Student Tenants: Know Your Rights

Student Tenants:

Know Your Rights

University of London Union

YOUR GUIDE Housing is one of the major crises of life in London, for everyone.

Students are often at the sharp end of this: as people on low incomes, often new to the city and living in short term lets, we pay an astronomical sum of money - more than our loans - for poor quality housing.

Meanwhile, universities and colleges are making profits in their Halls at our expense, and private providers are raking it in.

One major problem is that students, often new to the city or to the UK, are not aware of their rights. This allows unscrupulous landlords to rip us off and get away with practices that are often illegal.

rights together in one place.It is not exhaustive and, in the case of serious problems, it is no substitute for professional advice or organising together with other tenants dealing with the same landlord.

Nevertheless, we hope it makes people aware of what their rights are, when they are being infringed and provides some pointers of the sorts of action that can be taken.

In solidarity, Michael Chessum, ULU President Daniel Cooper, ULU Vice President

We have put together this booklet to bring information about tenants’

Michael Chessum

ULU President

r Daniel Coosipdeen t ULU Vice-Pre

YOUR CONTRACT tenancy agreements

Written tenancy agreements are preferable to verbal agreements because they are easier to enforce in the case of a dispute.

However, prospective tenants are often presented with large written tenancy agreements with little time to read them.

Many of these may contain provisions that seem unfair. The key thing to remember is tenancy agreements can give you extra rights but they cannot remove any rights enshrined by law.

inventory

You should ask for a detailed inventory from the landlord or agent of everything that is in the house and what condition it is in.

Make sure to check that everything on the inventory is present in the property.

Before signing it, make a note of any damage that is not listed and inform your landlord/ agency. It is useful to take photographs of any existing damage or wear to prove at the end of the tenancy that you weren’t responsible.

CHECK LIST

Any written agreement should set out your rights and responsibilities, and the conditions which you and your landlord must abide by.

As well as your furniture inventory list, check that your tenancy agreement contains the following information:

Names of the te nant(s) and address of the property Name and addr ess of the landlord, and le tting agent (if applicable) Duration of tena ncy, whether you can leave before it ends and what notic e must be given The amount of rent, when it is due and how it is to be paid What is included in the rent ie. bills, council tax, water rates Amount of depo sit, what it covers and un der what circumstances you may not ge t it back Responsibility fo r repairs (regardless of w hat the agreement says , your landlord will always be re sponsible for structural repairs and safety) Rules on sublettin g, pets, smoking, lodgin g, guests etc.

The agreement should not contain unfair clauses which say that the landlord can change the terms and conditions whenever they like, that the tenant is

responsible for structural repairs, or that the landlord can come around without giving notice.

Such unfair terms are not legally binding and you are strongly advised to ask an adviser to take a look at the agreement for you before you sign it.

guarantors

You may also be asked to provide a guarantor for your tenancy. This is a form of legal guarantee that, in the event of you defaulting on your rent or failing to meet your obligations, your guarantor will step in to cover the costs.

Many students, especially international students, struggle to find a UK guarantor.

Some colleges, such as UCL, operate guarantee schemes under which the institution acts as your guarantor. In return, you will be asked to pay a small administration fee.

Contact your college’s accommodation or residence office to find out whether they operate such a scheme. If not, you may wish to ask your students’ union to lobby for its introduction. ULU is currently working with students’ unions to promote student guarantee schemes.

Tenancy deposit scheme

Your landlord must pay your deposit into a Government-approved tenancy deposit protection scheme. This is to ensure that it is kept safe and that tenants get their deposits back provided there has been no breach of the tenancy agreement.

Within 30 days of receiving your deposit, the landlord must provide you with:

Landlord’s name and contact details Amount of deposit paid and address of tenancy Details of the protection scheme being used and its purpose A copy of the deposit protection certificate signed by the landlord How to get your deposit back and what to do if there’s a dispute.

As of April 2012, courts are able to order landlords who fail to comply with the law on tenancy deposit schemes to pay compensation to tenants. Breaches of the law include when the landlord does not protect the deposit or fails to give the tenants details of the scheme used within 30 days or at all. Going through the courts is often complicated and expensive though, so it should be a last resort.

YOUR MONEY getting your deposit back

Provided that you and your landlord or agent agree how much of the deposit you should get back, you should receive it within 10 days.

In the case of deductions, ask your landlord for an itemised breakdown of all costs, including receipts for any repair or cleaning work. Your landlord cannot deduct from or keep your deposit for general wear and tear, only for issues such as damage, cleaning, unpaid rent or missing items.

Tenancy agreements often contain clauses about cleaning the property to a professional standard upon vacating.

These may be unfair; you are not obliged to clean the property to a higher standard than when you moved in.

Deposit protection schemes come with an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service. In the event of a dispute, if both parties agree to use ADR, you will have to abide by any decisions made as part of the process and cannot go to the courts if you disagree with the outcome.

