Student tenancy agreement termination

need_an_answer

My student off spring rented through Unite students during their first year at uni....now in final year of Masters and renting privately but in exactly the same situation as your child who no doubt has been told/advised by the uni to go home.

The contracts that unite provide are fixed terms so you will find them to be a set number of weeks that usually take you through sept-june or thereabouts.They can be terminated but only if you find the relevant replacement,which is highly unlikely in the circumstances.

Your daughter should be getting the final payment of her student loan through towards the beginning of april...and what she needs to do is use this payment to hopefully make either all or most of rent payment to unite.

Hopefully by being at home she wont have other living expenses like food/entertainment so the burden of the rent payment should be taken up by the SL payment.

Its not the ideal solution but its the one that most students are now faced with...mine included.

We are this weekend shipping them out of their university town and back home to hopefully complete the final dissertation before submission...we will need to return to the rented property just before handback in june to clean and remove the last of the belongings.

We are facing a bill of a little over £1200 for a rental payment where we are contracted....the private LL has so far offered no leeway nor perhaps were we expecting it ...its just one of those situations that probably couldn't have been predicted.

greatcrested

Maybe it's just a reflection of what prompts people to post on a site like this, but it seems that there is a distinction between the need for sympathetic and flexibe responses towards those in genuine need or with genuine hardship resulting from the pandamic, and the attempts by many to use the pandemic as an excuse to ignore normal obligations and do whatever is most convenient to themselves at whatever cost to others.

need_an_answer

greatcrested said:

Maybe it's just a reflection of what prompts people to post on a site like this, but it seems that there is a distinction between the need for sympathetic and flexibe responses towards those in genuine need or with genuine hardship resulting from the pandamic, and the attempts by many to use the pandemic as an excuse to ignore normal obligations and do whatever is most convenient to themselves at whatever cost to others.

Not the most helpful of responses,but clearly your opinion.

gary83

I know that It’s unfortunate & totally unpredictable but it might just be one of those hard life lessons that you’re supposed to learn at uni. After all why should students be treated any differently to the rest of society? If the landlord/company has been contracted to provide accommodation and is still providing the accommodation why should they not have to pay for it? not many other large groups of people are hoping to have their contracts ripped up so they can move back in with mum & dad.

Looking at it from a glass half full perspective, or trying to find the silver lining, this has happened towards the middle of March, there’s only a few months left to have to pay for, it could have been worse if it happened In October!

The other thing I’m wondering is if this period shows that traditional universities & students can both cope just as well with online, or distance learning will we see more people doing this in the future & choosing not to sign these accommodation contracts in the first place?

jones2382

greatcrested said:

Maybe it's just a reflection of what prompts people to post on a site like this, but it seems that there is a distinction between the need for sympathetic and flexibe responses towards those in genuine need or with genuine hardship resulting from the pandamic, and the attempts by many to use the pandemic as an excuse to ignore normal obligations and do whatever is most convenient to themselves at whatever cost to others.

I don't think it's as easy as saying that, many parents pay for their child's accommodation - they might not have the means to pay for it - seems like loads of people are getting laid off right now. 

jones2382

gary83 said:

I know that It’s unfortunate & totally unpredictable but it might just be one of those hard life lessons that you’re supposed to learn at uni. After all why should students be treated any differently to the rest of society? If the landlord/company has been contracted to provide accommodation and is still providing the accommodation why should they not have to pay for it? not many other large groups of people are hoping to have their contracts ripped up so they can move back in with mum & dad.

Looking at it from a glass half full perspective, or trying to find the silver lining, this has happened towards the middle of March, there’s only a few months left to have to pay for, it could have been worse if it happened In October!

The other thing I’m wondering is if this period shows that traditional universities & students can both cope just as well with online, or distance learning will we see more people doing this in the future & choosing not to sign these accommodation contracts in the first place?

Italy and France have many a lot of changes to tenancy and landlord agreements, I'm sure something might happen to people here, I've heard a lot of parents have picked up their children from uni because of the virus today. So it might be the case that with so many people appealing their contracts, they might have something done about it. 

Retireby40

jones2382 said:

greatcrested said:

Maybe it's just a reflection of what prompts people to post on a site like this, but it seems that there is a distinction between the need for sympathetic and flexibe responses towards those in genuine need or with genuine hardship resulting from the pandamic, and the attempts by many to use the pandemic as an excuse to ignore normal obligations and do whatever is most convenient to themselves at whatever cost to others.

I don't think it's as easy as saying that, many parents pay for their child's accommodation - they might not have the means to pay for it - seems like loads of people are getting laid off right now. 

The parent has stated their child gets a student loan to cover rent costs. They will be recieving this loan next month even though they arent actually going into the university. So a shortfall in money isnt the reason for the questions.

It's basically they dont want to pay for a service they have decided not to use. It's not a situation that will be resolved on here nor will anyone have a concrete answer.

As stated contact the university, present your arguments and if they say no pay the money and that's life. The money will only be spent on nights out and summer holidays once everyone is allowed out again.

jones2382

I would say try to compile your child's medical records and draft up a letter. I would also say look out for what the government will say in the next few days, if the third term is a month or so away, you'll have some time to deal with the situation. Looks like the government might move in a direction that it usually doesn't, might make announcement about students at university. 

silvercar

A few other ideas of how students can save money if they are leaving their university town:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6116645/coronovirus-student-money-saving-when-your-academic-year-has-been-cut-short

voip03

After pressure from all students and parents, Unite Students have done a U turn. They will not be charging students for the third term.
Thank you to the people who gave great advice.