Some Advice Renting 2nd Year Uni

[lifelivelove]

My daughter is in her first year at uni and is living in halls. I understand in the second year most usually rent houses in near by towns etc. Already in preparation for next year my daughter has looked at a 6 property and her rent will be £465 per month, the landlord has done the agreement in total £2790 per month. They will have to pay for council tax also. He will pay £350 per month for water,gas and electric. The tenancy agreement states that if any of the tenants do not pay the rent it will be down to the remaining tenants be it 5 or 1 (I can understand that the landlord needs to be paid), what concerns me is she hardly knows these girls, as she has only been at uni since September. 4 she has never really spoken to. Should I be worried. I feel that she is rushing into this without really thinking about it.

In most cases with shared houses, the rooms are left individually, which means everybody must have their own guarantor / proof of sufficient income and only be responsible for their own rent. I would never sign up to something where I would be liable for other people’s rent when there are plenty of houses where lets are individual.

Also, they will not have to pay council tax as university students are exempt. At my uni, there is a standardised letter on the online system you print off and send to the council once you receive your first bill :)

A solitely do not sign up to be liable for that rent!

I wouldn't worry too much. It's probably good that she's thinking ahead and planning it now, rather than waiting and then all the good houses are gone. It sounds very serious when you add up the costs but it's good practice for adult life when she leaves uni, it'll teach her skills like money management and direct debits for bills. How do you know she doesn't know the other girls very well? If she's been living in halls since September she had probably spent lots of time getting to know the other students on her course and in her halls.

From my experience at uni (albeit 10 years ago now!!!) I feel like students are pressured to sign into contracts for the following summer before Xmas which is ridiculous! I remember feeling so much pressure from agencies telling us that all the properties would go and that just isn't the case! Most student letting agents however ensure each tenant has a guarantor so that the other tenants aren't responsible for the extra rent!
I'd maybe discuss looking around- the rent when all girls are added together is really expensive and student areas aren't usually the greatest!

Agree re council tax. In effect he makes them responsible for it but they are exempt. However if one does leave they must ensure an incoming hm is also a student or the property loses its exempt status.

However it is more normal for them to enter into a tenancy agreement to rent the property on a joint and several basis. Ie. All liable for all of it. I was asked to guarantee on the same basis but refused so DS and his friends found a house where they did not require guarantors.

It is difficult because as you say they have only just met these others and is therefore a risk.

When I was at uni - granted some years back - there was no council tax as we were all in full time education. Worth ringing the council to check. There were 6 of us in the house and we were only responsible for our sixth of the rent and this was something we checked in the contract. Our landlord was on the uni approved list so had certain rules over and above to adhere too but he said it was worth it to be on that list and he would visit regularly to check all was ok. Only had one problem at the end of the second year where he was slow with a repair and my Dad who was a builder told me what to threaten him with and the repair was done next day. It's worth speaking to the uni about an approved list ours came out on a particular day in March and before it did we viewed some shockers that the landlords tried to pressure us into agreeing to, get her to enquire with the uni about what is the usual contract term and conditions they will tell them (or call them yourself!)

@ShalomJackie

If a new housemate moves in who is not a student, this does not affect the others. All that happens is that this person gets a council tax bill with their name only, with a single occupancy discount. I have this with my partner now, as he works and I’m at university. As far as the council is concerned, I don’t exist because I’m a student.

If the rent includes bills the sum for a 6 bedroom house is not bad. But be careful that there is not a limit on the bills. Some large student houses are very old and very cold and drafty.
There is usually someone at the SU or the student support at uni who will check a contract. D'S was given a contract we were unsure about and they recommended we asked for sone clarifications.We are 'LL and our letting agent found it stange as well.
That was the rental where we learnt about asking to see the gas safety certificate as well

Sadly they often have to agree to cover the other rent if people don't pay. DD had to for 2 years, DS has managed to find somewhere that didn't insist on this

Does the uni have an accommodation centre or advice service? She should definitely start there. Many have a list of approved landlords.

If the landlord will not offer individual tenancy agreements do not touch this property as your daughter will be liable for a share of the unpaid rent if any of the others move out. My DD is in a house share of 4. In June this year 2 of them decided they wanted to move out but had already signed contracts for this academic year. As all 4 had signed individual tenancy agreements the ones moving out were liable to either find replacement tenants (with the help of uni and letting agent) or continue to pay their share of the rent. I repeat do not let your daughter sign a joint tenancy agreement. The chances of a student leaving is high, especially with 6 sharing.

