So my oldest is in Uni and rents a house with some other students. This is in regards to last year and I'm posting just to see the general opinion and if there are any landords out there to post their point of view. So a small Semi Detached converted into 5 beds £550ish per month per person, of course they have an accomodation loan but it doesn't cover it so I have to pick up the slack. This particular landlord then tried taking the majority of their deposit so they are fighting it. This part is also interesting. The lads submitted their evidence for the dispute the landlord didn't bother responding but no still no money back it goes to court. The lads looked after the place well and the charges were simply designed to rip them off.
I'm also interested in ways of sorting this out, do the government place a cap on student rental so that even the lowest student loans cover the rent? The landlord will still make a huge profit but then it's affordable for the students.
They all do the same mate. The only way round it is to confront him, with dangerous and deadly weapons. If necessary you should chop a limb of his off to make sure he knows you’re serious. It should also be bonded and not in his own account.
They are legally covered by tenancy deposit protection, if there’s a dispute about deductions then the landlord should have agreed any deductions and the reasons for them, with the tenants. If he hasn’t then there’s advice here; https://www.unipol.org.uk/advice/students/know-your-rights/deposits/tenancy-deposit-protection
I used to be in a 4 way partnership of people that rented houses in Reading to university students, most were good tenants but few were ****s. I’d like to think that we were good landlords to the good ones.
Yeah went through all that and that is the bit where the landlord produced no evidence and it goes to court. It's not really any kind of protection as it's now in the hands of the courts.
Well it sort of is, as if he’s not followed the law, he’ll lose in court, and will likely be instructed to pay costs as well.
I’ve had student rentals, and you charge the going rate for students mate, which is set by the local market. Student rentals can be grief, due to damage and anti social behaviour, especially if it’s not a heavily student populated street.
I hope so. I just found it incredible that the landlord didn't bother producing evidence and they still didn't get the deposit. It should have been given back at that point. I also can't believe they are allowed to charge students they way they do, the government should step in, it would half student debt overnight but let's face it the government doesn't really give a ****.
When I moved to London I shared a house with four University friends. We were there for 2 years. When we moved out and asked for our deposit back the landlord sent us a bill. In hindsight he was right and we were wrong.
Problem is the going market for students it's taking the piss, look at my example where the landlord is getting over £2500 a month for a property, that's not right. Rental prices in the area are less than half that. It's also the same risk, there are scum tenants everywhere and it's like to think that students are a fairly well bright up bunch.
I specifically say no students when looking for a tenant. Can’t be dealing with the way loads of them treat property. If they’ve got evidence to show the condition the flat was in when moving in and what condition it’s in now he hasn’t got a leg to stand on, if as you say he hasn’t got any evidence. Was there any list with current condition of all items in the property provided when they moved in? Seems a bit much to entirely ignore them rather than engaging in any kind of conversation if it’s heading to court.
There are of course genuine reasons to withhold deposits and from the list from this landlord there were some genuine reasons but then lots of unreasonable items. I went to the house on a few occasions and they had kept it well.
What’s the price to rent a room in the area though? You’d expect to take more for renting individual rooms than for renting the property as a whole.
I made them take photos at move in and detailed any issues. This landords is just an idiot, she was swearing at my lad at move out when she started listing the idiot things and he said that they'll dispute if she pushes thede items. They also tried to compromise and offered to pay for what was fair.
Just sounds like a twat landlord to me! Do some reading up about what landlords can and can’t charge for and send over some direct quotes from reliable sources, making it clear she will lose in court and you might get some luck. I’ve done this for a friend before when they were dealing with a dick landlord.
Yeah that may well be part of what drives the going rate but again if a married couple wanted to rent the same house it would be less than half. It's driving unnecessary debt onto students and their parents. The government should cap it in a way that each student pays whatever their accomodation loan is. The landlord is still quids in.
It’s a bit more nuanced than that. University owned halls are a ****ing fortune, the local market usually undercuts them by a decent chunk. Students often do a bunk at the end of the last term and the you don’t get paid until the next year starts. You usually have to repaint and often re-carpet every year as they’re generally scruffy ****s. It can be a good earner but also a pain in the arse tbh. I bailed out of them years ago.
