General (main property discussion here) - Student who no longer needs let

I know this is a landlords site but I'm writing on behalf of a friend who's daughter is a student. The student has signed a joint AST which is due to start in July 2005. (Accomodation is close to Uni) AST was signed at the end of 2004. The student has now decided to study at a different Uni as the course she was attending was not as fulfilling as she first thought. Notice has been issued to the Landlord (2 months ago)and the fellow students believe they have found a replacement student tenant to take her place. The Landlord is requesting a full years rent from the student who is moving. As you can imagine 2 lots of rent and Uni fees are a heavy burden for the parents. Is the Landlord legally allowed to do this? Will the deposit be refunded to the parents? Any guidance much appreciated!!

It depends (rather obviously) on exactly what they signed. If they agreed to sign up for a year then legally that is what they are contracted to (unless there is a get out clause). However, it does seem a bit unreasonable if they have found a replacement.

I would recommend 2 options :-

1) Go to the landlord / agent and talk to them and get the new student to sign the same AST and tear up the old one.

2) Sublet (if permitted).

Regards.

Funky me.

good advice from funky me.

tom

Consult a solicitor as the landlord is been unreasonable and would probably loose in court as you have done all you can do to rectify the situation, the landlord is at no financial loss whatso ever so therefore is deemed to be unreasonable.

Alex M

Yes, speak to a solicitor.

Alex : Not quite, in the strictly legal sense :-

If you sign papers agreeing to rent my car for 1 year and you decided to leave it parked outside my house I am not legally obliged to give you your money back just because you change your mind and decide you want to move and go rent a car out in another area. You still signed the agreement.

However, if I now decide to rent my car out to someone else at the same time, then I would possibly be legally at fault and probably lose in court if you brought an action against me. (But only if you found out about it !)

If I was really clever I would have put a clause in my contract saying that if the property is left empty for longer than "X" weeks then the contract is no longer valid and all your rental money is defaulted to me. Then I can rent it out again to someone else, legally.

That is why I started with "It depends (rather obviously) on exactly what they signed." It may not be fair but it's legal.

Assume you are the landlord and just ask yourself these questions :

1) "would I rather have a years rent for this room with no damage and no wear and tear (empty), or with damage and wear and tear (student in place) at extra cost and hassle to myself ? "

2) "Is it in my interest to chase up another tennant and pay another agency fee all at my extra cost and loss of revenue (bearing in mind the previous question) ?"

I personally, would accept the new student as long as my costs were paid by the defaultee.

FM

Erm, not sure about that Funky.

If the student says they won't be taking up the accommodation and the landlord is notified they are free to let it out to someone else, I think that in the eyes of the court the landlord has to do all he can to limit his damages, i.e. find a new tenant. If there's a cost involved (particularly if no tenant can be found and there are voids) the landlord can seek compensation.

I'm NOT a lawyer, and a solicitor should be consulted, but that is my layman's understanding of the process.

John

Hi John,

I'm not saying you are wrong or anything but.... Surely a legal agreement signed by two parties to agree to do something would stands up in a court. I mean, if I went to Hertz rent a car on the day I was supposed to be hiring a car for two days and said I've changed my mind, I seriously doubt that I'd get my money back even if I did go to court to try and recover it.

Problem is that we don't know enough about what's happened (or been signed) and I imagine we are looking at the problem from slightly different skewed angles, perhaps ? Anyway, debate is good.

I would be interested to find out the definative answer from a lawyer. If there are any out there ?

Regards,

FM

Thankyou one and all. Opinions noted and passed onto my friend. As you can imagine they are concerned and appreciate your thoughts. A definitive answer would be great but as you suggested this appears to be yet another grey area in british law!!