Student house - tenant dropped out, refusing to pay rent

[newnamenewnamenewname]

DD was supposed to be moving into a student house with 2 friends and the fiancé of one of the friends. The day after signing the contracts, 2 days before moving in and the start of term, the friend dumped her fiancé, told the landlord she wouldn't be moving in, and decided to take a year out to go travelling.

Initially she offered to pay her share of the rent or the cost of all 4 breaking the contract (the landlord's costs, rent until it is relet, and the lost fees etc for all 4 of them) but the day before they moved in she changed her mind. The other 3 have moved in but we have no idea where to go from here.

Realistically, they can't replace her with another tenant as the couple were sharing a loft conversion with 2 interlinking rooms, one with the staircase in it. There is no access to the bathroom other than through the bedroom. The other 2 rooms are en suite. If they do replace her, they are likely to have to let it for significantly less than the couple were paying to let it quickly or have to cover the shortfall until they find someone to take it, pay fees to change the contract and the poor fiancé will have to pay hundreds in fees for a new place, if the landlord even agrees. We looked at other options before they moved in but getting out of the contract and finding somewhere else at such short notice (there is practically nothing available to move into now, so they would need temporary accommodation) would equally have cost thousands. Whatever happens, they are going to be seriously out of pocket (this is in London...). Two have them have paid rent for the entire year up front so if they do break the contract, I assume the landlord's costs etc will be deducted from that, leaving them to try and get the money back from the other 2 tenants. That pretty much makes it impossible for them to find somewhere else to live.

DP is DD's guarantor, the friend that has gone AWOL has her mother as guarantor (the other 2 paid their share for the entire year up front in lieu of a guarantor). The contract is jointly and severally liable. We spent ages wavering about the contract but eventually agreed with her parents' that there was little risk if the other 2 paid up front. DD has been best friends with her since infants, we have been close to the family for nearly 2 decades. Her father was our vicar until we moved away. I am usually the kind of person who makes sure every loophole is closed but we foolishly trusted these people. Her parents are now refusing to speak to any of us other than a text to say "These things happen..."

The only other option we can think of is to take her and her mother to court, if they won't pay up.

Am I correct in thinking that as well as all parties having a contract with the landlord, they have a contract with the other tenants too?

Would they be better to stay put and try to get the rent from her or move out and pursue her for their losses/costs in ending the contract?

Does the fact that she notified the landlord before they moved in that she wouldn't be taking up the tenancy effect the situation?

Thanks.

May be persuade the landordogne to pursue her parents if they were her guarantor?

Our daughter has entered into a similar contract and we're her guarantors. The only actual contract anyone has signed is with the landlord. One of the students is flaky and we could end up in a similar position but I will be taking legal advice if there's a problem, especially as they've all asked DD to be banker, collect everyone's rent and pay for the whole house each month 😱

That’s what I was going to say. The landlord might go after the parents for the rent.

Can they not shuffle the rooms round so the one with the bathroom access in is the living room and the living room could be a bedroom. Not ideal though.

The living area and kitchen are open plan so it can't be used as a bedroom.

At the moment, the landlord effectively has 6 months rent up front so they aren't too bothered... I suspect if it comes to the landlord taking it to court, they will go after everyone.

My gut feeling is that her parents are hoping that once DD puts in her share, that will cover them for 9 months rent and then landlord might agree to let them leave early rather than risk having to take them to court to evict them and recover the rent. But DD will be on placement in London in the summer and the other friend is doing a postgrad course that doesn't finish until September so they need to stay for the full 12 months. Before her parents went incommunicado and before she changed her mind about paying her share, they made a comment about there being no hurry as the rent was already fully paid until March...

Are all the students at the same college? If so, the first port of call might be the Student Services or student union. They usually have someone who has expertise in this area. Actually if they are at different places they might all go and ask at their colleges and compare answers. DS2 got the student services to check a tenancy agreement for him as we were unsure about something. They suggested asking for wording to be changed.
Can the fiance find somewhere else and another tenant couple move
in? DS1 had a similar situation with a couple breaking up, but not the bedroom arrangement, but the person who left found another tenant and LL was happy.
The other issue is that the bills are now presumably being split between 3 rather than 4 which your DD may not have bargained for. Its really only the water that will be lower. I might be tempted to write to the missing student's parents, signed for, pointing out that their daughter is liable for her share of the rent and that the others have been left with higher bills that expected and you expect them to make appropriate arrangements. Make it clear that all mving out after 9 months is not an option. ( It isn't!) It is sad that they have been linked to you for years but in a way they are taking advantage of that. However they might be dealing with a traumatised daughter.
As a LL I have had to chase a guarantor, and it is difficult for them- some do not fully understand what being a guarantor means, but depending on what the contract says you might be liable for her rent if they don't pay.

Sorry , just had another thought.
Could 2 friends survive with the loft bedroom arrangement- not ideal but it might be easier to let another ensuite. Maybe pay less and ask the missing tenant to pay the balance and any fees involved??
However be careful as if they let to a non student, then Coucil Tax will come into play

Thanks for your suggestions.

The contact is joint and severally liable so the other 3 are liable for her rent (although equally, she and her parents are also still liable for DD and the other 2's rent if they don't pay...). Ironically I was concerned about this but the landlord wouldn't alter the agreement and the AWOL girl's parents persuaded DP to sign based on our long association. I don't feel like calling it friendship right now.

Friend 2 needs a ground floor bedroom so she can't share the loft with DD. It was a nightmare finding somewhere suitable in the first place, she gave up the option of a college room to be with friends. Neither of them want to push the fiancé out (he is a good friend) and realistically it will be hard to relet the room to a couple who aren't part of the friendship group as it's in an expensive part of town, a couple could get a studio flat for the same money elsewhere in London. Whatever they do they are going to be heavily out of pocket.

The AWOL friend went travelling over the summer, DaisyMay, met someone else and has decided to stay on.

@newnamenewnamenewname I have just had an awful thought. If the other 2 have paid up in advance, you might be the only one that the LL can try to claim from if her parents don't pay up. I suggest you get some advice quite soon!

I am afraid the landlord can come after any of the tenants - whoever is easiest to get hold of in my experience and their guarantor. You could take the former friend to court to recover her share but you will need to show you have tried to find a solution ie rented the shared room out. www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/my-housemate-has-stopped-paying-their-rent-do-i-have-to-pay Which has some good advice.

I'm a student landlord. The guarantor will have to pay up. The landlord may agree a re-let if they find one, but very unlikely at this stage. It shouldn't impact you unless the guarantor defaults, and they should be legally pursued first. At the end of the day though if no-one else pays it the remaining remnants will have to

And absolutely no point moving out early, they will still have to pay for the year anyway, so they need to Get the fiance a new girlfriend asap!

Tenants, not remnants, bloody phone

Could your DD have the two rooms upstairs and they get another tenant in for her current room? At least then one of the rooms is let and there's more money coming in...

Alternatively they could look for a couple to live there - there were lots of grad student couples when I was at uni. The Student Union may also be able to advise or help advertise.

Her DD needs a ground floor room, though.