Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement

SanMat

My daughter signed a 12 months Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement which started on 01/07/2023.  There are 3 tenants on the contract (all students) in a 4-bed house.  She was asked to pay a security deposit + 1/2 rent in July and August, then it will be full rent from September to June.  She has not moved in yet but is allowed to move in as of 1st August.  Total rent for the house is around 16k for the 12 months contract, the 3 tenants are jointly liable for the rent. 

This week, a new 4th tenant has asked to move in the house from 1st September.  Due to this, the rental agency is asking my daughter to sign a new contract rather than amend the existing one. The new contract is only for 10 month from 1st September to 30th June. 
There are 4 tenants named on this new contract, and the total rent on the house has gone up to 19,500 for the 10 months period.  Again, all tenants are jointly liable for the rent on this contract.

The 2x half rent + the security deposit my daughter has already paid on the original contract are not mentioned at all on the new contract. 

The rent on the house as a whole has effectively gone up massively, by over 30% on the new contract!   The original contract is still in situ so what happens to the money she's already paid, especially as she has not even moved in yet? 

Where does she stand legally, what can she do?  Could she refuse the new contract and keep to the original one that has already started?   Can she ask for the original contract to be amended to add the 4th tenant to it, and split the total rent £16k between 4 tenants, rather than between 3 tenants?  
Where does she stand with this?  

I'm a guarantor on the original contract, so I would be guarantor on the new contract too, however my risk will go up by £3.5k if the new contract goes ahead.... 

I'll be grateful for some help with this situation. 

Mstty

If the total rent for the house has gone up to £19.5k for the year for 4 people that's £4,875 each. Under the old contract of £16k for 3 people that was £5,333 a year per person.

The total rent may have increased by £3.5k (22% ish) but it's now divided by 4 tenants.

Check the actual figures you may be right but not explaining it clear enough.

gazfocus

As the tenancy has already started as of 1st July (although if your daughter was paying half rent for July, why was she not able to enter the house til 1st August?), your daughter and the other two students are under no legal obligation to sign a new tenancy and if they have rented the whole house, they can refuse to allow the fourth person to move in. 

If they want the fourth person to move in (ie if it’s one of their friends), then they’ll have to agree to the new tenancy in order for the additional person to be added.

Also, with student accommodation (speaking from when I was a student), it’s common for houses to be rented in the way you’ve described. Eg, the house is let ‘per room’ but then all tenants are liable for the entire property…it’s a way around HMO rules in my opinion, and makes it easier where there’s a claim for damage to communal areas such as hallway, living room, kitchen, etc, so it doesn’t sound out of the norm for the total rent to increase with the addition of a fourth person. 

SiliconChip

Mstty said:

I cannot see how you would be liable for £3.5k more either.

It's because any sensible landlord would ensure that all tenants are jointly and severally liable for the full rent, and as the OP is guarantor they could become liable to the full £19,500 if all tenants and other guarantors prove more difficult for the landlord to get money from.

Mstty

SiliconChip said:

Mstty said:

I cannot see how you would be liable for £3.5k more either.

It's because any sensible landlord would ensure that all tenants are jointly and severally liable for the full rent, and as the OP is guarantor they could become liable to the full £19,500 if all tenants and other guarantors prove more difficult for the landlord to get money from.

Thankyou that does make sense 👍

Silly being the only guarantor then, if that is the case here.

SanMat

I am comparing the total rental costs noted on the 2 contracts for the property as a whole, not for individual tenants. It's a Assured Shorthold Tenancy, not an HMO agreement. 

Original contrat 01/07 to 30/06 (12 months) 
Total rent = 16,789*
Total paid so far = 2,480
Remaining to pay = 14,309

New contract 01/09 to 30/06 (10 months) 
Total rent = 19,507
No payments made so far

2nd contract: 19,507 + total payments made on original contract: 2,480 = 21,977**

The difference is an increase of +30.9%

SanMat

I'm not the only guarantor of course! 

Mstty

It's going to be a bit like this unless you detail everything, like pulling teeth so don't get frustrated when assumptions are made when you suggest you are the only only on the hook for the increases.

gazfocus

SanMat said:

I am comparing the total rental costs noted on the 2 contracts for the property as a whole, not for individual tenants. It's a Assured Shorthold Tenancy, not an HMO agreement. 

Original contrat 01/07 to 30/06 (12 months) 
Total rent = 16,789*
Total paid so far = 2,480
Remaining to pay = 14,309

New contract 01/09 to 30/06 (10 months) 
Total rent = 19,507
No payments made so far

2nd contract: 19,507 + total payments made on original contract: 2,480 = 21,977**

The difference is an increase of +30.9%

The numbers do seem a bit off but not massively so. 

Forget about the £2,480 paid so far as that was for months July and August (half rent as you say). 

Now, if you take the remaining £14,309 from
the old contract and divide that by 3, then multiply by 4, you’re looking at £19,078.67 for the new contract with 4 people. So, you need to query where the extra £428 has come from. 

As I mentioned earlier, it’s completely normal to charge for student accommodation per room so it boils down to whether your daughter and her housemates want this fourth person to move in or not as the original tenancy has already begun so can only be altered with the agreement of all parties on the tenancy. 

If your daughter and her housemates do want the fourth person to move in, then I’d definitely query the extra £428 but you might also want to speak to the agents about your guarantee because that was entered into based on a total commitment of £16,789 and not £21,977, so they cannot just assume you’ll take on the extra risk. 

SiliconChip

Mstty said:

It's going to be a bit like this unless you detail everything, like pulling teeth so don't get frustrated when assumptions are made when you suggest you are the only only on the hook for the increases.

You continue to miss the point, which is that if the landlord needs to pursue someone for arrears that can be all of the tenants, all of the guarantors, or crucially just one of the guarantors for the entire amount, which is what the OP is concerned about. As an extreme example, say all of the tenants and the other three guarantors decided to emigrate at the same time, the only person left to pursue in the UK for the whole of the debt would be the OP, and they would indeed be liable for it.

gazfocus

SiliconChip said:

Mstty said:

It's going to be a bit like this unless you detail everything, like pulling teeth so don't get frustrated when assumptions are made when you suggest you are the only only on the hook for the increases.

You continue to miss the point, which is that if the landlord needs to pursue someone for arrears that can be all of the tenants, all of the guarantors, or crucially just one of the guarantors for the entire amount, which is what the OP is concerned about. As an extreme example, say all of the tenants and the other three guarantors decided to emigrate at the same time, the only person left to pursue in the UK for the whole of the debt would be the OP, and they would indeed be liable for it.

Yes but the OP would have (or should have) been aware of that when they signed as guarantor in the first place. The only thing that’s changed is the amount of money involved which I feel should give the OP an out if they no longer wanted to be guarantor (though that may make it difficult for the OP’s daughter to remain as a tenant with the other 3).