If either you or your landlord does not wish to use the ADR then you may need to go to the courts to get your deposit back.

disrepair

For most tenancies, the landlord is obliged to:

ture and Maintain the struc erty, exterior of the prop tions, roof, da un fo including the d external drains, gutters, an pipes working order To keep in proper ctricity and ele s, the water, ga ing: basins, sanitation, includ and drains sinks, baths, toilets system in Keep the heating r. de or good working These obligations extent to common parts of the building such as hallways and stairwells for tenancies that started on or after 15 January 1989.

You must give notice of any disrepair because it will not be the landlord’s responsibility until they are aware of it.

The landlord should respond to the notice within a reasonable time, show the tenant any relevant documents, indicate whether they take responsibility, and what actions they will take to fix the problem.

your rights Problems with landlords

Going into dispute with your landlord needs to be carefully considered so make sure you read your tenancy agreement carefully to find out your rights and responsibilities, research your housing rights and record any and all correspondence with your landlord.

If you have a problem with your landlord regarding repairs, deposits or any other dispute, it is best to seek professional advice from Citizens Advice or a solicitor before you make any decisions (see ‘useful contacts’ section).

If you are a lodger then you will, generally, have fewer rights and, in order to be clear, you should seek advice before entering into such an agreement.

Eviction

If you are a private tenant, your landlord needs ‘grounds’ to evict you before the end of a fixed-term contract. Your landlord must first give you written notice.

You do not have to leave immediately and you should of course take advice on whether the notice is valid if you believe it not to be. However, if valid notice has been served it is not advised to stay in the property. If you do not leave, you face legal costs if the landlord then decides to go to court for a court order.

If your landlord or anyone else tries to evict you before giving notice and seeking a court order, it is almost certainly an illegal eviction and a criminal offence.

After seeking a court order, the only person who is legally allowed to remove you physically is a court bailiff. It is very likely to

be illegal if your landlord changes the locks while you are out, threatens or forces you to leave, physically removes you or stops you from getting to part of your home.”

your voice

TAKE ACTION

Being aware of your rights as an individual is important - but it’s not the whole story.

In early 2013, ULU and the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) hosted the first planning meeting for a tenants union of students in London.

The housing crisis affects all those in the UK, especially London residents; students aren’t the only ones who are forced to pay ridiculous rent prices. This is continuing to happen partly because we’re not organised enough - and it’s about time that we did something about it! Our landlords and bosses certainly are!

The new organisation exists not just to campain, but to share information on bad landlords and agencies, and to take collective action.

There are many examples of tenants’ organisations winning better housings conditions through collective struggle.

For example - at Sussex in 1971, growing student numbers meant that existing accommodation became inadequate, so students formed the University of Sussex Tenants’ Association (USTA).

In its very first term of existence, USTA was in dispute over plans to build more of the same poorly designed accommodation.

After a rent strike, during which the students had withheld a total of £35,000 for fifteen weeks, the University backed down on its plans. It was also forced to withdraw its proposed 6.5% rent increase, and instead reduced it to 3.5%.

See more about Sussex rent strikes here at tinyurl.com/sussexrent.

LONDON STUDENT TENANTS UNION Rent strikes require a high degree of organisation and cohesion, which is difficult to attain given the circumstances of most students, scattered across the city between endless private-sector landlords.

Nevertheless, it is always a goal to have in mind, and there are many other forms of collective action which fall short of all-out strikes.

One model is that of the Edinburgh Private Tenants’ Assocation (EPTA), a membership organisation of private tenants to campaign for decent and affordable housing, to share information and build links between tenants, and to ensure that legislation on tenants’ rights is properly enforced.

It provides guides and information, and runs campaigns against rogue landlords using tactics ranging from lobbying to shutting down letting agencies through direct action.

Our initiative is absolutely not limited to University of London colleges: although it is being initiated by ULU, activists and students from other campuses in the city are encouraged to attend meetings and get involved. Neither is this project limited to students: eventually, we want a union for everyone.

:YOUR stnanCONTACTS eT tnedutS

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YOUR RIGHTS AND THE LAW

Before taking any action against your landlord, which could be costly or result in an attempt to evict you, it is recommended that you seek advice.

• Shelter UK: www.shelter.org.uk • Citizens Advice Bureau: www.citizensadvice.org.uk • Community Legal Advice: www.gov.uk/community-legal-advice • Local Councils: www.gov.uk/find-your-local-council • Net Lawman: www.netlawman.co.uk/dl/assured-shorthold-tenancy-agreements • Your Students’ Union or University Advice & Accomodation services.

CHOOSING YOUR HOME AND LIVING WITH OTHERS

• Endsleigh Student Hub: www.endsleigh.co.uk/Student/hub • National Union of Students: www.nus.org.uk/advice/housing-advice • The Student Room: www.thestudentroom.co.uk • The Naked Tenant: www.nakedtenant.co.uk

ulu.co.uk/campaigns facebook.com/universityoflondonunion twitter.com/ULunion noinU nodnoL fo ytisrevinU

University of London Union