Joint and Several Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement"

[snowaddict]

Hi,

My daughter has signed a contract for a flat on the Joint and Several Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement" terms.

She has not got a place at uni due to the situation with limited places this year and wishes to come home.

She has advertised her room and spoke to other students about possible replacements for her room. but as yet no one has come forward. I have spoken to landlord and he has said that 99% of there tenants are students. So surely they must be used to this sort of thing happening.

If she does move out as she is only working on a casual contract at the moment and doesnt earn enought to pay all bills herself. What will happen. Can she get sued has she has no money. Would her housemates have to pay her rent etc. thanks

If the contract is joint and several then the landlord can require any or all of the tenants to pay up - it is a joint debt.

What was the arrangement between your daughter and the other tenants? Were they all first years?

Essentially she is liable .If she does not pay the joint and several bit means Landlord can recover from housemates but they can then recover from her.If she has no £ she can still be sued but will simply not be able to pay .Landlords could get judgement and seek to enforce if she got a job.Whether they would bother is arguable.Might be worth an approach to landlord saying she has no £ so not worth them taking action but offering them say 3 months rent in full settlement

Yes they were all first years last year. unfortunately she failed her first year and wanted to start a new course.

thanks for replies.

The owners of the property are massive company that has 100's of properties just let out to students. Don't know if that is good or bad thing.

Probably a good thing as they are more likely to take a commercial view

Joint and several means that all tenants are jointly responsible for the rental (and any debt accrued). The Landlord can sue all of the tenants for any debt. He could also serve notice on the tenants to end the tenancy (once there are more than 2 months total rent outstanding).

It is in the interests of your dd's and the other tenant's interests to find a replacement a.s.a.p. Have they really tried (i.e. notices on notice boards at Uni, local paper adverts etc.) or are they just waiting to hear of someone looking for a room ? Could your dd speak to the LLD and ask them to advertise the room and offer a token amount to help with advertising costs ?

Sorry - just re-read your OP and has seen that she has advertised already