Hi all
Just thinking how this will work , students normally sign 12 month contracts up until July each year .
When the RRB comes in it’ll be a periodic tenancy, I understand they will be able to give 2 months notice , for example give notice in April and leave in June after their exams leaving landlords with no rent for 1 or 2 months ?
David Smith advised to bring your contract forward
Start it in May
Some universities are going to delay their exams
The first year will be a trial
This year my contracts start in July
If it becomes periodic I’ll sign the next contracts for two weeks after their departure
There will be teething problems but we’ll just have to trial it
This is interesting. So, if I read this right, you’re charging students for July, Aug, Sep even though they don’t need to be there on the basis that they can’t cancel before term starts because that would jeapordise the accommodation they need from October?
Depending on the landlord it’s between 10 and 12 months ( mortgage costs , energy efficient upgrades etc etc )
In the good old days I would void the AST if they left early so some only paid 6-8 months but now councils charge council tax on empty houses ( they didn’t uses to )
As costs have increase so has my length of AST
New refurb is 12 months older properties 9-10 months
If you do it through the university they do it day to day do you don’t even get a full month
They aren’t empty I would say 75-95% stay for the full year
Tbh considering the damage it barely covers it . Some landlords literally charge £0- 200 deposit so the rent may cover the damage. Last year I had to decorate a lot of houses so the extra revenue pays for decorating
And that could be every year
Some landlords even change carpets yearly
I know David Smith suggested that, but I dont see it as a very workable solution. There would be uproar if landlords tried to start a periodic tenancy 3 or 4 months before the tenant moved in. I could see it quickly being banned with a government amendment or it being challenged in court on the basis that the tenancy hasnt begin until September when they take possession.
I think that landlords that are determined to stick with the student market, (many are not), will have to come up with a different charging model based on 9 or 10 months a year.
Took the words right out of my mouth. Seeing as the RRB is designed to make renting fairer for tenants, getting around it by requiring students (of all people not the most moneyed and typically some of the most naive and vulnerable in the rental market) to pay for months they do not need seems cynical at best if not a downright contradiction of the aim of the RRB.
I totally understand the economic concerns you outline @A_A, but with children who will be in this rental market all too soon, I would definitely challenge any LL who tried to make them sign in July simply for the LL’s own economic convenience. And yes, I mean legally challenge.
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It’s not before the tenant moved in
Students may wish to take residency
What he suggested was to shift the commencement point
He also said that ( I can’t remember which university ) we’re moving the exams to later to help landlords so they don’t lose private housing
Last year 100% of my students took occupancy in July when their contract commenced
The market has changed in the last decade and a lot more students want their houses as soon as possible
Retainers no longer exist and they use the room for storage
I don’t know how much storage is but from what I’m seeing people would rather have their room than pay for storage
A lot of students have summer jobs so they need residency over the summer
I’ve had students live over the summer because they don’t have a home to go to or they don’t have a bed at home they sleep on the sofa
This accommodation is the first privacy they may have had.
If there is no AST the only thing to accommodate this will be to increase student rents
If you don’t want to sign then you can find alternative accommodation
Students do haggle
Some I compromise some I don’t ( I wouldn’t haggle on a new refurb but I would on an older house )
If you had tenants who wanted your house two months later than you advertised you would try and find someone sooner or would you maintain a void ?
students come in as a group and if one wants to come on on day 1 how do you then facilitate that if the others come in two months later
Students have different backgrounds and some will need their accommodation sooner and as a parent that’s the reality of a group contract with friends
These are the realities of student rentals
In the good old days I used to rent on a room basis
In a five bed house that’s a lot of paperwork and a lot of room for error
One contract narrows it down and has reduced my workload significantly
I’m getting older and with paperwork taking a day on a group contract I don’t want to do three to six contracts per house when I can do one
There are parents that are likeminded to yourself
They then find alternative accommodation for their child
What I have seen is that the rents are just increased for smaller tenancies
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An industry insider told me that universities are accepting people who should not be accepted
Drop out figures at university are at an all time high ( this was written about in one of the broad sheets recently )
Universities are not funded through central government They are funded through fees
One of my graduates told me there were 97 on his foundation course
Only three got into the first year of the degree
In real terms that’s nearly £1m of fees wasted
Now how many courses are at a university ?
How much funding is created by not being as selective as one should at recruitment ?
It’s not like it was 30 years ago where you had to meet much higher grades . My degree required ABB I don’t know what they need these days. If they fail they do a foundation course . Bums on seats = ££££
This accounts for the change in the socioeconomic background of students and the rise in them requiring 12 month ASTs
Your child may have grown up in a 2.4 household nuclear family . What will you do when one of those that have not , or really should not have been accepted, befriends your child and it’s a group
If by “you” here you mean me, then I’ll probably rejoice that they’ve found someone who understands their background. Trust me, you really can’t imagine the background of my kids.
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We all have differing views I like that… “background of my kids” sounds like a book is on the way !
I’m hoping that it’s the second half of War & Peace…
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Sounds like more misery for student landlords, as they can give 2 months notice at any point if they drop out.
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David Smith has advised to go back to room contracts …
Of the many disadvantages , this means that the communal areas are ‘grey ‘ for deposit
( which is another reason currently to do a joint contract )
The government have done this to facilitate purpose built student housing . Angela Rayner was seen cosying up to these venture capitalists at a recent meeting . However , the rules apply to all of us so I’m not sure how chummy they will be once they realise it affects their bottom line . Not all students can afford or want to live like that for their academic life. Most are desperate to get out of halls, I know I was.
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Yep. As a lawyer said to me at a recent landlord investor event, the whole thing is a sh** show.
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Simple, don’t rent to students.
If no AST’s come into force we are all going to get screwed by tenants who change their mind in the early stages of a tenancy, with all the upfront fees to carry on potentially short term lets.
Perhaps we should go down the AirBNB route, or the 5 year guaranteed contract for asylum seeker accommodation.
IMHO the RRB proposal is completely counter productive to the governments purported aim to create security of tenure. There is obviously an ulterior motive which I cannot fathom, perhaps it is to push us into the asylum contracts to serve their proclamation to stop using hotels.
It is an outrageous one sided benefit to the tenants and a huge disadvantage to landlords if a tenancy only lasts the minimum 3 months allowed under the new proposals.
Perhaps we should load the first 3 months rent to cover upfront costs and reduce any subsequent months rent accordingly.
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The whole purpose is to make the rental sector corporate ( because that always gets the best results) and eliminate the small landlord.
It hasn’t worked in Germany so I am not sure why they want it to work here.
I was thinking when it is introduced we shall all have to wait for a new government that is landlord and not tenant based.
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Can you give us some examples of why it hasn’t worked there?
I read it in a newspaper article ages ago
I don’t remember the details just the conclusion
If you have Apple News you can search for it