DS at Uni - landlord and retainer

[WelshCerys]

DS coming to end of first year uni, in hall. Soon after moving in, made friends with lads in his flat and 4 of them organized 2nd year accommodation in the town. SU housing advice was not to panic - not to rush - and to seek advice before signing contracts. The boys ignored all this.

Found themselves with having to pay a retainer (OK, usual practice) for 3 months - June, July, August - then full rent from 1st Sept though term doesn't start until much later in the month.

Have found out, from looking at a load of student union web pages that most retainers are two months, June and July. My DS is worried - he's paid the deposit but can't rise to three months of a retainer (50% of the full rent) - and neither can we, at least not without a great deal of difficulty. I've spoken to the landlord - seems very affable but determined to get the money off this lads pronto. I've also spoken, way back, to the housing officer at son's uni - helpful and reinforced advice that students should seek SU advice before rushing into contracts.

DS highly unlikely to go near the SU himself - have asked him to do so repeatedly. Is it likely, if I call them (or DS finally gets there) that they might negotiate with this landlord who, presumably, wants to keep on the right side of the student population? Unfortunately, one of their number has already paid the retainer. A particularly well off young man.

Does 3 months' retainer seem excessive? The house would be empty but, according to DS, there is work to do in it before September. And the landlord wants DS to give him his student number. Is this normal practice?

DS long way from home - DH collecting him soon and wondering if he shouldn't pop by and see the landlord. Thoughts/advice - thanks!

I haven't heard of paying retainers before DD1 and DD2 are both paying full rent over the summer.

Same here -full rent over the summer- a real bugbear.

Same here, retainer of 3 months. Landlord is adding it on to the rent for the rest of the year though to give them longer to pay.

Not sure this is much use but DD1 had to pay a full year at full rent and DD2 got lucky and she and her friends have only had to pay 10 months rent (same city). A retainer sounds a relatively good deal in the scheme of things.

DS had rented houses, was always just full rent for 12 months.

DD has been in uni accomodation all through, she pays a termly lump sum which covers her rent from beginning Oct through to end July (although it is a bit of a scam as term finishes in June and everything on campus closes down so nobody ever stays that long)

What is the situation with them getting access to the flat? Normally 3 months half rent would be better than 2 months, but if the flat isnt available then I would question why they are paying rent on a non-accessible property.

In the city I live in no-one gets a reduction on rent over the summer, you pay 12 months rent. I would be shocked if the SU got into negotiating with landlords.

How does it work out if you consider the cost over the year?

IME 1st year students usually manage to negotiate that their 2nd year's rent starts from 1st Sept; thereafter they tend to rent for the full 12 months, which is fair enough as many of them are happy to stay for the summer, but charging a retainer over the initial summer when the property is going to be empty & being refurbished anyway is pretty mean.

Having said that, you need to look out for dodgy landlords retaining the entire deposit regardless of how the house is left Take detailed photos when he moves in, especially if the property isn't pristine at the start.

I am more cross that DS2's uni accom is charged (at £107 pw!!!) until 8th July, although term actually finished a couple of weeks ago & many students have already packed up & gone!

He has got a term-time job there, & is staying until 24th June, but even so that means he's paying over £200 for nothing (not to mention the 2-4 weeks he was at home over Christmas & Easter - I reckon the university has cleared at least £1000 for his use of his room as a storage facility )

Yes, definitely watch the retention of deposit regardless of condition on march out - seems to be a standard scam: fight it!

You have to fight the retention of deposit - it is worth it. They get away with keeping it if they can!

DS1's landlord retained approx £2100 from him & his 5 housemates last year on the grounds that a few holes needing filling & the walls needed a coat of magnolia; this despite having received over £20K over the year

\link{http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/homeandcommunity/privaterenting/tenancies/dg_189120\deposit protection scheme} seems to favour landlords over tenants

Thanks all - varied experiences but one thing most of us are concerned about is the potential retention of the deposit. What a good idea, Ponders - detailed photos when DS moves in - thanks.

The retainer seems very harsh to me - there's no access - though the tenants can leave a bag in a room - that's just about it.

From what some of you are saying, a full 12 months' rent also seems common practice. I can't help but think that this area should be heavily controlled ...

Landlord asking for the student's university number? That seems odd - but it's what DS's new landlord said he'd want. Any thoughts?

When I was at uni 10(ish) years ago we paid half rent for the whole 3 months.

Although standard practice in student rentals varies across the country, it is common place to have to pay a retainer. In Manchester, it's half rent over July & August, and then full rent Sept - June.

If you have a nice landlord, then they'll let you use it for storage over the summer, and if you have a particularly nice landlord then they will let you use it for a few days over the summer (e.g. if you have resits), so long as you're not living there full time (in which case they will normally want a top-up to full rent).

Unfortunately, there's naff all that your son can do about it now he's signed the contract. He'll have to use his overdraft and / or get a summer job to pay for it. If the landlord's asking for it all in one go, have you asked him if it could be paid in monthly installments? What does teh contract say about when the retainer has to be paid?

Probably best not to fish him out of this sticky situation yourself - this will be a very good lesson to him about RTFC (read the flipping contract!)

Student number was standard when I was at uni, proved you were in the country legally and not liable for council tax so council doesn't chase the landlord. Also gives the LL comfort that they have a way of accessing student in the event of damage or non payment. My uni wouldn't award a degree if we owed money to the uni or our LL.

