Advice needed – Stuck with Unite Students accommodation contract

[Metaphor]

Hi everyone,

I’m really stressed and not sure what to do about my daughter’s situation.

She’s had some health problems, which meant she had to take a gap year out of uni. The university has been very supportive and approved her deferral, so she’ll be returning next year. Because she isn’t enrolled this year, she doesn’t have any student finance in place.

The issue is that she had already booked accommodation with Unite Students before all this happened. After her deferral was approved, she contacted them to cancel and explained everything, sending over medical evidence and proof from the uni.

They said they could “look into it”, but it’s been dragging on for over a month now. She keeps getting automated rent payment emails (which they’ve told her to ignore for now) while they review the case.

She hasn’t moved in or collected keys — she’s at home. But we’re really worried because we absolutely can’t afford the rent, especially since she doesn’t have student finance this year and her dad has only just started a new job.
Unite have said she might need to find a replacement tenant because she didn’t cancel within the 7-day cooling-off period (which obviously wasn’t possible given the circumstances). They’ve also said to wait while they make a decision, but it’s been weeks now, we have been calling, but they are telling us to wait, not sure what to do.

To make matters worse, the same room type is now showing on their website for £1k less, so even if someone wanted to take over the tenancy, they could just book directly through the site for cheaper. My daughter can look for a full-time job to pay this off but it's a significant amount.

Has anyone been through something similar with Unite Students or other student accommodation providers?

Can the university step in to help at all in a case like this?

We’re at a bit of a loss and feeling really anxious about what’s going to happen.
Any advice or experiences would be very much appreciated.

Thank you.

Is she in England? It looks to me like the tenancy is considered ended if she is no longer a full time student but that's the one I've found online. What does her contract say?

I think the housing office at the uni should be able to help (though I guess as she is not a student there they might not)- worth asking them.

Otherwise I would be writing a stiff and formally worded email saying they are causing her distress on top of her illness and as she is no longer a full time student as per the contract they need to stop sending bills.

She’ll have to find a replacement. If it’s cheaper to book direct unfortunately she will likely need to match that price. It’s a bloody nightmare. What city is it? Some sell better than others.

The uni won’t be able to help as it’s a private provider.

Firstly, she is still considered a student as she is on roll at the university with intention to return, so she would still be exempt for things like council tax. Therefore she isn't in breach of her tenancy.

She is an adult and has signed a legal and binding tenancy agreement and the terms and conditions are clearly set out and sent to you by email. The university cannot help as Unite is a separate private business. I assume you signed as guarantor.

Section 12 of the Unite Ts & Cs should cover failure to check in and what she is now expected to do. Search her emails for this document, I literally typed the name of the accommodation and tenancy agreement. My child was in a Unite student let.

She is legally liable for the rent until she can find a replacement tenant or they find one. There is usually some movement around now for people looking to move but clearly they already have rooms to let so they are in no rush to do your DD's work for her.

Personally, I would be contacting them by phone and being as sweet and nice as possible asking for their guidance in how to move forward. Explain she loved the place and can she defer her place with them until next year? She will still need somewhere to live next year when she returns.

Private halls usually start opening their rooms for the following academic year end of October into November.

It is a shit situation but we have also made it very clear to our children who were/are in private student halls that this is a legal and binding tenancy. Luckily both my children were/are in unis where these rooms sell out fast.

@Metaphor has your dd tested out posting on TSR? There are quite often posts looking for someone to take over a tenancy - including those stating that the first £X will be paid (which may well be from people who found that the provider has dropped the rent to try to fill up its remaining rooms. Spareroom.co.uk also sometimes has ads for rooms 'for students only' and for a fixed term, but I've never looked closely enough at them to see whether they are halls rooms, or just normal housing where all the other tenants are currently students and therefore not liable for Council Tax.