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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Students being asked to continue to pay for empty rooms

49 replies

Droneware · 09/04/2020 09:07

In asking if we can please give students a break?

Students are paying too much for substandard accommodation, but are seen as cash cows by private companies. Many are not releasing students from their agreements.

"Tenancy agreements are to remain in force and students are obligated to continue to pay remaining rent."
The property firm has highlighted that students will be receiving their maintenance loans and so should be able to continue with the contracts they signed.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52221001

A mainentance loan is for the student, not to subsidise private companies. Students, that have had to vacate premises due to Government lockdowns, still have to live and maintain themselves. Not all live with rich parents and some will end up homeless because of this.

Please contact your MP to ask for some fairness to this group.

OP posts:
JasonPollack · 09/04/2020 09:08

They can still live in the accomodation though no? No lockdown has forced students out on to the street unless I am mistaken?

My landlord is still expecting rent.

SlipSlidin · 09/04/2020 09:10

DS has been offered a refund/credit for the last 3 months of his.

DontStandSoCloseToMe · 09/04/2020 09:11

The maintenance loan is to help pay their living costs, if they've returned home and after not paying rent they don't need the maintenance loan, if they are still receiving it they should pay the rent they signed a contract to pay. The same as paying for childcare if you don't take your child in but the provision is still there. I say this as someone who paid their own way through university by working and taking student loans

Verily1 · 09/04/2020 09:11

I imagine most students have gone back to their parents for lockdown?

It’s rubbish for the ones who can’t do this.

I have no sympathy for these private halls of residence companies.

Ragwort · 09/04/2020 09:14

One of the issues seems to be that most official Uni accommodation have cancelled the rent but the private Hall providers and private Landlords have not. It’s a very difficult situation.

Some uni accommodation has been opened up to key workers which seems a good solution.

OmgThereAreNoPlanesAboveMeNow · 09/04/2020 09:14

There should be a reduction on rent. I get why they can't just go and say "Yeah, don't worry about the 3 months". It's a lots of cashflow... But charging full rent isn't great too.
I don't know if all unies, but I know of some who did in the end decide not to charge for accommodation if students left home.

PleasantVille · 09/04/2020 09:14

Are there are figures on how many students ha 've been made homeless?

The farming, food and supermarkets are crying out for temp staff, I'm old enough to have been a student when it was normal for students to do that kind of work over the summer, I'd like to think today"s students would do the same.

Thehop · 09/04/2020 09:17

They’re still able to live in their accommodation aren’t they?

FourTeaFallOut · 09/04/2020 09:17

No. That's not how contracts work.

shilohbear · 09/04/2020 09:17

A girl who I know of is in this position. She is a student nurse and has joined the NHS early but has taken a position back in her home town and is now left to pay 1500 pound in rent for somewhere she is not even living. So much for looking after our NHS and key workers. Private halls and private landlords should be ashamed of themselves.

MangoFeverDream · 09/04/2020 09:19

Is this going to go the way of those childminder fee threads I wonder ...

Ragwort · 09/04/2020 09:19

Thehop yes, I believe students can remain in the accommodation but, particularly where my DS is at uni, the advice (as well as Government advice) is to return, if at all possible, to your family home. All lectures are on line and the library and other support services are physically closed.

Potentialmadcatlady · 09/04/2020 09:23

My DD has had to come home to shield. She cannot work her uni job to help pay her rent.
She cannot stay in her digs because she is shielding and would have had no help ( friends all gone home etc) to get food etc. Her grant this year is tiny because she is on her placement year ( unpaid)

I can’t work because my other child is disabled and he also has to shield.
We are having to find enough money to try and cover her full rent for a house she is unlikely to ever be in again.
It is pants

MamaBearOnLockdown · 09/04/2020 09:24

if your partner was working away and renting a place somewhere for the week, but rushed home before lockdown to stay with their family - which is fine. You would still pay the rent on their place wouldn't you?