Thank you all. Grateful for your replies. Have some perspective now ... boomting - I agree - not only did DS not RTFC but he didn't ask for a copy - left that to one of the group who promptly lost it.

Lessons to be learnt - and 19 is probably a good age at which to do so.

Thanks again, all.

My son has paid 3 months retainer each year for the summer months. One thing that might be worth checking is what the landlord is actually going to do during those months. When we moved DS into his house last September, we were horrified to see how filthy it was. The landlord had not done any cleaning at all between tenants. The mattress on his bed was mouldy and we found a tissue with dried blood between the mattress and the bed slats! I would check that they are actually going to give the house a good clean!

We also insisted that DS get copies of everything and send us a copy so that we can at least keep things on file. Yes, I know that I did all of this myself when I was at Uni decades ago, but it all costs so much these days!

Gurl - thank you. Along with others, you've suggested checking the room and house and, yes, we will. (Earlier advice about taking photos was good.)

I hope the landlord in your DS's case put things right swiftly.

I'm going to get a copy of the contract, somehow. It may be OK but there may be bits that are wrong and need to be put right before the students move in in September.

I think, as DS's SU housing advisor said, that one of the problems is that too many students panic and pick up the first accommodation they can find when they're still freshers. And some landlords take advantage. In my DS's uni, there was massive concern amongst students that with rising student numbers this year (cos of the fees), 2nd year places in town would disappear rapidly. The SU went to great effort to persuade students not to rush into contracts - sadly, my DS and his (very) new friends didn't heed the advice.

Time this housing sector was brought to heel, I think. (Clearly there are decent landlords - but very clearly, there are many who take advantage of vulnerable students and far away parents.)

DD1 fought hard to get her deposit back as a matter of principle, and won. They'd left the house in better shape than they found it though they never thought of photos which would certainly have helped.

When DD2 took over her house a dad who is a qualified electrician checked over the appliances and found several, including the oven, potentially lethal. He stayed until the agent agreed to replace all faulty installations and refused to let any of them sign the contract until the agent had made a written commitment first. I wouldn't have had a clue and they could all have frizzled.

From the landlords pov though, they would want income all year, not just for 9 or 10 months, not sure why that is so outrageous a demand - it would just be disguised as higher rent for 9 months if not in the form of retainer

It's always been thus - we did the same 20 years ago. But despite what su says, the decent houses are not available later on, although of course all that may change in future as student numbers drop

Students can also trash a house pretty badly from what I remember and it can cost a lot to repaint, redecorate, fix things that were never reported etc. Friend of mine just spent a good couple of grand after tenant moved out, just on those kind of jobs

Mind you, landlords can also be exploitative but there are a lot more checks/balances on deposit than there used to be

(Am absolutely not a ll so not being defensive here)

From the landlords pov though, they would want income all year, not just for 9 or 10 months, not sure why that is so outrageous a demand - it would just be disguised as higher rent for 9 months if not in the form of retainer

It's always been thus - we did the same 20 years ago. But despite what su says, the decent houses are not available later on, although of course all that may change in future as student numbers drop

Students can also trash a house pretty badly from what I remember and it can cost a lot to repaint, redecorate, fix things that were never reported etc. Friend of mine just spent a good couple of grand after tenant moved out, just on those kind of jobs

Mind you, landlords can also be exploitative but there are a lot more checks/balances on deposit than there used to be

(Am absolutely not a ll so not being defensive here)

student rents are outrageous all round - having spent many happy hours watching Homes Under the Hammer that's become perfectly clear. Of course landlords are supposed to incur some extra expense making a house legally fit as a HMO (cf Yellowtip's DD's friend's dad), but still they are repaid at least fourfold in rent compared with a family rental for the same property.

An awful lot of them seem to view students as cash cows, treat them with disdain, & feel entitled to retain the deposit. (I'm sure there are some human ones, merci, but we haven't come across one yet & I'm now on 4th DC going into 2nd year of uni).

Photos should have helped with DS1's lost deposit too, Yellowtip. They were supposed to be contesting it, but only one of them was looking after the admin & somehow a letter about the tribunal was overlooked & they have lost it by default.

DS2 will be sharing with 3 others & 1 of them is handling the admin in the same way. I intend to be there when he moves in this time - I will take photos, & hope to see both the contract & an inventory.

I think the cost of 12 month student accommodation will bankrupt us. I am really really worried. I didnt plan or budget for this at all. What solutions do people have? It also depresses me that money which could otherwise have gone, say, on travel, goes into a landlord's pocket for three months. Thats a cool £3000 for 2 DC in different towns. Yikes.

Well, your dc could obviously house hunt in August to avoid this issue.

As it is, landlord is agreeing to let them pay 50% rent until they move in, which is really quite generous, as otherwise could have let the property for full rent sooner, I suppose?

It came as a shock to me too. August is a bit late for finding something - especially as mine were a day's travel from home and would have needed to stay at least a night and needed the other ones they were going to share with there at the same time.

I'm just going to say what everyone else has said - my DCs, in two different big uni towns, have both had to pay full rent for 12 months, even tho they didn't use the accomm until October.

And even tho the SU says don't fret until nearer the summer, I don't know anyone whose kids haven't had this sorted out by end Jan ( some before Christmas) no matter where they are so I think your son did the right thing which was to look at the sAme time as everyone else.

On deposits, advice to take pictures is good - or if you're me, go down and complain to the agent about the mess, dirt and broken things until they actually come out and fix things....