University 2019/20 intake: Gearing up to graduation (for some but not all)

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

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I guess everyone's circumstances are different. DS is spending a lot of his time with his g/f, plus his accommodation this year has been decidedly sub-standard, so I think he's just dying to get to the end of his tenancy. Of course, if he does come home as a short-term solution, he may very quickly decide it's not what he wants!

Yes, it’s been such a shame for them all missing out on so much because of covid. Bittersweet ending definitely.
DS has his final online exam this week and was a bit upset yesterday as he got a lower mark than usual for an assignment that he was unable to attend the only seminar for, so hope he isn’t worrying too much.
His tenancy ends just after his graduation so he will be back home - full house again for us as his sister came back a year ago!

I think DD would stay in Durham longer if everyone else did but most have commitments so she won’t want to stay alone. Tenency ends 14/7 but she’s coming home early July. She wants to move out from home ideally so will be job hunting or travelling.

A small word of caution about staying in student houses after exams - some local authorities will treat them as non students for council tax purposes, even if just having a break between undergraduate and masters courses

@VanCleefArpels
I wonder what date counts as not being a student at the university anymore?
End of the term for that uni, graduation date?

Does anybody have any info on this?

Sorry - was interrupted. So, liability for council tax May kick in on the final day of the final semester which will often be before the final date of the tenancy. Some local authorities are hotter on this than others in terms of collecting but it’s worth bearing in mind.

DD would have loved to settle in her Uni city but she was unable to get a job there and we decided we were not going to continue to subsidise her living costs for an unknown amount of time while she found something. So home she will come - her job is commutable from here. I think she will maintain an ambition to move back there one day though

I think I looked in
to this and it was September.

Actually I think that they had a year from leaving uni . September the following year? I could be wrong .

I’m afraid you are @Benjispruce4 The exemption for students expires as soon as they are no longer deemed registered as students.

@ZandathePanda @LouisCatorze @simbobs This group has been great and I will really miss it, but will keep a watch on the 4 year students.

It has been such a journey for my DS and for the whole family, its been more rewarding for him and more expensive as a parent for me than I thought it would be. Such a different experience to my DD who is just finishing her first year.

Ds's tenancy ends while he's in America. They moved in in sept 2020 it was a 50 week contract. But they stayed on for second year and managed to negotiate an early end of tenancy. So it ends 5th July. Ds goes to America 20th June. So he needs to be moved out by then. So only a few more weeks left. I've told him to make sure the landlord looks at his room before he leaves. The landlord only lives along the road, they see a lot of him. So hopefully the full deposit will be returned. It is an HMO so I think the landlord is responsible for council tax anyway.

If the young people haven't yet got a job for when their student status ends (imminently), I did read that one way to swerve paying CT is to sign on for Jobseeker's Allowance immediately. For as long as someone is claiming it, they would be exempt. Obviously it's not ideal but if it may take them a month or so to find a job, it would save them a bit of money.

And it's also assuming that all 'eligible' flatmates will agree to split the CT bill due. If say four should pay but only two or three agree to do so, it means the others still have to cover the full amount which is unfair.

Jobseeker’s Allowance doesn’t exist any more. They would have to claim UC then approach the council for council tax reduction based on a low income. Each council will have its own criteria for this. All of this takes many weeks and may not be worth the hassle!

one other common issue is continuing students sharing with graduates - the property is not then exempt for council tax and legally speaking it’s only the non student that is liable for council tax unless they can get the others to agree to chip in

@VanCleefArpels thanks for correcting my misinformation. Yes, that does sound like more trouble than it's worth really.

DS lives with all soon-to-be graduates (there's four of them) so hoping they will agree to share the burden equally. Their house this year is pretty modest and not in a great area so assume they will be at the lower end of the CT banding spectrum but having just looked it up, that could still equate to £200 a month between them. And isn't it complicated by the fact that most councils charge in ten installments for the whole year, so they then may need to claim some of what they've paid back once they move out?

Sorry that last post of mine was badly constructed. Hopefully, you get the gist?

when they move out they just inform the council and they will work out what’s owing at that point - agree 10 monthly instalments has never made sense to me!

10 monthly installments is weird, but I do like it in Feb and March when I don't have to pay!

Yes @blametheparents I agree.

Gawd knows what I read then!

So, when are they deemed to no longer be students, graduation day?

As above - last day of last semester

Most graduation ceremonies will be after that - eg those who need to do August resits won’t graduate (ie ceremony) for months after that

DD’s last day of term is 25/6 so it’s only a week after that she moves out. If they do get billed, won’t be much. Phew!

Bit confused as just looked at the uni calendar:
Academic year 1-9-2021 till 31-8-2022
Semester 2: 17-1-22 till 29-4-22
Assessment period 2: till 1st June assessment period 3: till 19th Aug.

Are we looking at 1st June then?
So DC would need to pay for 6 weeks

@Notagardener the Uni will have issued a certificate to prove student status for council tax purposes which will have relevant dates on it. This is usually provided direct to the council but a phone call to the Uni admin people should confirm which of those dizzying number of dates is the right one!