I hear what you are saying, I have received a copy of the tenancy agreement today, asking me to sign as guarantor. It does not sit well with me. I would be much happier if it was single tenancy agreements per room or she moved into a small property with less people. That is a lot of rent to find if a couple of the girls move out. The landlord will not chase them for the money, it will be down to the other tenants.
The landlord is paying £350 per month towards gas, electric and water. 6 girls hot water, lights on all over the show and not to mention heating, its a big property. My daughter has said she has felt rushed. But she feels if she backs out now, the two girls that she is friendly with will be funny towards her.

I don't think she should sign up for being the main person for rent I think that's crazy

OP just refuse to sign it.

While the tenancy agreement is normal rushing to rent a house before Christmas isn't.

Housemates fall out or leave for a year so don't move in. I would tell your daughter to wait until after Christmas and look in February. That way she will know who she gets on better with.

Also while the bills in a house of 6 (or 9) are cheaper it is actually easier to live with less people as you don't have to deal with the mess in the kitchen.

All the parents have been asked to be guarantors. I don't understand why I am the only one questioning this. I think my daughter may have signed tenancy already, but I presume that if I dont sign she cannot move in. Honestly sometimes its one thing after another to worry about.

Both my sons are at uni in places where the houses go quickly so they had to choose houses before Christmas.
One of them had to go into contract where they were all responsible for the rent if someone left. I was completely against this and was adamant that DS wasn’t going to sign but turns out that all the landlords locally use the same contracts so no choice.
It’s all quite stressful tbh - much easier when they were in halls. I’m just trying not to think about it too much !

OP nothing wrong with you.

While your daughter is an adult you think she is rushing into this without thinking.

I questioned my younger relations who did similar to your daughter as from my own experience large single sex households can turn nasty on one or more of the housemates. Oddly living with people you don't know at uni is often OK as you have no expectations of them.

If it was a smaller number of people it would not be too bad, but looking at the rent per month nearly £2800 its scary. I know that not all the girls will move out, but as I have heard there is always a lot of falling out between second years that move in together that dont really know each apart from partying together. The whole thing has been totally rushed.

I have made a decision which I know my daughter will not like I will not sign as guarantor, nor will her father unless they have individual contracts.

Its quite rare that landlords will do student houses on individual basis. Theres a whole lot more rules and regulations doing it this way.

If youre not willing to guarantor, your dd may find it difficult to find somewhere to live as she would pass checks otherwise. Unless you pay 12 months upfront

I don't think it can be that rare as both of my DC have had individual tenancy agreements for student house shares - one in London and one in Cardiff, and they didn't have to go looking for one, it seemed pretty standard. Here's some info from citizens advice........
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-a-home/student-housing/students-in-private-rented-accommodation/student-housing-sharing-accommodation/

This is not uncommon for student houses. Honestly, even if some of them do end up moving out so will other people in other houses. In student towns there’s always someone looking for a place so it’s not usually hard to replace them. In my house, we were there for 2 years, 5 bed house and only one of the original people was there at the end (not me, I joined in January of 2nd year due to study abroad). In total there were 13 different people living there in the 2 years for various reasons. We never had trouble finding anyone to replace one that was leaving.

I have made a decision which I know mydaughter will not like I will not sign as guarantor, nor will her father unless they have individual contracts.*
Easily said, not so easily done when your DC has found a house with their friends & everyone else is happy to sign. My DD struggled to find a house & would have been left on her own if we hadn't signed this contract. One of the occupants did move out, but thankfully carried on paying her rent.

My son rented a house last year with 3 other lads that he knew from uni. Not particularly good friends with any of them but knew 1 better than the other through rugby. This young man couldn't get a guarantor due to nationalities and all sorts of weird reasons so the other 3 parents (including me) agreed to go ahead with him not having a guarantor, meaning we would be liable between the three of us for his quarter of the rent. of course, he defaulted a couple of times and it took my son and one of the others to almost frogmarch this lad to a laptop and stand over him while he paid the rent.,!

It was a valuable lesson for all 4 boys in growing up - they had to take responsibility for each other, sort the bills etc and then find replacement tenants (who passed the relevant checks) at the end of the agreement.

He's now in another flat with 2 completely different friends and much happier!

As a parent I found it very difficult to let him sort it out - natural instinct is to do everything for them isn't it?! But at 18/19/20 they really should be doing this themselves and facing the consequences of making the wrong decision. If you don't agree to be a guarantor, your daughter may not get the house as the other guarantor's may not agree. If i were you, I would sign the agreement but impress on your daughter that its up to her and her housemates to ensure everyone does their bit or everyone else suffers.

Thee was a thread recently from a parent where one of the flat mates had decided to drop out. Her parent had been the op's minister previously so they relied on the friendship and belief they would not let anyone down . The parents then stopped replying to anything. I wonder how that panned out.