All Students SHOULD KNOW THIS Prior to Living in Student Accommodation
Before you move into any Student Accommodation landlords have a legal obligation to give the Gas Safety assessment for the property.
Landlords are also obliged by law to secure their tenants deposits by using a third party, this is known as the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. A landlord must tell their tenants of the holding company they are employing within two weeks of acquiring a deposit – failure for them to do so can result in a fine.
Should a landlord withdraw their house from being let before the Housing Contract is signed all they are legally obliged to do is return the holding deposit to the tenant (this remains true up until the day the tenancy is due to start). Prospective tenants should get the final tenancy agreement signed by the Landlord as soon as the points within are agreed.
Tenants will be in a much stronger position to oppose any charges taken from their deposit if an inventory check is administered before completely moving in. If a Landlord or Letting Agent doesn’t forward an inventory the tenant should consider putting together one. In this occasion it is also vital for the document to be counter signed by either the Landlord or Letting Agent incase of future discrepancies. Even just a set of quick photos that are sent by special delivery to the Landlord, or their agent, on the very first day of the Tenancy will do.
The price of rent for each tenant tends to decline as the quantity of people sharing expands, up to a max of four. If a student flat is capable of housing 5 or more tenants, it is categorised as a ‘House in Multiple Occupation’. This makes it more expensive for the landlord to conserve – hence the increased rent for each tenant.
It is a typical misunderstanding that one TV license is required per flat. This is only true if student accommodation is let on a shared basis, where there is split responsibility for the rent. If tenants sharing a property have individual tenancy agreements a license will be needed per tenant that has a TV in their room. A prime example of such circumstances would be a house of 5 students in private or university halls of residence.
Full time students are exempted from paying council tax however, this is not the case for part time students. Full time students should consider sharing with part time students incase the house as a collective group determine that it is uneven for the part time student to shell out the total council tax bill.
If you are looking for student accommodation through a letting agent they will bill a referencing fee of between tenty to one hundred pounds per tenant. In the Selly Oak region a fifty pounds referencing fee is considered normal. Tenants should try to drive this value down as each basic regerral will only cost the letting agency in the region of twenty pounds for each person. Letting Agents charge much higher fees to the Landlord, accordingly they are unlikely to want to lose out on these future charges for the sake of billing future tenants a moderatly lesser fee. Agents can’t charge you for simply looking at accommodation.
Most housing contracts run for twelve months. Students renting in non-student areas should think about asking for a break clause to be contained into the agreement. This gives the tenants the freedom to give notice at any point during the 2nd half of the tenancy.
Student areas have always been a hotspot for crime, as a large proportion students have never moved into a house by themselves and security can sometimes be disregarded. Students should ask their landlord for windows and doors to be secured by key operating locks, and deadlocks respectively. It is also advisable to view flats with working intruder alarms as this provides a key deterrent and can be activated at any time of day when the house is vacant.
Landlords are also obliged by law to secure their tenants deposits by using a third party, this is known as the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. A landlord must tell their tenants of the holding company they are employing within two weeks of acquiring a deposit – failure for them to do so can result in a fine.
Should a landlord withdraw their house from being let before the Housing Contract is signed all they are legally obliged to do is return the holding deposit to the tenant (this remains true up until the day the tenancy is due to start). Prospective tenants should get the final tenancy agreement signed by the Landlord as soon as the points within are agreed.
Tenants will be in a much stronger position to oppose any charges taken from their deposit if an inventory check is administered before completely moving in. If a Landlord or Letting Agent doesn’t forward an inventory the tenant should consider putting together one. In this occasion it is also vital for the document to be counter signed by either the Landlord or Letting Agent incase of future discrepancies. Even just a set of quick photos that are sent by special delivery to the Landlord, or their agent, on the very first day of the Tenancy will do.
The price of rent for each tenant tends to decline as the quantity of people sharing expands, up to a max of four. If a student flat is capable of housing 5 or more tenants, it is categorised as a ‘House in Multiple Occupation’. This makes it more expensive for the landlord to conserve – hence the increased rent for each tenant.
It is a typical misunderstanding that one TV license is required per flat. This is only true if student accommodation is let on a shared basis, where there is split responsibility for the rent. If tenants sharing a property have individual tenancy agreements a license will be needed per tenant that has a TV in their room. A prime example of such circumstances would be a house of 5 students in private or university halls of residence.
Full time students are exempted from paying council tax however, this is not the case for part time students. Full time students should consider sharing with part time students incase the house as a collective group determine that it is uneven for the part time student to shell out the total council tax bill.
If you are looking for student accommodation through a letting agent they will bill a referencing fee of between tenty to one hundred pounds per tenant. In the Selly Oak region a fifty pounds referencing fee is considered normal. Tenants should try to drive this value down as each basic regerral will only cost the letting agency in the region of twenty pounds for each person. Letting Agents charge much higher fees to the Landlord, accordingly they are unlikely to want to lose out on these future charges for the sake of billing future tenants a moderatly lesser fee. Agents can’t charge you for simply looking at accommodation.
Most housing contracts run for twelve months. Students renting in non-student areas should think about asking for a break clause to be contained into the agreement. This gives the tenants the freedom to give notice at any point during the 2nd half of the tenancy.
Student areas have always been a hotspot for crime, as a large proportion students have never moved into a house by themselves and security can sometimes be disregarded. Students should ask their landlord for windows and doors to be secured by key operating locks, and deadlocks respectively. It is also advisable to view flats with working intruder alarms as this provides a key deterrent and can be activated at any time of day when the house is vacant.
