Freshers being told they MUST book accommodation NOW for Sept 2020

[DishingOutDone]

Sorry if this is being covered on another thread but just wanted to get opinions on this; I've heard of this happening but hoped that my DD wouldn't get drawn in. Apparently the third years have told her course that unless they get booked in now for sept 2020 they won't get anything nice. I have heard that this is something rogue landlords do to try to bump up their rent; what does everything think?

I am worried as she's not entirely happy now what if she wants to change uni for year 2 or something goes wrong? Also I looked a few weeks ago on Right Move for her area and there were loads of 3 nice bed semis for rent outside of the main student drag in quiet residential areas - but I wonder if owners/landlords automatically refuse to rent once they know its for students? Also it would take a lot of nerve to hold out till September 2020 before booking.

Hive views please (or if this has been done on another thread tell me off and send me to it!)

[Needmoresleep]

It was easy for me as I let property in Central London so am used to giving a helping hand to tenants new to the UK. There is always a risk of being sucked into a vortex of utility company admin so best to do it quickly and get it right first time.

[DishingOutDone]

Thanks @Needmoresleep lots to think about there.

[Xenia]

Good advice above. Mine have not had to notify the council tax people may be because the council k nows all those houses in those areas are full of students.

however those parents who are single as I am who want to obtain the 25% single person discount have to obtain evidence of that. My council took about 6 months and asked for all kinds of things including a letter from the faculty at the university of each child confirming they were at university and the dates.

[Needmoresleep]

Xenia, DD is aware of Bristol taking a big houseful to Court as none of them applied for student exemption within the time limit. DD just applied for her flat mates when she was online, so possibly they are not aware. She needed to be registered to get a parking permit. Ditto this year and last I bought a TV license as a moving in present, in part because I assumed that some might object to buying one, and I did not want her in trouble if anyone switched on the TV. I don’t think the TV license has ever been discussed so presumably no one else bought one, or has wondered why they don’t get reminder letters.

[DishingOutDone]

So, DD found a house with her friends, was asked to provide details of guarantors etc but was not given a draft tenancy agreement to check over. I told DD to ask for it, and it was literally like signing a blank check, page after page of prohibited fees, £40 a day if late with rent, £40 if you miss an appointment, £50 for lost keys and so on. I know they were just trying it on, but I rang up and said oh dear you seem to have sent me something that was prepared before the changes in the law in June eh? That's right isn't it? So can you send the correct one?

This didn't go down well anywhere. Letting agent is actually going to try to wriggle out of it, DD and friends think I am going to make them lose the only decent house they're ever likely to get. Have to wait to see what unfolds next week. Makes you think though, if they behave like this from the get go, what is the landlord like? Does he know what they are doing, is he in on it?!

[DishingOutDone]

Just bumping this up today if no takers I might start a new thread - DD lost that house as I helped her to challenge the clauses in the tenancy agreement, they simply said well if you don't want it tough although they did refund their holding deposits (well, they said they would ) - so then I started looking at other agents and some actually publish their draft agreements online and they were even worse but just in different ways. So each tenancy agreement is different, meaning if you wanted advice you'd have to get that on each document bearing in mind your time to get advice is limited and a lot of what you get is subjective. Have any of you any experience in this happening to your DCs? Student letting agencies seem to be an even deeper circle of hell

[poseysbobblehat]

Do they know any 2nd or 3rd years that can recommend anything ? That's how my ds got his

[itsallunclearnow]

Does the student accommodation office have a list recommending any letting agencies or landlords? That can be a good place to start.

I think you raise a good issue - that students can be under a lot of pressure to organise something in November/December, and if they're in an area where there's a shortage of accommodation there is limited time and scope to negotiate with landlords.

[DishingOutDone]

@poseysbobblehat it was 2nd and 3rd years who started them panicking saying you have to get something now all that's left after Christmas is rubbish.

@itsallunclearnow - I think the agents rely on this rush so no one can have the opportunity to check anything, and even if you do check the agreement as we have found if you challenge any unfair terms, you simply don't get to rent via that agency. It must be the same everywhere? If you were renting as an ordinary man in street would you face the same brick walls I wonder?

[poseysbobblehat]

Yes, but did they recommend any agents ?

[Phphion]

To become a university recommended agent or landlord, you usually have to pass certain checks that are conducted by the university, so if they make recommendations, it is usually better to go with them.

This provides the students with a higher level of confidence and puts the onus on landlords to behave properly or else they will be struck off the recommended list and find it much more difficult to find student tenants.

When we rented out our old house, being on the list meant we would get five or six viewings in the first couple of days and we could be done with the whole thing within a week. That is why it is important to look early here, because people just work down the recommended list and everything gets taken.

If you don't look early, the you are at the mercy of the non-recommeded landlords and agents, and round here, the student letting agents that have no recommendation are often known for being a bit dodgy and the properties they rent are overpriced and in poor repair. That is why they can't or don't want to get on the list.

[DishingOutDone]

@poseysbobblehat nope!

We're going to try the students union letting agency they have on campus, see if that's any better, but if you read online reviews it seems not.

[Sunshineboo]

Hi - does uni have an advice service? Ours do. Third years and landlords try to Encourage students to sign up before Christmas but the advice given officially is to wait until at least semester two. This is because some people won't wanna come back after Christmas, some people will fail the Christmas exams and decide to leave, and finally friendship groups change a lot ahead of Easter.

InOur town there is not a shortage of accommodation, in fact the opposite. Students to wait until February March get much better contracts as they're able to negotiate a bit more. Not unheard-of of the big landlords Offering things like room retainers instead of pain all summer from March onwards.

[DishingOutDone]

What @Phphion says certainly sounds sensible, what I would like to think happens, but when DD came home the last week of October she'd already started looking and she was already getting involved with some really dodgy sounding agents, from the largest agents in the town! Maybe the landlords aren't involved here and its the agents that are the problem?

DD found a nice enough place and maybe the landlord was great, but when she queried the terms of the agreement with the agency she was off their books immediately. Not in Bristol BTW but when you look at experiences there, maybe agents now feel they can choose to let only to students who will take anything at any price and not read the small print?

[Sunshineboo]

Sorry - one more thing. A number of landlords hire the second and third years to generate leads ahead of Christmas. They do this by telling them there is not enough good accommodation going round, and my landlord has been fab. Look at these houses here...

One landlord has a common room that students can hire out for free for parties. And it is plastered with info on their houses of course

Student let's are often big business round here.

[DishingOutDone]

@Sunshineboo - the uni has a lettings office, that's next port of call, I also think DD should go to student welfare and say this is what happened, what can I do to avoid that, but that will have to be January now.

[DishingOutDone]

@Sunshineboo - well, bit disingenuous, but I suppose I wouldn't mind if what they were offering was reasonable.

[Phphion]

Here, the university list does not open until the end of November and no contract can be signed until 1st December, so anyone looking at the end of October would only be able to look at agency properties and most of those would be dodgy agents trying to scare students into signing up for anything. We also have heard of unscrupulous agents paying 2nd and 3rd years commission to do this.

If the university has a lettings office, either as a letting agency in itself or as an advertising service for accredited properties, that would be my first port of call because their properties will usually have had to pass various checks and will use a standard contract.

[Lulu1919]

It's the norm .
My daughter was at Plymouth and by now of year one she'd got next academic years accom sorted.

[DishingOutDone]

Something else to worry about all over Christmas now then!! (we need a tearing my hair out emoji) (with a Christmas hat on)

I'm thinking now I should have just let her sign the dodgy tenancy agreement.