Student tenancy inclusive of bills - landlord says was in error

Kevling

Hello 

My youngest child moved into a rented property for their second year at Uni with their friend.

The tenancy clearly states that utilities (inc internet) are included, including a table of reasonable usage that they will be charged for if exceeded.

Yesterday their internet was cut off, and their landlord has left a voicemail message to say there was a mistake in the tenancy agreement and that bills should not have been included.

They are obviously stressing that they are about to have gas and electricity cut off.

Other than putting a complaint in writing to the landlord, I wondered if anyone had any advice on how to proceed, and how to get this resolved?

 

la531983

As an aside, their gas and electric wont be "cut off" any time soon, if at all.

MEM62

In the same manner that a tenant is obliged to stick to the terms of the agreement, so is the landlord.  If the agreement states bills included, then it is bills included.  Your starting point is a formal complaint to the landlord reminding him of the terms and conditions.  

tacpot12

If the error was not just in the advert but also in the tenancy agreement, I think I would be looking for the landlord to carry the bulk of the cost of their mistake. 

Whether or not it is a good idea to push for this might come down to how long the tenancy agreement is for, and whether there is a break clause. If the agreement if for 6 months, or there is a break at six months, you run the risk of them being evicted if they don't pay quite a lot more. (how much to pay is a matter of negotiate based on other rents in the area and an assessment of the cost of utilities). 

If the agreement is for 12 months, then the landlord should be stuck with the problem, but to avoid them become inpleasant, it might be worth offering to pay them a small amount per month extra per occupant (assuming the friend is okay with this) to share the burden of the mistake (while leaving the landlord to carry the bulk of it). You can also offer that the students will try to keep the bills down by being carefull with energy and heating use.  

The alternative is that the landlord signs an agreement terminating the tenancy. They might do this if they think they can re-rent the property quickly, but your son should not agree to be liable for any rent after they leave if they are leaving with the landlord's agreement - the agreement terminating the tenancy needs to be very clear that no one is responsible for paying any rent after they leave the property.

The landlord is on very dodgy legal grounds not paying the broadband bill so that the tenants don't have internet access.

If you have home insurance, check to see if you have legal expenses cover and call the Legal Helpline provided by the insurer to see if they will help with this sutation. Some will do so as your son is normally part of your family outside of term-time. (If he is still registered to vote at you house, you could mention this as part of showing that it is his permanent home). 

Albermarle

MEM62 said:

In the same manner that a tenant is obliged to stick to the terms of the agreement, so is the landlord.  If the agreement states bills included, then it is bills included.  Your starting point is a formal complaint to the landlord reminding him of the terms and conditions.  

Maybe include in the complaint a firm request to reconnect the internet within the next X days or you will be hearing from my solicitor?

theartfullodger

Yes, tenancy agreement works for all.  Complain (tenant not you) to landlord (writing/email, keep copy, calm & polite) noting that costs for t'internet alternatives will be claimed for, if necessary small claims MCoL.

Lying cheating landlord a disgrace (I'm a 20+ year landlord)

Kevling

Thanks for the quick responses everyone

Yes it’s a 12 month tenancy with no break clause.

The original advert contradicted itself (it said both inclusive and exclusive in different sections), but with the final tenancy agreement stating “inclusive” we thought that resolved things, and they have budgeted accordingly.

I will help them draft a letter of complaint, and will let you know how it goes.

Kevling

Will send the following for now, keep it civil, but will save the threats of solicitors and/or legal advice for any follow up if required.

Dear AGENT

Re: ADDRESS

I would like to lodge a formal complaint about the above tenancy agreement.

Yesterday, our internet was cut off, and when querying it, we were advised that the tenancy agreement should not have stated that bills were included.

The tenancy agreement (copy attached) clearly states that “subject to clause 4.7 rent is inclusive or reasonable costs of gas, electricity, water and internet”, therefore it is the landlord’s obligation to continue to provide these services.

Please can you arrange for the internet to be restored within the next 7 days.

Best regards 

Kim_13

LL will have to suck it up. The tenants may well have gone elsewhere for less money had they expected they would need to pay for services on top. If the agent is responsible for the error, the LL should seek the costs of providing the services from them.

Spotted a typo in Kevling's draft - paragraph 3 should say 'of reasonable costs...'

Schwarzwald

agree with most comments above.
if the agreement says Inclduded, it shall be included.
the tenant might be well advised to send an email to the LL saying that TA states Internet is included.
Tenant compared various offerings from internet suppliers.
Tenant has chosen ABC Company to provide internet and will order such in 3 days.
The costs will be deducted from the rent going forward.
Same goes with utilities if the LL choses to cancel any contracts.

then take it from there.

Kevling

We’ve had a response from the agent saying that they informed them both on a viewing, and by email (copy included), that bills were not included in the rent.

Which I suspect puts us on much less solid ground…

But they still the agent still issued a contract saying they were included. 

I’m guessing we need to suck it up and get paying 🤣