KVlovesWinter · 09/04/2020 09:32

My DDs private accommodation have decided in the past few days to let them out of their agreement, if they fully move out by this Sunday.

SandyY2K · 09/04/2020 09:33

I see both sides of this. My DD came home from Uni the Friday before lockdown.

She didn't want to be alone and her lectures had already stopped a couple of weeks before due to strikes and then coronavirus.

Whilst I don't want to pay the rent on her accommodation while she's not using it, all her things are still there, so it wouldn't be fair to the private landlords.

It was a years contact. My view is that if Covid-19 has impacted on parental income, they you should contact the landlord and let them know your situation. Just as you would for the place you live in.
In our case, neither DH or myself have a change in income, so while it's annoying paying for a place she isn't using, we don't have much choice.

DD lives in accomodation thats only for university students, but not university owned.

clareOclareO · 09/04/2020 09:37

They can still live in the accomodation, and are still getting the financial support to pay for it, so yes, YABU.

If their loans were being reduced you might have a point.

ChrissieKeller61 · 09/04/2020 09:38

Nido have waved the fees for term 3 for my daughter, she's just had her student loan through and is frankly richer than me at the moment.

LellyMcKelly · 09/04/2020 09:45

The landlords still incur the costs while the student is not there. There is still a mortgage, insurance, agents fees, etc. They may still have staff to pay. Students can still live there, and in many cases student have no choice. They can’t get back to their home country, they are working in essential jobs, or they don’t have a family to return to. Most unis are taking a hit and not charging students for the last term if they go home from Easter, but many landlords do not have that option. If get in touch and explain your situation and see if anything can be done.

Potentialmadcatlady · 09/04/2020 09:50

But some of them are taking a ‘hit’

They have lost their ‘student jobs’ so can’t financially cover their rent.

slipperywhensparticus · 09/04/2020 09:51

My daughter is stuck locked down at the university in her accommodation I can't get her back loads of people have left BUT the university is still open and functioning (online classes) so why wouldn't they still pay for accommodation they can still use

GreenestValley · 09/04/2020 09:53

My mother owns a house which she rents to students, while renting her own place - she’s actually a student herself doing a phd. Her landlord will not waive her rent so while I see there is a perception of private landlords as greedy and profiteering, in reality that house is her asset and she relies on the income to live off.
As a pp said, the students are still receiving the loans. Paying rent shouldn’t be dependent on whether you are there or not, it’s a contract taken on for a set amount of time which needs to be honored unless it’s genuinely not possible to do so.

heartsonacake · 09/04/2020 09:53

YABU. They can still live there, it’s still available to them, and they are still being paid a loan with which to finance said accommodation.

Original poster
Droneware · 09/04/2020 09:54

Thank you for all the comments. Some have been very helpful.

For students, there are obviously different circumstances, but for this current situation - it is not a normal scenario.

Contracts are drawn up for certainty. There is none at the moment. It is chaotic. Government rulings should void many of these contracts - they seem to be making rules for some but not other.

Many students have been told to go home and left accommodation and are now under lockdown. They can't travel back to accommodation.

University accommodation is not permanent as one poster seems to want to compare his permanent accommodation and landlord situation with one that is temporary.

University accommodation is for the purpose of living near a university and attending lectures. There are none! For final year students, they have gone through strikes and much uncertainty on results/exams etc. Science students, music, arts etc cannot easily be assessed online.

For those that have to jump in with when I was a lad etc. and I worked my way through by working all night studying all day etc... good for you! But please remember that students now are paying an awful lot more than a graduate did a few years ago. The debt they are graduating with plus variable interest rates is unlike what previous generations had.

So again, I would just ask for some leeway on this.

OP posts:
Shamoo · 09/04/2020 09:54

Have seen the impact this will have on the finances of one of the universities who have agreed to waiver the cost for the students. It is absolutely huge and people will have to lose their jobs to cover the costs. I can totally understand why private landlords feel they can’t take all the hit, especially for those students who have no financial impact at all as still getting their loans in full. Why should being a student mean that you are treated differently to the rest of the population?