Introduction

Many students change over their tenancies on the same day of the year. This is obviously very stressful for both students and landlord/letting agency staff. The vast majority of these moves go smoothly, but there are always some problems.

Sometimes the property is not ready - this is a breach of contract on the landlord’s part, but it’s not always possible to quickly resolve this, and it may be that tenants need to move in if they can and take action to arrange cleaning etc later.

Some tenants may not be able to move in due to issues such as a housemate not completing the payments - these are more difficult and will need advice from LUU.

General Advice for moving in

We have a number of articles here in our section on moving in 

Things to do for Moving-in Day

• Make sure you leave your old house clean and tidy, take photos of any issues (or to prove it is clean) and read your meters to arrange final bills for the previous house.
• Check that everyone has paid the rent and deposits and signed the contract and provided any guarantor forms. If this could be an issue it is better to try and resolve it sooner rather than when you arrive expecting the keys with all your stuff in the car.
• Check you receive all the keys from the landlord, you have a copy of your contract and any paperwork is in order.
• When you first move in, check the property thoroughly - if possible before moving your possessions into the house. Make a list of any defects and take photos and send these to the landlord with a request for anything that needs doing.
• It’s probably worth giving the property a quick clean, even if it is not in a mess. If the property is dirty, you can ask the landlord to send cleaners in, but be aware this could take a couple of days as all landlords and cleaning companies may well be busy! You may wish to do this yourself. Try and get an agreement if so, but if not keep a record of time and costs.
• Read your meters and take photos. Set up accounts with suppliers if you are responsible for the bills. You can see some advice on how to find out who supplies your property here. Try and agree who pays for what.
• Check your bin day on the Leeds City Council Website
• Check if you need to buy anything for the house. Speak to your housemates and arrange who will get what.
• Introduce yourself to your neighbours. Be aware that other residents of areas with high student populations can also become stressed with high levels of movement, noise and waste. Complaints about noise and waste can lead to disciplinary action. Keep any noise to a minimum, especially at night. Don’t have a huge party right away. If you have waste such as packing boxes or spare furniture, stack this neatly, inside if possible, and arrange for this to be removed as soon as you can. Maybe let your neighbours know if you will have waste waiting to be collected.
• Enjoy your new home!!

Common Questions

My Property is not ready.

What to do here depends on how unready the property is. Unfortunately, with the best will in the world some tenants will move out on 30th June and leave the property in a state, which the Landlord will be unable to resolve by 1st July for incoming tenants.

If it is possible to move in, tenants should do so, prepare a clear list of defects with evidence and send this to the landlord. If they need to do any significant cleaning, keep a log of this and time spent and costs.

If the property is seriously unready - cannot be secured, no sanitation, power or water, tenants may need to take temporary accommodation (this may need to be a hotel) - keep records of any costs and speak to LUU advice for help recovering these.

Be aware - it does require quite serious disrepair to have a strong case for the property being seen as unusable.

The previous tenants have not moved out.

If the previous tenants have not moved, you cannot move in. Unfortunately if they remain in the property the landlord may have to take legal action to get them out, even if their contract has ended. This can take some time. The landlord may be able to offer alternative accommodation. If this is a long term problem and the tenants do not leave it may be appropriate to try and negotiate release from the contract and any costs.

One tenant has disappeared or not paid the rent/deposit/obtained a guarantor and the landlord will not provide the keys.

First thing to do is check the contract, if the contract does not explicitly state that the landlord may do this, then they cannot and you should explain this to the landlord and make a new request for access to the property. If the landlord refuses, keep a log of any additional costs such as alternative accommodation. If the landlord continues to refuse access legal action could be used to force this, but it can be costly and not instant.

If the contract does permit this (and many do) the landlord is within their rights to do this. The easiest solution is to cover the costs of the missing rent/deposit as a group (though we appreciate this may not be easy). Tenants may have to stay elsewhere, but may not be able to reclaim costs from the landlord.

LUU can help negotiate and tenants in this situation should contact help and support, but we cannot guarantee to make a landlord allow access. Students may be able to seek to recover losses from the tenant who has left.

My contract ends on 30 June, and I cannot move in until 1 July.

This is a common situation with annual contracts. It’s worth asking if the landlord can allow you to move in earlier (if the previous tenants have moved out) but if they won’t unfortunately you will just need to find alternative accommodation for this night.

I don’t want to move in any more.

If you have signed a tenant agreement you are bound to it and must cover the costs unless your landlord agrees to release you (which is only likely if you find a replacement). A good place to do this is the Unipol Notice Board. LUU can give you more information and advice on your rights.

The Property is not as described.

If you have rented a property such as a private hall, and have not been able to view the room and it is very different from the advertisement, you may be able to get out of the contract. However this is not easy and it is not something you can do if you just decide you no-longer like it, or missed things when viewing the property. Speak to LUU Advice.