Before you move into any Student Accommodation landlords have a legal obligation to provide the Gas Safety certificate for the building. Landlords are also obliged by law to take care of their tenants deposits by making use of a third party, this is acknowledged as the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. A landlord must tell their tenants of the holding company they are employing within two weeks of acquiring the deposit – failure for them to do so can bring repercussion in the form of a fine.
Should a landlord revoke their property from being let before the Tenancy Agreement is signed all they are required to do is give back the holding deposit to the tenant (this remains correct up until the day the tenancy is due to commence). Prospective tenants should get the final tenancy agreement signed by the Landlord as soon as the terms are mutually agreed.
Tenants will be in a much stronger position to question any charges taken from their deposit if an inventory check is conducted prior to completely moving in. If a Landlord or Letting Agent hasn’t forward the inventory the tenant really should consider constucting one. In this occasion it is also pivotal for the tenancy agreement to be counter signed by either the Landlord or Letting Agent incase of future discrepancies. Even just a set of digital photos that are sent by recorded delivery to the Landlord, or their agent, on the first day of the Tenancy will do.
The fee of rent for each tenant tends to decline as the number of people sharing increases, up to a maximum of four. If a student house is able to house five or more tenants, it is categorised as a ‘House in Multiple Occupation’. This makes it more high priced for the landlord to conserve – therefore the increased rent per tenant.
It is a common misunderstanding that 1 TV license is needed for each property. 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 address have seperate tenancy agreements a license will be needed for each tenant that has a television 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 not liable for paying council tax however, this is false for part time students. Full time students should consider sharing with part time students incase the house as a joint group determine that it is uneven for the part time student to pay out the full council tax bill.
If you are looking for student flats through a letting agent they will bill a referencing fee of between tenty to one hundred pounds per person. In the Birmingham area a fifty pounds agents charge is considered average. Tenants should try to drive this value down as each basic regerral will only cost the letting agency in the region of £20 for each person. Letting Agents charge much bigger fees to the Landlord, considering this they are unlikely to want to lose out on these future charges for the sake of billing prospective tenants a somewhat lesser fee. Agents can’t charge you for simply viewing properties.
Many tenancy contracts last for 12 months. Students letting in non-student regions should think about asking for a break clause to be included into the agreement. This gives the tenants the freedom to give notice at any time during the second half of the tenancy.
Student areas are often considered as a hotspot for burglars, as a large proportion students have never lived in a house by themselves and security can sometimes be disregarded. Students should ask their landlord for windows and doors to be secured by key controlled locks, and bolts respectively. It is also advisable to view houses with working intruder alarms as this provides a key hinderance and can be activated in the day or evening when the flat is empty.
