Urgent Help Needed Regarding Living In Student Accomodation

JohnSmith_3

Hi

I live in an off-campus student accommodation at Warwick University. I have not signed a formal contract and was just given the house keys due to a clerical mistake by them. Because there is a room spare in the house they are expecting me to pay an under-occupancy charge. Maybe the following email will help clarify my situation (please note the bold typed things):

"Dear John

I apologise for the lack of response you have received regarding this matter. I have
now looked into the matter fully and can provide you with a response regarding the
under occupancy charges for 2 Freeburn Causeway.

I have described the situation below as I see it with regards to people moving in
and out of this property.

The original group which who signed the contract for this property were:

Thomas1
Thomas2
Thomas3
Thomas4

Thomas1 and Thomas2 never moved into the property and are withdrawn from the University and so their contracts were terminated. You moved into the property in place of Thomas1 and have been paying rent from 20th September 2007. Therefore, from 20th
September there were only three people living in a four bed property. As per the terms of the contract the house mates are responsible for the total rent of the
property and so if there are three of you in a four bed property the extra rent for the spare room is split equally between you as an under occupancy charge.

I am aware that you have not signed the contract for this property but you collected
the keys and have been living at the property since 20th September. This is taken as
acceptance of the terms of the contract.

On 12th February Thomas3 took temporary withdrawal and as per the terms of the contract was released from the contract. This left two of you at the property
responsible for four rents.

I have spoken to the Senior Property Manager regarding your under occupancy charges and she has agreed to cancel the second under occupancy charge relating to Thomas3's departure. This leaves you and Thomas4 with the under occupancy for one room at
the property. I am in the office all day tomorrow and so will check your account and
make sure that the correct charges are on your account. If there are any changes to the amounts that you have already paid I will let you know.

Kind regards
Gemma"

Can someone please let me know how I legally stand taking into consideration that I have not actually signed anything.

The University is trying to rip me off!!!

melancholly

go and see student services or your student union accommodation rep asap. they will be the best people to help you resolve this.

proudmum_3

Hi John,
as melancholly suggests, talk to someone in the accomodation office at Uni.
My son shares a house off Campus with 3 other students. when they moved in they all signed seperate contracts for their rooms.
Later this year 1 student is leaving and the landlord said they could either find someone else to rent the room, (which they have done and she has signed her tennancy agreemement) or the landlord would have to re let the property as it is a 4 bedroomed accomadation.

Ask them for the terms of contract of which they say you have accepted.
I hope you get it sorted out soon. If not look for different accomadation for next year.

whitfreak

This might be me being an idiot but I was always under the assumption that if you signed separate contracts and one leaves then the landlord can relet that room to anyone who will pay the rent, but kicking everyone out to relet the whole lot wasn't allowed (well not easily anyway).

Whereas if you sign a joint contract then all of you are liable for the total rent. So what I find strange in JohnSmiths case is that the Warwick Uni (or the external landlord whatever) would allow Thomas2 and Thomas3 to be no longer liable for the rent while expecting the remaining tenants to pick up the bill.

The FAQ on the warwick uni accomidation website seems to disagree with what they are asking you to do. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/accommodation/studentaccommodation/general/#offcampusaccommodation
If you signed as an individual then you shouldnt be liable for the the empty rooms. Get hold of your contract asap.

melancholly

http://www.warwicksu.com/advice/

have a look at the warwick SU advice and welfare page - they have a phone number to ring so that may be a good place to start.

JohnSmith_3

The thing is that I have not sighned a contract. So surely I must have the legal upperhand as it were.

But I will definitely get in contact with the students union.

melancholly

btw, i assume that you paid a deposit and that they provided you with details of what scheme they were using to look after it?! if not, you have something to throw back at them!

Gingernutmeg

melancholly wrote: »

btw, i assume that you paid a deposit and that they provided you with details of what scheme they were using to look after it?! if not, you have something to throw back at them!

I think if it's classed as 'student accommodation' (which is probably is if it's provided by the university) then the deposit doesn't need to be protected. I'm assuming that this is the case as the OPs post doesn't make it clear who the landlord is, I'm assuming it's Warwick uni rather than a private landlord. Obviously if it is a private landlord then the deposit should have been protected.

whitfreak

The thing is that you've paid rent and lived there... So there must be an assumed agreement there somewhere otherwise what are you paying them for, or why are they letting you live there?

Admittedly its their fault for not getting you to sign a contract, although why you were quite happy to live there without a written one for so long I don't know (presuming you havent been hassling them for an age to get one). However, everything on the accomidation website suggests that if you applied for accomidation as a individual, then you are not liable for your housemates rents, it also implies that those who left are still liable until a new tenant is found. And presuming that you weren't sent a copy of the contract, then it is reasonable to assume that any non-written agreement that is effectively in place has to be based on what is availible to you before you got the keys (i.e. their website and any letters, email, phonecalls, etc.). This is because all contracts/agreements have to go through offer (counter-offer) and acceptance. I imagine it would be trivial to show that you would not have lived there if you knew you would be liable for the rent of the other randoms were they to leave/not pay/etc.

I hope things workout well for you.

proudmum_3

This might be me being an idiot but I was always under the assumption that if you signed separate contracts and one leaves then the landlord can relet that room to anyone who will pay the rent, but kicking everyone out to relet the whole lot wasn't allowed (well not easily anyway).

Sorry, dont know how to put quote in a box!

The landlord Can re let to another student if other members of the house find someone as contracts only run for a year. However as the accomodation is advertised as a 4 bedroomed property, at the end of the term he can re advertise for 4 people. I can see his point as it saves him advertising all the rooms seperately.

nimbo

re the quote, if you press the quote button it does if for you. (bottom right of post)

when i was a student all of my landlords (uni included) insisted on gaurentors to cover the rent if the student missed payments etc... didn't they do that here??? what they are talking about seems to be unfair and not standard practice for a STUDENT let, although would be for a regular shared tenency. it seem unfair if they have genuinely sprung this on you, and if the accomadation officer at uni is f no use i would maybe try the CAB, as at leats they can give you a general idea as to how to try to fight this.

the problem is that if you owe your uni money then they can make things hard for you, eg, no books from the library, and not letting you collect certificates etc...