Hi everyone, got an occupation contract for a student house which starts on the 1st of August. Some of us have been trying to organise a payment plan for the first month’s rent; student grants don’t get paid til September so paying august rent in one go is harder for some. The agents haven’t been replying for months about a payment plan, and one of us has asked for the landlord’s contact details (email) to speak directly to them, but the agent is refusing to provide it. Are they required to provide contact details of the landlord, or can they refuse?
Yes, if you put the request in writing, they are legally obliged to give you the landlords address. Remind them of this if they refuse.
If they don’t provide it just go onto the land registry and find their address and write to them snail mail
The student estate agents , eg Nicholas Humphrey ,normally make a plan so the rents don’t get taken till September
Hiya, thanks! We were hoping for an email address to sort this quicker as the first rent payment will be due soon but I’ll let everyone know. Do you know if they have to provide an email/phone number by any chance?
The agent for this house is unfortunately demanding rent on the 1st if we want to move in 
anybody who pays can collect keys but anyone who doesn’t has nowhere to go, they don’t seem cooperative in even setting up a payment plan over the course of august.
I’m sorry to hear that.
It’s a little unreasonable but,unfortunately, a sign of the times we live in!
Too much fraud I’m afraid
I take the first month of July and the next payment is at the end of September
Yeah I understand taking payment in August for the contract start, but it’s the fact they haven’t even responded to the requests for a payment plan. Everyone is fine to pay September’s rent, it’s just August they need a short payment plan for. The Agent has also arranged a payment plan for the security deposit for one of us, so we’re all unsure as to why they’re refusing to even respond to rent payment plan requests, especially as this person paid a double deposit, so they should be able to see they’re good for larger amounts of money. Hence why we’re trying to contact the landlord themself to see if they’ll be any more reasonable.
What do you mean a double deposit?
I am not sure about Wales but in England
Under TFA you can only take one deposit . Anything else is illegal so just check it’s the same in Wales
Ask them to use half of that money towards rent .
Is the one not able to pay international?
One other solution
Could you all chip in, or could your parents, to help the one person so they do have a month?
Does this person have a relative that may help them ?
No email or phone number, only residential address.
As far as I’m aware they either don’t have financial help from parents or they’ve already had that help, and are still short. Otherwise I’m sure they would’ve asked for that help.
A double deposit is a double amount of the standard deposit. The house’s usual deposit per person is £450, but for those of us who have no UK guarantor, we had to pay £900 for the deposit. It’s perfectly legal, most student houses seem to have that clause for anyone without a guarantor, as all 3 of my houses now have done this. It’s to account for the fact that if you don’t pay rent, it’s much harder for them to obtain money from guarantors that aren’t based in the UK legal system I believe.
I would chip in, but as they said it’s a lot of money to give to people who are currently almost strangers. I’m also a student and need all the money I can get as I personally have no parental financial support. They’ve said they can take out a credit card and I’ve referred them to student bank accounts where there’s no interest in overdrafts to help but it’s still unfortunate that the agent is refusing to allow us to discuss with the landlord and also refusing to discuss with us.
I have student houses and have inherited from my parents who’s history goes back over 50 years
It is illegal to take double the deposit in England
Does the tenant fees act 2019 cover Wales ? If it does, whatever the detritus they are telling you, you can’t take a student deposit that’s double
The way round your problem is to put all tenants on one contract and have guarantors sign an unlimited deed which means one guarantor covers the risk for all students
Double check for Wales, as I am England, but I have a feeling it’s bs otherwise they would have done it for all students and tenants !!!
Does your deposit have a five week cap in Wales?
You can call Shelter, citizens advice or ask the legal team at the students union if you are not sure
I very much doubt anybody’s parents or other guarantor would want to be guarantor for 5 other students they don’t know. That’s a huge amount of financial risk for total strangers.
I’ve had a look and from what I can tell, Wales doesn’t have the 5 week cap. It’s not illegal to charge amounts higher than 5 weeks rent. Every student agent I’ve been with in my uni town across 3 years have charged double deposits for me due to my lack of a guarantor, it’s standard practice it seems in Wales.
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I’m sorry to hear that.
It’s still worth a try speaking to your union
They may be able to offer financial advice
Can this person sofa surf at yours until they get their keys ?
Yeah I’ve proposed that as a solution, as they only won’t be able to access their own rooms but the lounge is fairly big and could fit an air mattress or two. It’s not ideal, but it saves them being homeless.
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I think that’s your only choice
The university may have an emergency slush fund they could tap into
Speak to your union tomorrow
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Contact Rent Smart Wales…and give them the name of the agency …the rules are quite strict here and the agency is either pulling a fast one …or just incompetent…IMO
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