Student rental accommodation

suec1981

Hello im new to this I hope I'm in the right forum! My daughter and 5 of her uni friends had decided to look at a 6 bed house to rent next year in leeds instead of the halls which they are in now. They looked at the property were happy with it and signed a tenancy agreement but they all needed a guarantor,were told they needed to pay 300 deposit but 100 would be OK for now until they got there next student loan payment then they could pay the next 200 then. 1 parent has signed as a guarantor 2 girls have dropped out so theyve all decided not to take the house now. The estate agent is saying he's going to take legal action against them if they don't take the house and find 2 more people to take the spaces.  Surely this can't be correct as they haven't even paid the deposit in full or have guarantors in place bar the 1 girl who has her guarantor. Hope this all makes sense any advise appreciated.

pinkshoes

suec1981 said:

Hello im new to this I hope I'm in the right forum! My daughter and 5 of her uni friends had decided to look at a 6 bed house to rent next year in leeds instead of the halls which they are in now. They looked at the property were happy with it and signed a tenancy agreement but they all needed a guarantor,were told they needed to pay 300 deposit but 100 would be OK for now until they got there next student loan payment then they could pay the next 200 then. 1 parent has signed as a guarantor 2 girls have dropped out so theyve all decided not to take the house now. The estate agent is saying he's going to take legal action against them if they don't take the house and find 2 more people to take the spaces.  Surely this can't be correct as they haven't even paid the deposit in full or have guarantors in place bar the 1 girl who has her guarantor. Hope this all makes sense any advise appreciated.

If they've signed a tenancy agreement then they've agreed to a tenancy of a particular term. 

I lived in a 6 bed house and one of the girls dropped out of uni. She had to pay for the entire year as she couldn't find anyone else.

I would hold fire with signing any guarantor agreement, but the parent that did sign might find themselves liable for the missing rent! The letting agency seem to be insisting the agreement go ahead even without the guarantors though which is unusual. 

What exactly does the tenancy agreement say?

suec1981

Thanks for your reply I was thinking that the 1 who had the guarantor may be liable. Clause 6 states this so I kind of thought they could get out of it?

Voyager2002

The girls have signed a contract so they are bound by it. There is only one guarantor, so the other parents are 'off the hook' but the landlord and agent can most certainly take legal action.

suec1981

Hi thanks but the other girl hasn't paid the full deposit only £100 of it will that make any difference? 

silvercar

It's December! Presumably the tenancy would only start in August 2024. The landlord/ agent have a duty to mitigate their losses. If this place is so good that the girls were keen to sign so early, the landlord/ agent should have no problem finding another group of students to sign up.

suec1981

Yeah they were due to take tenancy in July. I recieved an email before to remind me to sign as a the guarantor and when I click on it,it says this contract had expired! I have emailed the agent but they haven't got back to me. 

lika_86

Perhaps as they're all adults at university they could use their own resources to find the answer. The law library, student advice/accommodation centre, legal clinic etc. Let them stand on their own feet and understand the consequences of entering into agreements with other people. 

suec1981

Thanks for your comment just looking for some extra advise to help them out it is my daughter at the end of the day.
They are trying to sort it out with the agent they are adults you are right but we all need a little bit help and guidance every now and then!

BestnamesRgone

@Silvercar, not sure if it’s just a Leeds thing, but students do start looking very early for next year’s accommodation, Nov/Dec is quite normal to start looking.

One of my daughter’s housemates was taken seriously ill just before they were due to move into their house in Leeds and had to withdraw from uni. The letting agent made it clear the rest of the housemates were responsible for the short fall in rent. They advertised the room and found a new housemate almost immediately.

suec1981

Yes the agent said the houses are all usually gone by start of the new year! I'm just trying to work out how things stand with them not having a guarantor then like I said when I clicked on the reminder to sign up it says this contract has expired