Leaving university accommodation UNITE

[notnorman]

hi folks,

My son wants to leave uni. Does this mean we have to pay for the whole years accommodation? The unite (the accommodation) website suggests we do.
If he won't get his loan anymore how on earth am I supposed to pay £800 a month for a room he won't even be in.

Any help appreciated.

Presumably it depends upon the wording of his contract and whether or not they re-let the room. Is he a first year? There may be little more flexibility if he's in the very early days and there's a cooling off period in his contract

I think Unite, like many accommodation providers, will end a student's contract without further payment if the student can find a replacement tenant acceptable to Unite.

I've seen SpareRoom and Student Room suggested as ways to advertise for a replacement

It's probably also be worth contacting the university student accommodation service, if there is one, and the student union.

My DC was in unite students last year and one of the students left after about 2 weeks . The room was then relet. Not sure what happened with payment.

As PPs have said, you'll need to check the contract.

You are expected to since it's unlikely they can re-let

You are allowed to find someone to take over as far as I know? DD is with in them

dd moved from a unite hall after a couple of months, I think we just paid until the end of the month.
They had no trouble finding a new tenant.

This will undoubtedly be the best time to do it as everyone is assessing who they are living with and what they actually want from their accommodation. He may need to be prepared for a very quick move when he tells the uni he's leaving.

If a replacement tenant can be found then you will be released from the contract at that point. If no replacement is found then the contract is legally binding and it is up to their discretion whether they will release you from the contract or not. They were becoming more lenient in this area when I stopped working for them 8 years ago but not sure what they're like now.

Also depends why he’s leaving. If it’s health related or exceptional circumstances, he’s more likely to have a sympathetic response

Thank you everyone. Much appreciated xxx

Read the contract. It may well be a condition of the contract that the resident is a student. if your son is not a student, the contract is void and unenforceable, even if Unite try to make you continue paying. Alternatively, if you are expected to pay for the room, tell Unite that you therefore will continue to 'enjoy' the accommodation being paid for. They cannot enforce payment on a contract but not allow you to enjoy the accommodation. Either you are allowed to live there and have to pay, or you are not allowed to live there and payment cannot be expected for a service not provided. See what they say if your non-student son states he intends to live the accommodation in return for paying for it.

@babyzoomer if Unite contracts are the same across all accommodations then the OP will have signed as guarantor and it is a legal and binding contract. The "child" is over the age of 18 and there are consequences like this to dropping out of university. So it doesn't matter that he isn't a full time student because Unite have a clause for that.

Unite state in their contracts that it is your responsibility to find a replacement tenant to take over the room. Your contract is then ended and a new contract is set up for the new tenant. He may be lucky and they have a waiting list so they can fill the room but ultimately he is responsible for finding a replacement tenant.

Yes once he ceases to be a full time student he is in breach of his tenancy agreement and cannot occupy the room (from their terms and conditions because my own child was in a Unite room so I have all the documents) they can apply to the court to get the room back if the non-student is still in residence.

And the kicker "The Guarantor guarantees that you will perform and observe your obligations under the Tenancy Agreement (including payment of Rent). If you do not perform and observe your obligations, the Guarantor will do so instead. The Guarantor is liable to reimburse us for any unpaid rent, permitted fees you have been charged and any reasonable costs and expenses (which must
be reasonable both in amount and in nature) which we have properly incurred, where you have not carried out your obligations under this Tenancy Agreement. We are under no obligation to bring any claims against you before bringing any action against the Guarantor."

So whoever signed as guarantor is on the hook for the rent. In fact they emailed me every time a payment was due to remind me to make sure there was enough money in whatever account the rent was coming out of. They need to find a new tenant.

@notnorman Contact them and see if they have anyone on their waiting list that can fill the room. If not advertise it at the university, on any student letting site you can.

My daughter moved out of a Unite hall in her second year to move back into a grotty (but cheap and reasonably spacious) university hall. She only had to pay rent up to the point at which someone else moved into the room. I think the university's accommodation office helped her find someone who wanted the Unite room.

I dropped out of uni to reapply 2 months into my degree. There was such a shortage of accommodation that they found someone to take over my room straight away so didn’t have to pay after moving out.