Student Accomadation Nightmare

frogga

Hi All,


I'll keep the facts clear and as brief as possible ~


Tadpole 1 has started at the local Uni on Monday doing an English BA.


She decided to live in Halls to get the 'whole uni experience' even though we only live 10 miles away.


Student finance lost her application for a student loan once, and sent it back twice saying she had not signed it (when she actually had, they admitted it was their error).


She paid the first terms rent of £1500 with our money and got the keys on 12th September. She was going to pay us back once her loan came through.


On the same day she got the letter from Student Finance saying she was only entitled to £900 a term loan. Her rent is £1500 leaving a shortfall of £600 and no money to live off. They said as our family income is high, that is all she is entitled to. However, I have ALOT of financial commitments, and cannot afford to pay the shortfall in her rent AND give her money to live off.


She decided she will have to stay at home. A shame for her but she can't afford to live in Halls.


She has not moved in, and has not slept there, although she did visit the flat twice to speak to the students she would have been sharing with. They will vouch for these facts.


For the last 12 days I have been trying to contact Fresh Student Living to cancel the agreement. I got through once, the temp said there was a cooling off period of 14 days AFTER she signed the agreement and paid the £100 deposit, which had since passed as she did that in August. She said I'd have to speak to the manager.


I've emailed 4 times, and had no reply.


I finally got through on the phone today. I was told it is a 'legally binding contract' and she is tied in for the year. She will have to pay £1500 again in January, and £1500 again in April, for a flat that she is not living in, and has never lived in.


I am going to go and speak to the manager tomorrow, although she's already told me she'll be busy all day and probably won't be able to speak to me.


Does any one know where I stand??


She has actually signed NOTHING as it was all done online, I don't know if that has any baring? Surely they can't insist we pay £3500 for a years rent on a room she won't be living in???


Any advice on what action I could take? Or am I stuffed??


Thanks for reading


Frogga

GwylimT

Why can't she get a job?

A basic online calculator would tell you her loan amount.

frogga

She does have a job. Working from 4am until 9am in Sainsbury's. It pays peanuts but it will help. She is on a full time uni course, but still getting up at 3am to go to work.



We didn't know our income would count. She is 19 and I didn't realise we would be expected to pay for her.


Thanks for your contribution??

DomRavioli

frogga wrote: »

She does have a job. Working from 4am until 9am in Sainsbury's. It pays peanuts but it will help. She is on a full time uni course, but still getting up at 3am to go to work.



We didn't know our income would count. She is 19 and I didn't realise we would be expected to pay for her.


Thanks for your contribution??

It does say in the applications for loans that parent's income will count unless they have been financially dependent for an amount of time (usually 2-5 years). Its also very common to see this literally plastered all over college information leaflets about university and the university itself.

Unfortunaetly, not paying attention or failing to read an application isn't a reason to refund you, your income is how they base the level of loans for your child; you are expected to make up the shortfall.

frogga

Thank you DomRavioli. I expect you are right that this info is plastered everywhere. As an 18 year old I'm not sure how much notice I would have taken of that sort of thing? Maybe you were very astute and aware at that age, but I wasn't and Tadpole isn't either.


She has NO IDEA what we earn. She hears me moaning a lot about debt/ money/ and the lack of it so I expect she assumed we were 'poor'!


Whatever the rights and wrongs of what her mistake was, I am simply asking if anyone knows if we can get out of a year long agreement? I really don't need any more people telling me it's our fault/ her fault. It's done. If we have to pay, then we will. I just would like to know if anyone had any experience of a similar issue and they were able to sort it out reasonably.


She has not taken a flat off anyone else as half of the block is empty.


Really, unless you have something helpful to add, please don't waste your time replying. People are very quick to judge but have no idea of our situation. My husband and I work full time, have NEVER claimed a penny in benefit. He is unwell, although has NEVER had a day off work, and we are ploughing every penny into our mortgage in order for it to be paid off early so he can cut down at work, or even give up and allow me to support him.


Tadpole 1 is sick with worry over how we will afford to pay this debt. It's easy to say 'well you should have known'. We didn't. Can we move on and only offer help if it's constructive. I'm sure we've all made mistakes. 'Help not judgement' and all that...

Andypandyboy

I very much doubt that you will be able to get out of this contract. I have just signed an online contract for student halls for my offspring and it is still a binding legal document when completed online, they wouldn't use them if they weren't.

I am struggling to understand how you wouldn't have been aware that parental income is taken account of. I disagree with it, but under the loan system it has always been the case. You would have had to either disclose your income or state that it exceeded the maximum on the application form. So it must have been discussed.

We are in the same boat, but we expected it and given that our earnings do count we can't see our offspring penalised for that. So we are paying rent which also exceeds their loan. That is just how it is.

The ceiling is something like £52,000 so a reasonable figure. I am afraid that the fact that you have financial outlay will cut no ice with the University, and to be frank, we all have those committments, so why should it?

GwylimT

frogga wrote: »

She does have a job. Working from 4am until 9am in Sainsbury's. It pays peanuts but it will help. She is on a full time uni course, but still getting up at 3am to go to work.



We didn't know our income would count. She is 19 and I didn't realise we would be expected to pay for her.


Thanks for your contribution??

If you thought your income didn't couny did you not find it rather odd you had to provide it? When we applied for my sons this was very clear on the application form, on their website and in the press not too long ago as the amount of grant has changed somrwhat. Also, if living at home you get a smaller loan, so if she is able to break the contract student finance will need to be informed.

Not reading the application form for the loan is not a good reason to break a contract, I know my sons friend didn't pay his rent as he blew his loan, until he had paid it all the university did not allow him to graduate.

Using the loan calculator outside London earning £60,000 a year still gives £4 in maintenance loan for someone living outside the family home.

frogga

Thanks for the reply Andy.


We did fill out financial info, and that was the first I realised our income would count. It was a total shock? Tadpole is the first in our family to go to uni so it's all new to us. How naive do I feel?


I hear Marvelous Martin going on about 'money not being a reason to not go to uni' all the time so I honestly thought she'd get a loan to cover her rent and although be a bit skint, I did think it would be enough? I had NO IDEA we'd have to contribute? Luckily we are supportive of her, in all ways, but what happens if your parents WON'T help?


We've shelved the idea of paying the mortgage off early, and Tadpole feels dreadful about this as she knows why we were trying to do it. Obviously she can have my last penny. We wouldn't quibble.


I guess it looks like we're stuck. I guess you live and learn. And yes, I guess our financial situation is our business, and not their concern.

frogga

We were only asked to provide income details AFTER she had already signed the contract, which we never saw. Yes, again, her mistake. Good job we are supportive parents who realise that people, especially young people, make mistakes.

Tigsteroonie

I think I'd be going through the legally binding agreement with a fine toothed comb. Is the agreement between the landlord and your daughter, or the landlord and you daughter +you as guarantor?

I'm only thinking that, if she has no income and no money, then it'd be difficult for the landlord to take her to court with any chance of successful payment.

Andypandyboy

Something else to watch out for is that if she decides to continue to live out and goes into private housing next year, some contracts are written such that all renters are jointly liable for the total rent due. This means if one renter does not move in, or moves out early and defaults on the payments the rest of them are liable for their rent too. This is not always fully understood by youngsters renting privately for the first time, and as most landlords require the parents to be guarantors, it becomes your problem too. I know, as I have been there. It was resolved amicably in the end but it was a headache at the time.