Joint & severally liable strategies

Tenant Discussion
1

Daughter and boyfriend have signed up for academic year 2025-26 in a jointly and severally liable tenancy close to her Uni, now he wants to live closer to his Uni which is in the next town(he drives, she does not).

The boyfriend believes they will just lose their deposit. Contract states they are liable until new tenants can be found so I think the landlord won’t make any effort to find new tenants as they can be held liable for the full contract length (agency had trouble finding tenants before daughter & BF came along).

They haven’t approached the LA yet, still wondering what options/strategies there are, like daughter staying in the flat anyway and us trying to claw money back from BF.

My worry is that if the LL does not find new tenants, they will hold out for the year’s rent and as the liability is joint & several, who would they go after if not equally? Both sets of guarantor parents are (as far as we know) solvent.

Also if one half of the tenancy does not pay their way, what options are there to seek redress?

Thanks all

Les

2

The joys of being a Guarantor.

The Landlord will be entitled to enforce full liability on either or both tenants / guarantors. Whether or not the BF caused the issue, the liability remains all of yours.

As they will have breached the contract, the LL will be entitled to recover their costs, and this may mean until new tenants are found. Legally, the Landlord should try to minimise their costs.

Id recommend speaking to the LL asap, to try & minimise the timeframe, and hence your liability.

3

What is the exact wording of the contract clause covering what happens if one or both want to leave early? This is important because as Karl says, by default, the landlord doesn’t have to agree and could refuse to allow early surrender. This is more likely in student accommodation as once the academic year is underway it can be practically impossible to find a student that still needs accommodation.

The boyfriend needs to be made aware of his liabilities. He has to pay until a new tenant is found and that may be the full year. If he abandons the property then even though the landlord could choose to pursue him for the rent, they will probably take the easy option of pursuing your daughter and then you. Your daughter could probably sue the boyfriend if he defaults, but that would probably only happen if the relationship ends.

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4

Thanks all for your replies, accept all you have said.

Some pertinent sections of the contract are as follows:

"THE TENANT/S JOINTLY AND SEVERALLY AGREE:
(1) To pay the rent at the times and in the manner specified.
(2) To pay for, where applicable, all gas and electricity and water consumed on, or supplied to, the Property during the whole of the fixed term of the tenancy and any continuation thereafter (including any standing charges). To notify all utility suppliers of final meter readings where applicable at the end of the tenancy.

Change of Sharer / Sharers - If it is the case that one or more, but not all, of the persons named above as ‘The Tenant/s’ wishes to be released from their obligations under this agreement, then the Landlord at his sole discretion, may choose to allow a change of tenant or tenants for the remainder of the tenancy term. The Landlord may choose to impose reasonable restrictions and requirements upon any such replacement tenant or tenants. A fee of £50.00 (inc. VAT) per replacement tenant will be payable by the Tenant to the Agent.

Early Termination – Should all of the persons named above as ‘The Tenant/s’ wish to be released from their obligations under this agreement, therefore terminating this contract, then the Landlord at his sole discretion, may choose to allow this early termination. The Tenants shall be liable for the landlord’s costs in re-letting the property as well as any rent due under the tenancy until the start date of the replacement tenancy. These costs will be no more that the maximum amount of rent outstanding on the tenancy.

Some other relevant sections:
Where there is more than one tenant, all obligations, including those for rent and repairs can be enforced against all of the tenants jointly or against an individual for the whole.

The tenancy shall commence on and will include the 01/07/2025 and shall continue for a term of 12 Months up to and including the 30/06/2026."

So where you say “He has to pay until a new tenant is found and that may be the full year” does that mean if he was to move out or otherwise break the contract or ask to be removed from the agreement but my daughter was to remain & pay at least her share, does the onus lie on the outgoing tenant to find a replacement suitable to both LL & remaining tenant?

And when the remaining tenant is made liable for the whole, we would have to take the BF & his guarantor to small claims?

