Help needed re uni accomodation.

[triplets]

I am not sure this is the right place to post this, wasn't sure where to go! My daughter has just finished her first year at uni, she stayed in halls. The course ended on the 13th May yet her accommodation had to be paid until the 17th June, she came home as they all did on the 13th. So 5 weeks @£127 is a lot of money lost. She and 5 others will be sharing a house from Sept, the house is owned by a lady who rents and is known to the uni. She has asked them to take over the house from July 1st yet they don't start back until 4th Sept. I understand she doesn't want to be out of pocket but I don't know how they expect these kids to have the money. Their next loan wont go in until mid Sept, by which time she will want three months rent which my daughter just wont have. Is this how it normally works? TIA.

[Brokenbiscuit]

Has she already signed the tenancy agreement?

[MostIneptThatEverStepped]

Unfortunately this is quite often how it works. My daughter had to do this.

[Spartak]

I was at uni until 2013 and this was how it worked. Had to pay over the summer. Some people managed to get a reduced retainer rent at half price, but most didn't.

Presumably she will have a summer job and could pay the rent out of that to avoid a huge bill in September?

[inspiredbutohsotired]

I'm at university currently and sadly this is how it works. Usually students are expected to stay in uni halls until all exams and end of year balls/parties are done with, usually June or July. Private student housing then usually starts in July or August, September if you're very lucky. I had to pay mine from 1st September when my uni only started back mid October. My friend goes to Durham and although only started her 2nd year on 2nd October, had to pay her rent for her house from 1st July. It's a lot of money and it does seem silly but I guess landlords have mortgages to pay - I suggest your daughter do what my friends and I did and live there over the summer and try to get a job for the 3 or 4 months she's not busy x

[OhTheRoses]

This is how it works.

[MrsBobtonTrent]

It is crap. Landlords want money all year round or students are undesirable. If they start the tenancy in September, it's much easier for students to leg it before next summer and avoid paying rent. So they start the summer before the academic year. Campus accommodation is an annual fee that they divide up by weeks. Uni aren't going to be able to let the room for a few weeks before the summer lets start. You just have to factor in the whole years accommodation out of your money in September. Uni can usually stop you graduating if you owe money to them, and the private LL can find another tenant if you don't pay your first few months rent. Is DD getting work in the holidays?

[Brokenbiscuit]

It isn't always how it works. Some people manage to negotiate very successfully so that they don't pay for the summer, or pay a reduced rate. However, the time to negotiate is before signing the contract. If the OP's dd has already signed, then sadly, she will have to suck it up.

[GasLightShining]

Unfortunately it is how it is.

Paid £1200 for DS's accommodation this term and he ended up there for less than 2 weeks

Him and his friends have signed a lease for a house for September although the lease will run from 1 July. The landlord however is only charging half rent for July and August.

He has a job for the summer so will be able to save for September's rent and I expect I will be paying for July and August

[shhhgobacktosleep]

Yup this is how it works. Dd about to start 3rd year and ds his first they are both working full time over the summer in order to be able to afford to live during term time. Dd so far has worked every single summer, Christmas and Easter holidays. It's a life lesson to learn to work in order to have the things you want from life, including an education

[Reow]

I had to pay from July 12 years ago when I was at uni. I think everyone did. Fairly standard.

[Catminion]

Unfortunately true for DD1 too. Where there is a shortage of accommodation, you either have to suck it up or live in a rat infested cupboard. There are always those willing to sign up if you don't.

[LIZS]

Did they have to leave mid May or could she have stayed until mid June? Ds has spent last 3 weeks since exams at uni as vacating date is this weekend. His external rental is also from July.

[LightastheBreeze]

This is normal, DS got a job and stayed in his accommodation all the holidays and picked up loads of extra hours work in the holidays as most of his colleagues at the supermarket he worked in went home. DS just came home on the odd weekend, it was much better than him just lounging around all holidays at home with us doing nothing and he earned quite a lot of money.

[Ratbagratty]

Yes this is how it works, some students can't go home so need to rent from July, others choose to stay because of jobs or local friends. If this a bill inclusive place maybe try to get a reduction for bills.

[Whileweareonthesubject]

I think it's fairly standard. Once DC1 moved out of halls, rent always had to be paid from something like the end of June/beginning of July. Landlords still have expenses to cover, so I imagine that if they didn't charge for the whole year, they would just put up the rent for the months when students are in residence, so it would work out the same cost. For the last two years (four year degree) DC and their housemates rented the same house and so were able to leave a lot of stuff there over vacations, as well as living their for the period around a level results, when they all got temp jobs at the university, answering phone calls from potential students looking for information and advice.

[kel1234]

Landlords still want the rent. Usually students can negotiate half rent over the summer months, as long as they are not actually staying/ living in the house over the summer.

[Wecks]

Same here. DS has to pay his halls right up to the end of July - 6 weeks longer than he needs it and his second year house starts mid July so 10 weeks before he needs it and they overlap!

[Crumbs1]

Yes we paid catered hall until July but I am collecting her on Wednesday. We've paid deposit and agency fee for her house next year which was a significant sum. She'll take over house from August 1st but not live there until nearly October.
Doesn't make me as Cross as landlords who don't return deposit despite no damage and a clean property and who also fail to maintain property in good repair. Students are often taken for a ride.

[poisonedbypen]

Same here. Last year we paid for 42 weeks in halls and then had the pleasure of paying for 2 lots of accommodation for a week as they overlapped. This year we have a week off between the two contracts.

[Millionsmom]

DD2s accommodation expires end of June, new place starts the 7 Sept. She was very lucky the landlady was happy to do this otherwise, like everyone else, she'd be paying when she couldn't use the place.
She - and 3 of her mates - signed the agreement way back in February too.

[MyVisionsComeFromSoup]

DDs halls and next years house cross by 12 days - which gives her time to move her stuff from one place to the other, and clean her room when it's empty. Means she doesn't need to drag home all the stuff she won't need over the summer (like duvet, cooking equipment, chair, printer).

However, I thought I had another rent installment to pay on 1st June, but turns out the last payment was 1st May, so i'm quids in .

[crazycatgal]

This is pretty much how it works. When my tenancy began last year I had to borrow money from family to pay the rent until my loan went in.

I've just moved out now but have had to pay until the end of July.

[Epipgab]

It's pretty normal. Thinking back, some people used to "sub-let" to other students over the holidays if it was permitted.

[TheFairyCaravan]

It's standard and not everyone finishes for the Summer in May.

DS2's still at uni until the end of July and starts back at least 2 weeks earlier than his housemates. His contract starts again on the 1st August, he's staying in the same house as last year.

[dementedma]

Yup. Happened here for dd2. Its a pain but you need to secure the tenancy and that includes over the summer when they dont have Saas money