Second year houses, is it normal to pay rent over the summer

[FrameyMcFrame]

Just wondering if this is par for the course?

Dd has found a house big the tenancy starts in July!

Apparently we have to pay 3 months rent when she's not even going to be living there?

I don't mind paying for essentials but this seems like a MASSIVE waste of money.

Unfortunately yes. It is v common.

Yes we did plus another deposit. Then at the end of Uni when their finished but you still have to pay rent

Another reason that I'm very pleased my DD wanted and was able to opt to stay on campus for the 2nd year.

Yes. The landlords can’t afford to only be paid rent for 9 months of the year unfortunately!

Yes although the landlord also decided to use this time to repaint etc so they were paying rent but weren't allowed to access the property for three weeks !

Ok... it's a learning curve for me!

I really can't remember this happening when I was a student.... we always rented a house from iSeptember... then gave one month notice when we were leaving.

I guess if you're a landlord letting to students you must realise they're not going to be there in the summer?

Normal. Have only heard of shorter in holiday areas like Exeter.

Yes but my DD is paying half rent over the summer.

Yes. If landlords didn't charge for 12 months, then they would just charge and extra 1/3 again for the 9 months they do pay. This way it spreads it out, and means they can still stay there if they are working over the holidays, or lucky enough to be studying in a nice part of the country.

Also, watch out for councils trying to charge them council tax for the time they're renting but not attending university. They are not liable for council tax if everyone in the house/flat is a full-time student but some councils send bills followed by threatening letters.

I guess if you're a landlord letting to students you must realise they're not going to be there in the summer?

Not necessarily. Some students stay in their university town and get a local job over summer. Landlords don't want to only collect rent for 9 months of the year. The other option is to stay in halls, but not all universities have enough space in halls for anything other than first years.

Most universities don’t have halls for other than first years.

Yes, landlords have to do maintenance. This should be in agreement with the tenants though and they shouldn’t be turned out for 3 weeks. Paying rent over the summer is normal and lots of students get summer jobs in university cities, so stay on. Very common in London. In fact halls of residence are often 50 weeks in London anyway.

You just have to accept it’s a total rental sum paid in 12 instalments.

Yes normal.

Some people managed to sub let to people coming for summer courses (probably without landlord permission!)

We had this about 20 years ago when I was at uni. Although it was a friend of mine. She went home from summer, and I stayed and worked in the hols. We had a deal so I leased her room at half rent (before she moved her stuff in). Worked for both of us - I paid a cheaper rent, she got some money back, and the place wasn't empty all summer

Yes, normal.
Ds is paying half rent over the summer which I thought was quite unusual.

Yes - my DD had this at York, a few years ago. though the landlord did discount it for the week that maintenance was going on. One of the housemates had a summer job in the city and sofa surfed for that week, taking turns with another friend in the same position.

Yes, although annually I've found the rent isn't much different to the cost of halls.

It is also to stop councils charging the landlords council tax for an empty property. So they get round it by having 12 month tenancy agreements.

This was the way it was when I worked in council tax 18 years ago!

Students are exempt from paying council tax so always get a copy of their student exemption certificate from their university to submit a copy to the council if asked. A student who may be 30 and living with their husband/wife or partner is also exempt, they usually live at home and therefore are exempt over summers too until their degree finishes.

In their 3rd year the course end date is sometimes way before the tenancy agreement ends so be prepared for council tax to be charged at that point.

I tended to stay in my houses over the summer. Field work. Job. Later, postgrads don’t get the long summer break.

A summer retainer was more normal in my day (about 10 years ago) which was a lot less than rent

Agree with also preparing to pay council tax from finals in May until the lease ends in their final year.

I am going to disagree with an earlier post. Few London halls are 52 weeks, for the simple fact that there is a lot of money to be made by letting to conference attendees, budget tourists etc through the summer. The same applies to Oxford where it is often impossible to stay in college during the winter and easter breaks.

The London student market for private accommodation is also different as many flats will be found via the open market in competition with other renters. It is perfectly possible to find somewhere starting early September on standard lease which allows you to give two months notice once beyond the six month break. So you stay 10 months. (In practice 12 month leases are pretty unenforceable but assuming but students probably dont realise that.) However if you want to remain in the same property the following year you would have to keep in on over the summer. The upside being that it is easy to find a friend of a friend who needs short term accommodation, say whilst doing a summer internship, or to find a well paying yourself.

I rent property in a University town with a beach attached. Students there often have 10 month leases, and the property is then open for holiday lets. It works well as holiday let properties are fully equipped including broadband and TV licence, and it is possible to return to the same property without paying for the summer.

yes, my dd pays 12 months, my ds 10 months (starting 10/08/20 until 10/06/21 ) as his uni is in Cornwall so I guess agency uses it as short let over Summer.

It's a shock, but leaving sorting out somewhere to live til Sept could also turn out to carry risks.

Nearly all the halls at DDs university in London were for the extended period - so clearly there are different tenancy periods. However if DC want to work over the summer, it can be useful to stay on.