For a variety of reasons, some students will need to drop out of their university house early. Over the last year, we have seen a rise in the number of students googling how to do this so let us answer it!
In this blog we discuss why students may want to leave their house, how they can leave, and the best practices for dropping out of a university early.
Why Students Want to Leave Their House Early
The obvious one since late 2019 is COVID-19. University campuses were closed and everything was moved online. Many students made their way back home and were banned from returning to university.
Students were stuck paying for accommodation they were not allowed to use. You can easily understand why many tried to quit their contracts. Unfortunately, many landlords were caught out as they relied on the income to live and they could not survive a mass exodus of students.
In normal times, students often want to leave their university homes due to their housemates.
Many students have to decide early on in their university careers who they're going to live with in second year, and as anyone who goes to university will tell you, your best friend on day one may not necessarily be your best friend by the end. According to the National Student Accommodation Survey, noisy housemates is the number one complaint.
It is a problem for every 4 in 10 students, followed by housemates stealing their food (29%). You can understand why some students crack and decide it is time to move out.
How to Leave Your Student House Contract Early
Most student contracts are only a year long and so do not come with a break clause. However, it is not impossible to move out early.
The first step is letting your landlord know you are looking to move out early. This is extremely important. Open and honest communication with your landlord will make the whole process easier!
Next it is time to let your housemates know. We say do this second because your landlord may say a blanket no and so there is no point causing tension in your house if you cannot do it in the first place!
It is likely your landlord will let you move out early on the condition you find a replacement tenant. Some universities have set up specific pages for this or there are often Facebook pages for finding tenants.
When you find a potential replacement, be sure to introduce them to your housemates. They are going to be living together so it is important they are comfortable with your choice!
If all goes well with your housemates, let you landlord know you found a replacement! Introduce them and set a move-in/move-out date.
Now you are moving out, you need to get your share of the deposit back. To do this your landlord will need to withdraw your share from the deposit scheme you are using and pay it to you.
You need to sign a waiver to clarify that you have received a refund of your share of the deposit and that you have no claim to the deposit under any new tenancy agreement (alongside no liability).
The new tenant will need to sign a similar agreement stating they have taken over the deposit.
Your letting agency/landlord should be able to help you with these agreements and it is also best practice to get an agreement signed stating that they have taken over your contract.
Unless your landlord would like them to sign a whole new contract. In this case, get a signed written letter from your landlord stating that you are in agreement. You should also sign this as well and send them a copy.
And that is it! You are free to move out and have no more obligations to that contract!
This guide is here to clarify the process for you, if you have any questions please let us know in the comments below!
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