Bubble in uni accommodation

[Ssmiler]

My DD is in a student accommodation not owned by one particular uni but by a big student accommodation company. Since she started in September the building has had a no visitor policy. She is in a wing that is all self contained single person studio flats. She has never met anyone in the building and all common areas are closed.

She is in a course that is permitted an element of face to face teaching so goes into class on average 2 hours per day. Some days no face to face teaching and some days half day. The rest of the classes are on zoom and the course is mainly 9-5. She is quite isolated - eg is on zoom all day on a Friday so in theory in lockdown sees no one from Thursday evening til Monday morning.

She has decided enough is enough and has emailed the hall to say that in line with govt guidance she has formed a support bubble with a (privately rented) flat of 3 students who are in her class. She said she will visit them for meals etc and occasionally they will visit her as she returns the hospitality.

She has had a reply to say that as she lives alone they will (finally) permit her to have one visitor. Can they refuse to allow her to fully bubble with all 3 in the other household in line with govt rules? She feels bad that they are having her to dinner etc and although she contributes financially she wants to also reciprocate. Also it’s a 30 min walk between her studio and their flat so it’s safer if they sometimes come to her so she isn’t always walking alone at night.

I want her to reply to say she is paying £15,000 per annum and if this was privately rented they wouldn’t be able to bar her from a government bubble so why are they doing so? Her 3 bubble friends would come into no contact with other students in the building because she herself has never met or seen any of them!

Are there different rules for flats owned by student housing companies? Any advice welcome

I think this is a fight not worth having.

Her landlords are holding to a strict policy because they know that if they give an inch everyone will take an ell. Also because they will be unable to validate that bubbles are correctly formed (ie none of the other part of the bubble have a visiting boyfriend, cuddle buddy, or frequent visits home on bubble terms). Your DD might not be bumping into other residents, but they are there and could be in corridors, lifts etc at any time, and they choose to be socialising together as well.

She should see her bubble at theirs, for now, and return hospitality in other ways in the immediate future

Soon the national rules will be changing, and meeting indoors will be OK. As some of the time until then will be over the vacation, there isn't going to be that long before she can ask people over without difficulty

Thanks for replying @RoseAndRose - it’s good to get another perspective
I think the point I’m making though is that it won’t matter if the national rules soon change to allow indoor meeting - her hall just doesn’t allow her to follow the national rules. Eg Last autumn the national rules allowed indoor meeting in the rule of six but she still wasn’t allowed to have anyone to visit.

Nor was she allowed to properly avail of the bubble specifically designed to prevent isolation of people living alone during lockdown

She won’t be home at Easter as her course has just reduced the Easter break from 4 weeks to two, and she can’t afford now to change her flights as they are so expensive Easter weekend. Her course will run til mid July so it’s a long time to be so very isolated.

She is a shy girl and does not feel able to turn up at her bubbled house without an invite as these are new friends that she just met in September. Lockdown rules (which they do follow) hasn’t helped to accelerate friendships. So she will be invited over once or twice a week.
But if for example she’s invited over on a Saturday night then, when hospitality is closed, apart from those few hours on sat night she’s completely alone, from Thursday 5pm til Monday morning because she can’t invite them back on Friday or Sunday.

She has moved to a new country alone at the age of 18 in the middle of a pandemic with the country in lockdown. She lives completely alone , has most of her classes in her room and pays £15k rent per annum to live alone and see no one for days. She is reliant on an invite as she can’t issue an invite

She has kept quiet for over six months as that is her nature, but her mental health is badly affected and she now feels that she has a right to follow the government rules like everyone else. Hence her email to her hall to ask if she could follow the government rules. It’s hard to see it as a fight not worth having when she’s so vulnerable and isolated

So my question really is can a private (student) landlord instruct a tenant that they cannot follow government rules on visitors when there is nothing in the tenancy agreement on this. While I accept that in theory they could meet someone in passing on the staircase, the layout is exactly the same as anyone living in a privately rented apartment block - and having a shared apartment block front entrance does not preclude other people from being allowed to follow the rule of six (when it’s allowed) or household bubble rules

She could try contacting

• the local Public Health Department, to clarify any specific enhancement of current government guidelines that it may have imposed upon the providers of such accommodation
• Citizens Advice
• Her MP, quoting the relevant version of the guidance on forming a support bubble.

From Monday (I'm assuming she's in England?), she can at least meet up with one other person at a time, not necessarily in her support bubble - out in a public placefor a drink or picnic (or any other social activity outside)...

At the end of the day, unfortunately, it may turn out that the landlords do have a right to set general rules for residents, separate to the corpnavirus guidelines, but she can at least try.

Just out of interest, what is she worried will happen if she breaks their rules but is complying with government rules?

If it's that she will be kicked out, I can't see it. Students usually have to do a lot more than have dinner with a couple of friends!

Where on earth is she that she's paying £15k?!!!! That's an unheard of level of rent.

Thanks @marchingFrogs that’s really helpful. I’ll check those out and maybe look at some of the other student accommodation providers in the area to see if it’s maybe a specific advice that they have all been given. She is in England so plans to get out for a walk with someone now that it’s allowed. Hopefully if restrictions start to ease and outdoor hospitality opens up it will be less of an issue.

Thanks @poppycat10 what she is afraid of is being challenged by the reception staff! She is shy and non confrontational and doesn’t want to “get into trouble” or be reported to her uni for breaking her accommodation COVID rules.

I know @goodbyestranger the rent is ridiculous! But if you have a look at IQ student accommodation (it’s not them she rents from btw but similar idea) you’ll see that depending on the city the studio rooms go up as high as £300 per week. She needed a 52 week contract as the shorter contracts were too short for her very long terms. And because she got her offer so late (summer before starting) the only halls left were the most expensive studio rooms.

Privately renting was so difficult with the short notice, COVID and being in another country and not knowing anyone to share with. That’s sorted now for next academic year but for this first year we agreed to help her with the crazy rent so she could be in halls.

I think your DD is right to query this. I would love to know the justification of this when the behaviour is in line with Government guidelines. Surely this is a deprivation of human rights . I would be absolutely persuing this . I might even go to the press over it if I couldn’t get a good enough reason. The fact it is not listed in the tenancy agreement is surely enough. . Otherwise where would it end Landlords allowed to dictate every facet of tenant behaviour.
Another example of shocking behaviour towards students

My daughter is in similar accommodation except she is currently in a flat of 3. She has a friend in another building owned by a similar company is in a studio flat.

Dd returned at the weekend ready to resume face to face teaching today. Her institution runs until July but the students from the main uni are only there for 3 weeks after Easter so she says once they have gone she and the other girl will form a support bubble.

However the accommodation are within their rights to not allow external visitors if they wish regardless of the rules. To be honest dd was glad her accommodation had that rule last term when covid ripped through the other private halls where many of her friends were living.

I'm wondering if your dd does a similar kind of course to mine ssmiler? It's an area where it is common to get late offers. Dd managed to get a more reasonably priced room but she has friends in the more expensive studio flats.

Yes @Stirmecrazy it was really awful when they wouldn’t allow her any visitor at all - but at least now they have decided to allow her to bubble with just one which is something - though still less then government rules for private rent

@Comefromaway yes it sounds like our DDs are on the same creative pathway - offers received late due to the lengthy audition process - made worse last year by the switch to on line auditions half way through!