Renting Student Property Advice

wirm

My friend has moved into a Student property with five other people. Each person has their own single lease agreement. His problem is that there are no locks on any of the bedroom doors.

When he asked the estate agents that rents out the house he was told that it would cost £25 to get a lock on each bedroom in the house.

My thoughts are that as he is under a single lease agreement then surely the estate agent/landlord has to provide a lock on his room for secuity purposes and insurance purposes.....

I said I would try and get information as to if he should have to pay for it...

shopndrop

My son is sharing and each student has their own lease agreement. When they asked the landlord about locks on the door they were told this was not possible as it would change the tenancy terms (not sure if this is true or not). I think locks on each door would be more secure as previous owners could still have copy keys. Also there is something about if there was a lock on each door they would each be liable to pay for a television licence, not just one licence for the house. Any advice would be appreciated.

wirm

If you have a single lease in a house/flat and if you have a tv in your bedroom then you have to pay for the tv license for each bedroom...

memo_2

For some reason my landlord is also being funny about putting locks on bedroom doors - said its something to do with council tax and tenancy laws. I don't have a clue what he's going on about.
Can anyone enlighten us?

Savvy_Sue

memo wrote:

For some reason my landlord is also being funny about putting locks on bedroom doors - said its something to do with council tax and tenancy laws. I don't have a clue what he's going on about.
Can anyone enlighten us?

It might turn it from a shared house - separate bedrooms but shared kitchen, and the expectation that people are eating together - to a House in Multiple Occupation. There are very strict rules for the latter re fire escapes etc etc etc. I can understand a landlord not wanting house to be be seen as the latter.

And for Council Tax, a HMO would, I believe, be liable for CT for each of the separate bedrooms rather than the property as a whole. But don't quote me on that - I'm just going by the fact that the landlord is saying it has CT implications.

If all residents are students, you might think that the CT bit is irrelevant, but it will involve the landlord in more work, especially at changeover time!

System

Just happened upon this post and it certainly seems to explain why the lock on my daughters room in her new shared maisonette has been removed. We didn't understand the relevance to the likes of TV licenses, council tax etc.

Incidentally she was advised by the letting agents to go to Newcastle Civic centre to get a council tax exemption form for her and her housemates.

ashmit

When they asked the landlord about locks on the door they were told this was not possible as it would change the tenancy terms (not sure if this is true or not).

Yep this is true.

Also there is something about if there was a lock on each door they would each be liable to pay for a television licence, not just one licence for the house.

This is true too.

If you want to know anything else, please ask, as my husband runs a letting agency that lets to students mainly (in Newcastle!) and I can ask him what the law states for you.

Incidentally she was advised by the letting agents to go to Newcastle Civic centre to get a council tax exemption form for her and her housemates.

My understanding was that you got the exemption form from the uni and took it to the council, but you can always phone the council for clarification.

Savvy_Sue

ashmit wrote:

If you want to know anything else, please ask, as my husband runs a letting agency that lets to students mainly (in Newcastle!) and I can ask him what the law states for you.

I'd love to know if I was roughly on target with what I said about it becoming a HiMO if there were individual locks on the bedroom doors. Please?

memo_2

Savvy_Sue wrote:

It might turn it from a shared house - separate bedrooms but shared kitchen, and the expectation that people are eating together - to a House in Multiple Occupation. There are very strict rules for the latter re fire escapes etc etc etc. I can understand a landlord not wanting house to be be seen as the latter.

Thanks for that it makes more sense - I think my landlord mentioned something about the fire escapes at the time but I didn't have a clue about how it was all linked together with council tax and locks at the time.

The only solution I can see is putting a little lock on the door from inside my room but I was more worried about when I won't be in the house. Any suggestions to get around this?

memo

ashmit

My darling dearest husband doesn't know I've asked him to check with his boss and will hopefully know and post by Monday night. I've found this though http://www.oxbridgecareers.com/17_movingtolondon.html which implies that what we thought is right.

*wanders away muttering to herself about people not knowing law relevant to their jobs*

wirm

Seccondly, single rooms in a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO), usually with a shared kitchen and bathroom. Students living in HMOs will each have an individual tenancy and there will be locks on the door of each room.

Is this what my friend has then? Does this mean he's intitled to a lock on his door without paying for it??