Study in the time of COVID-19 (2019/20 intake): lockdown restrictions, relaxation of rules and repeat... And will the Grinch government cancel Christmas?

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Carrying on from our previous thread.

I believe these threads have probably been running since the summer/autumn of when our DC were about to start/in Year 13 (so 2018)?

Dd had the test and got a negative result within an hour. Yeay! Lucky I didn’t post her advent calendar up there!

Just posted the above message on the Year 12 thread in my excitement !! So apologies if you’ve seen it before!

DS thinks he'll be a little later in the window at Bath - seem to be doing first years first. I can pop down in a couple of hours so not a big deal either way really.

My daughter is self isolating as they closed the entire year 12 due to a few cases. She's due to go back next week but term ends ten days later so I'm in half a mind to keep her out, but with all the issues with teaching and slower progress due to doing mixed live+distance learning I'm guessing they'll be pushing with proper curriculum work through to the end of year and not be dishing out the board games and DVDs..

@Zandathepanda yes...I thought to myself "I've just read that message" 🤣😂

We do have quite a few pubs with outdoor dining space but they have not all embraced patio heaters so I'm not sure how viable it will be. Having a drink outside seems more appealing than sitting in the cold for a meal.

Does anyone have any experience of being a guarantor in a group tenancy and can recommend an insurance company so that we don't end up paying for another student if she defaults or drops out and they can't find someone to take her place?

In DD's current houseshare we are only responsible for her share of the rent if anything goes pear shaped. She and three other friends have put a holding fee on a flat, and we have to complete some really detailed (far more detailed than last year) guarantor forms. This one is a group tenency, but having done some research it seems that most tenancies are group tenancies.

Any words of wisdom would be gratefully received.

@Ginfordinner what do you mean by “group tenancy”? Do you mean all the occupants are joint tenants as opposed to individually renting each room under separate tenancy agreements?

The likelihood of a guarantor of a different tenant being called on to pay in the event of default is very low. The tenant who defaults would be first in line. If they don’t pay then THEIR guarantor would be pursued. Only in the event of failure to recover arrears from that guarantor would the landlord look to any of the other tenants and only then THEIR guarantors.

However you are right that in a joint tenancy situation in theory all tenants (and therefore they’re guarantors) are jointly and severally liable for the whole rent for the period. You can try to negotiate the terms so that you are only guarantor for your child. Or you can pay the rent up front and not be a guarantor at all (this is what overseas students have to do as their parents don’t pass UK credit checks). We chose to pay up front in order to avoid giving over loads of financial information which we felt was intrusive. Can’t comment on whether there is insurance cover - maybe others will have experience of that

I have already refused - to be guarantor so our compromise is I pay all my child's rent and their father is the guarantor - he has never been called on to pay for our child nor for others in the house so I agree it is fairly low risk unless all their friends are totally impoverished and their parents. I have a client who instead of the group guarantee pays his child's 12 months of rent in advance which is less risky in my view...ah yes I see someone above suggesting the same.

My children have always wanted to do what their friends do - so if "no one else's parent" has objected they never seem to rock the boat by refusing to be the one with that parent who does not accept the group guarantee.

I have found a couple of insurance companies that offer guarantor insurance, so we are considering taking this out.

I can't believe how much more information these people want compared to last year, but last year we dealt directly with the landlord. This time it is with an agent. I hope their landlord/agent is as good as the one they have now.

DD is renting with the same landlord as this year albeit a different property. It’s via an agency and the guarantor agreement is just for my DD’s portion of the rent. I had to send them a copy of my passport.

My DS still doesn't know what to do about next year. He hasn't sorted out a placement for next year yet, and I'm not sure that it will happen, or where, so does he move to a 3 year degree or persevere? He has 3 other people to live with, but one of them is also looking for a placement. They are just in limbo.

@simbobs my DD’s housemate has decided not to bother with the placement and crack on with the degree on the basis that it’s going to be v difficult to find places, it will likely involve a lot of working from home so no real difference to studying remotely, and the general uncertainty about everything. I think she’s being sensible and realistic - but it’s not a vocational subject where work experience might have extra weight in the future so maybe an easier decision for her to take? It does mean that they have signed up for another year in the same house so from a selfish stand point no moving out required till 2022!!

Last year the tenancy agreement was that you also agreed to be guarantor for the others.
It didn't worry us too much as she was one of three, one of the others was paying the lot up front, so we thought it wasn't too high a risk.
If she'd been in with 8 people, some of whom she didn't know too well, it would have been a harder decision.

Just heard on the radio that university return after Christmas is being staggered with practical/lab based courses returning first and others in February. Surely this only applies to first years as those in private accommodation can return when they want as learning online anyway.

Other good news here Durham mums!
www.palatinate.org.uk/durham-university-sees-first-day-of-no-new-reported-covid-19-cases/

Yes, difficult to enforce across other than freshers, I would have thought @Benjispruce2. DS is going back at the end of December!

well we still have some f2f - its possible that gets postponed for 2nd years if they’re assuming they won’t be back until late Jan/early Feb.

I don’t really understand - for halls this may make sense but private houses you have smaller groups you’d think it would make more sense for them all to come back at the same time, otherwise you could have someone testing positive that comes back early, then someone else comes back a couple of weeks later just at the end of the self isolation and brings another case - you’d be in isolation for ages.

DS only has one f2f per week but it is useful for him. Thats at least 3 sessions he’ll miss, although maybe they’ll set up remote live sessions (He’s finding those useful too as they’re shorter and more spread out during the week)

Not sure when DD plans to return but I wouldn’t be surprised if she goes early, especially if work doesn’t materialise.

That’s true @MrKlaw.

I'm picking DD up on the 18th. Her house share friends want to stay until nearer Christmas as well. Most of them would be going back to tier 3 in their home towns/villages so they can't do much with their friends, so the household of 8 can at least have each other to do stuff with.

DD and other second year friends are taking the view that the travel window etc doesn’t apply to them as they are off campus. I would be encouraging them to get tested on their return though just to be sure but teaching being online till later won’t make a jot of difference to their experience. What would any is if the library was closed for longer

Ds is coming home at the weekend - I’ve advised him not to get a test as he had Covid last month (his older sibling now has it, le sigh)

Bath do semesters so he had been planning to stay home till the new semester starts in February anyway - last year he had a week of lectures in January before his exams but is assuming these will continue to be online. I think the fact that they have a mouse infestation is making home more attractive at the moment!

DD has never set foot in the university library. It was too far from her halls, and she doesn't really need books as everything she needs is online now.

@Decorhate ah interesting - just checked. So Jan 4 is the remainder of semester 1, and semester 2 does’nt start until Feb so maybe they’ll consider that as their start date - although presumably there will still be teaching from Jan 4 but may be ok to be remote and even from home (likely he’ll be back in Bath before Feb though)

Do they have exams in Jan?

no edit button. Looks like 1 week of revision, then 2 weeks of assessments and a week off. That helps - maybe they’ll have availability for remote contact with tutors if needed during revision week and I assume assessments would have been remote anyway