I should say daughter has diagnosed autism so it won’t be as easy as getting any old coursemate to come on board and (not that it’s all that relevant) we guarantors for our daughter are LLs of our previous house.

Thanks again for the help. Apparently the BF’s parents are hoping to just replace him with a random student.

5

Advertise the room on spare room yourself and that gets you out of a bind and you know that you have made all efforts
Some consolation when the RRB comes in you will need to give two months notice to leave as the AST will be redundant
It was suggested by Matthew Pennycook that RRB will be introduced by October so I’m guessing that should give you some solace .

6

Its not really his or her share of the rent. They are both liable for the whole rent.

Its their joint responsibility to find a new tenant. Either or both need to do this.

I’m no expert, but I suggest just because its a joint tenancy, if you end up out of pocket paying towards the rent etc, you might not just be able to take him or his parents to court, without proof there was an agreement between him & your daughter, that they would pay 1/2 share each. Ie, their contract is with the Landlord, not with you or your daughter, so I’m not sure on what grounds you could take legal action against them.

7

No, it doesn’t. It states that its at the landlords discretion to allow this. Has the landlords said that they will allow a replacement?

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8

Not yet, they haven’t informed the letting agent.

9

Boyfriend’s mum has told the LA.

Meanwhile, we’re looking at the EPC situation as it looks like there wasn’t a valid one when they took out the first contract and the one the LL got done in Nov 2024 (not sure if the property was even visited) seems overly optimistic.

10

The EPC situation is not much of a bargaining chip as its unlikely there would be any sanction on the landlord.

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11

I don’t know anyone who has been fined or even sent a letter over a out of date epc!

12

How do you know there was no EPC before this date? Expired EPCs are deleted off the database. If you have been served an EPC before the contract commences the LL has done nothing wrong. How are you in a position to criticise the validity of the EPC? How do you know if the property was not visited or if it was the previous surveyor and a visit was not required.
You are clutching at straws and not in a strong position. Decide what you want to do and approach the landlord in an agreeable manner. If you approached me with this hostility I would not take kindly to it. I have always helped those who are polite rather than those who are trying it on. It’s a two way street and you are not in a strong position.

If your daughter wants to stay there are lots of options to find a housemate facebook student accommodation page or the university facebook page, spareroom, unihomes etc etc)
If she wants to go offer to pay the advertising fees and his costs in finding a new tenant and paperwork or sit tight and wait for RRB

I have easily replaced students at this stage.
You cathch more flies with vinegar

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13

They first took the tenancy up March 2024. The EPC ran out February 2024 so it shouldn’t have even been on the market at the time. The certificate is in the government database if you look.

Hostile? I was asking simple questions, looking for potential get outs of the contracts when something didn’t add up.

Clearly having a valid EPC doesn’t really matter.

14

Your opening statement doesn’t state that. You write they have signed up for 2025/2026. You are trying to negotiate terms for a contract that hasn’t even started yet! So the EPC is moot.
Trying to flip it on the LL is the epitome of hostile when you are in this predicament because of the boyfriend and not because of the LL.
Why don’t you just speak to the landlord?They are a person not an ogre. It is much easier to communicate in an amicable fashion. I don’t understand what this rhetoric is to vilify the landlord rather than speaking to them.

If you go to them with a solution rather than the problem you are in a much better position. It is easier to work with someone amicably.
Decide what you want to do stay or leave and approach the LL amicably. Don’t leave it too long. The market is still open which gives the LL time to find a tenant. The longer you leave it the more difficult the bind you will be in .

The problem is today no one is accountable for their actions they are always trying to manipulate others into being accountable. You are of a generation that should know better.
Whatever happened to do unto others…?

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15

I agree with the above , not having a Epc is hardly worth asking about , the tenant is in a awkward predicament and only a landlord can agree and tbh it’s not in his interest having to find new tenants and the stress that goes with it ,I would do all I can to negotiate but not wind up the LL with threats of no Epc because he could tell you to swing on it !

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