

* the legal position, which is still unclear and

* the moral position (thanks BobQ post 28!)

ValHaller

G_M wrote: »

I'm not sure comparing the relative electricity consumption of different appliances is uesful. Or 2nd-guessing the precise thinking behind the rule/clause.

At some level, there will always be a restriction on the supply available in a room. Clearly if a student is into electric welding, a 13 Amp welder may be feasible, a 30 Amp welder is pushing it and a 40 Amp welder is out of the question. Underlying this is a technical limitation. No one would challenge this as unreasonable.

Similarly there may be underlying technical reasons related to the diversity of the load - irons may be diverse in that not all students will iron simultaneously - but they could all watch TV simultaneously. This could in turn result in fuses being blown - handy when people are writing final assignments.

In short, there may be good underlying practical technical reasons for the restrictions. So just arguing this on the legalities while ignoring the practicalities may lead to a pointless legal victory at the cost of fuses blowing when people are writing important assignments.

dodger1

A couple of points. First am I the only person who reads an agreement, signs it and therefore accepts the rules. If I've signed something I'm sticking to it, if I didn't like the fact that I couldn't have a big TV I'd look elsewhere if that's what I wanted.

Secondly, OP you're a uni student, you're not supposed to be watching TV you're suppose to be out getting p****d every night and on those rare nights you aren't just do some studying