Cousin's daughter has ended up with the box room at her university shared house

Guns the lease and rent will be for the whole house, not per room, so the landlord hasn't said 'room x is worth rent y' - they will have a joint lease for a total amount.

I had a flat as an adult where one of the rooms was so small the bed had a specially made mattress. Someone has to have the smallest room, that's how it works. I'm guessing it won't be her next year.

Yes, it was a mistake to agree to it, on equal rent terms. But unfortunately for her, she did.

I think her "friends" are horrible. My dd is a shared 4 bed house. There is one massive room and one smallish room, the other 2 are average. They decided that the nicest room and smallest room will swap half way through the year and they'll all pay the same. That's fair.

Even though she's agreed, I don't think that should mean she can't change her mind. If they won't do anything I'm afraid she'll have to put it down to experience. Next year she should get some new friends or take the biggest room in the house.

Also has she actually told her friends that this is really pissing her off and is effecting how she feels about them?

I deliberately choose the box room in my house at university.

It was great.

Why?

Because it required less heating to keep it warm in winter.

My DD had the same problem. She just made sure that the following year it didn't happen again in a new house with new friends. A smaller room tends to be warmer, only positive feature. The following year they made sure the smaller room's rent was cheaper in rent, but still no one wanted it, so they picked out of a hat to make it fair. My DD got it again but was happy as it was £50 less a month, plus she paid less heating bills. The lesson is to decide from the beginning or accept it.

The others are probably annoyed as they have taken the house thinking everyone was in agreement. It's unlikely that they are hard nosed or out for themselves. They will have organised their finances to according to the rent they have to pay.

I think having the small room is just one of those things. So done has to have it, just like they do in a family.

We used to pick a number out of a hat and choose a room in that order. In one of our houses, there was a room in the attic that was the size of the whole house but the friend who had that paid the same as the one who had the box room.

'why she isn't'

It's not a big mistake, really - it's not going to make that much difference to her life. IME you don't tend to use your bedroom to socialise much in a shared house - you go out or hang out in the living room - and most of the time you're in your room you're lying on the bed, in which case the room size doesn't matter.

OK they're not being very nice, but she agreed in the first place so I can't entirely blame them for not wanting her to go back on what was agreed.

Tbh if I was one of the others I'd be annoyed at her - she saw it and agreed to it but now wants to pay less rent meaning I'm now going to pay more than i budgeted for. The alternative of moving rooms would just be additional hassle that I don't need.

Can i ask just why she is asking the landlord for a reduction? i'd say she's got a strong case for that.

She agreed to the room and the rent. If she's finding it's too small, she should look for another place. Maybe just her looking for/finding a new place will be enough to motivate her "friends" to renegotiate the price (as they'll realise they'll have to get a new roommate they won't know so well).

They shouldn't have to pay more just because she made a mistake. Why should THEY pay for HER mistake? They don't owe her anything.

But really - this is your cousin's daughter? Why are you so invested in this? You have to let go. This'll be the first of many knocks that life will deliver, you'll have to step back a LOT or the stress will kill you!

I once had the smallest bedroom in a shared house and paid less rent than the others - the girl in the big attic conversion bedroom paid most. Think your niece is being taken advantage off. At least she's discovered these people are no friends of hers.

Not when it materially affects other people, no.

She's asking other people to pay more to correct her mistake. They're quite reasonably not going to want to do that. Sorry.

If she'd not wanted the smaller room then it's possible that they could have found someone else willing to share who would have taken it and paid an equal share of rent. Some people aren't bothered about small spaces or don't plan to spend a lot of time in their room.

It's sad though that her "best friends" are taking this line. Hopefully she can use this year to find some better ones.

She hasn't got any 'moral' case. she saw the room, was naive enough to think it will fit, she will learn from her mistakes. if she wants to bargain on rent she should be speaking to the Landlord not her friends, why on earth would they shoulder the extra cost??? and as for rotating rooms who earth does that???

That's basically just how it works. My DD's student flat had 4 smallish bedrooms and one massive one. DD got the massive one as she put all the work into getting the flat. They all paid the same rent.

She agreed to the room so now she just has to make it homely and get on with life. All over studentland someone has the box room!

Sorry but that's how it worked when I was a student too.

We drew lots for the box room but all paid the same rent.

I think she should get the citizen's advice bureau to look at her contract and see if there is any possibility of moving out. In many student houses all the tenants are jointly and severally liable. If she moves out then all that will happen is that she will lose her share of the desposit and her housemates will have to pay more rent.

I fear that your cousin's daughter will fall out with her mates if there is no compromise.

yep. It's a pain. DD1 was in the same situation in 2nd year. She's just too bleeding nice to fight her corner. Our feeling was that if she as happy ( and she was ) then it was OK . THe agreement was rent split equally, and she had agreed it.

I think she learned though. 3rd year she had the tiny room again, but in a house where the landlord set the rent for each room separately. Work so much better as the rich lad had the " penthouse" en suite in the attic and paid for it appropriately!