How to terminate Student accomodation contract in London for COVID ?

[meganonlinenow]

Hi
My girl was over the moon last summer getting a place at one of the top Unis in London. It meant taking up one of the expensive (at least for us) Student accomodation at the Chapter Portobello.

Now, with the severe restrictions, ALL classes have been cancelled and she's now forced to vacate her room and come back home. But sadly, she's bound to a year's contract and payment for a room which she isn't planning to use any more since London is shut down.

Are there any avenues for us to terminate the contract considering the severe restrictions imposed by the Govt? The contract is strict and gives an option only for the Accomodation guys to cancel the contract.
Are there any options at all or is anyone else having a similar problem?
Any suggestions or solutions? Please help :)

Megan

Is it private accommodation? ie. Not uni managed and owned? If so you are very very unlikely to get a refund. Some uni's who own there accommodation have given partial refunds but private accommodation is a very different beast.

When you say “forced to vacate her room”, do you mean the accommodation provider has told students they are not allowed to return if they’ve been away, or that your daughter has decided staying there with no classes or social life would be rubbish and decided to return to you? If the former, the provider has to refund you as they have terminated the contract to provide a service. But if the accommodation is still open and available for her to live in, which I assume it is, then the provider is fulfilling their end of the contract and the fact that your daughter has chosen not to return is not a legitimate reason to terminate.

Several providers of student accommodation have stated recently that they will offer partial refunds to students, but in the absence of e.g. the CMA litigating successfully and securing undertakings which state providers must refund, you’ll have to hope that your provider joins those offering refunds.

You need to check the terms she signed up to. You may have to pay until Easter at least. Is her room empty?

You'll need to check the contract. If it's privately owned, you'll probably struggle to terminate it at all.

I doubt you can. Most university campuses are remaining open and students have the choice to stay or go even if all teaching is online. International students are staying. The library is open. Some students are staying. I doubt the uni is forcing anyone to leave because of not wanting to pay halls fees back.

I work at a uni. Last year we refunded uni halls fees. This year we can't. The uni have nearly run out of money and would likely go bankrupt if they did this.

I think the govt need to help, maybe by offering a reduction in fees instead? Or compensating unis for lost accommodation fees so the unis could pay it back to the students?

My son at Queen Mary University has just been offered a 30% reduction for the rest of the year for his room in student halls. Students there had started a petition with some refusing to pay which I think might have influenced the uni.

Unlike your daughter's uni though they are still teaching on line (which they have been doing since September) and the students can use their rooms if they wish, as well as libraries being opened etc.

He looked to see if he could terminate the agreement but the only way he could would be if they could fill his room with someone else.

Might be worth your daughter contacting the uni and see what they say especially if they've stopped tuition and won't let the students use their rooms.

If the classes are online and she still has access to library etc then she can stay at uni?

Her course isn't cancelled is it

She won’t have a right of termination unless there is a repudiatory breach on the part of the landlord, which a global pandemic is not, im afraid.