Opto, Newcastle

Your tenancy agreement is a legal contract between you as the tenant and Homes for Students. This sets out your responsibilities as a tenant and our responsibilities as your landlord’s agent. The tenancy agreement is for a fixed term and you are liable for the full term of that agreement.

CAN I CANCEL MY BOOKING?

1. If we are not able to offer you a room we will usually advise you within 5 working days of receipt of the application, and no payment will be due to us.

2. If we offer you a room but you do not accept the terms and conditions online, your application will lapse after 5 working days or 3 working days during our peak selling period (July – September).

3. If you accept an offer of accommodation online or by signing a Tenancy Agreement, and then you decide you wish to cancel this agreement, we will only accept cancellation if the following applies:

• You can cancel your application up to 14 days after the date we confirm your booking is complete (the Initial Cancellation Period). As confirmed in your agreement, we will refund the full security deposit.

4. If you accept an offer of accommodation online or by signing a Tenancy Agreement, and then decide you wish to cancel outside of the Initial Cancellation Period, the following applies:

• You remain liable for the weekly rent (for each and every week or part week) until you are able to find another tenant that is acceptable to Homes for Students (it is your responsibility to find another tenant) and we are able to re-let the room.
• If we are able to re-let the room we will release you from the agreement upon payment of a £250 release fee which we will recover by retaining your deposit (which will not, therefore, be returned). If you have paid a different amount as a deposit (such as £150) then this is the amount that will be retained.

5. If we offer you a room and you accept online or by signing a Tenancy Agreement and you collect the keys before choosing to cancel, we will only accept your cancellation if the following applies:

• You find another tenant for the room who is acceptable to Homes for Students (it is your responsibility to find another tenant).
• You will remain liable for the weekly rent (for each and every week or part week) until the room is re-let to an acceptable tenant.
• If the room is re-let we will refund your deposit, less any appropriate charges and a deduction of £50, which is charged for administration.

6. If we offer you a room and you accept and stay in the accommodation throughout the whole tenancy period, the deposit is held by us in case of any damage or rent arrears. If there are no charges or arrears at the end of the tenancy, the full deposit will be refunded.

1ST YEAR APPLICANTS ONLY

If you are a prospective student and your offer of a place at your preferred University/Higher Education Institution is withdrawn by the University/Higher Education Institution as a result of you not achieving their required entry grades or because you have exceeded your expected grades you may be eligible to be released from this agreement.

To apply to be released from the agreement you will need to provide:

• Written confirmation that you wish to cancel your reservation.
• Supporting evidence from the University or UCAS.

These document(s) must be received by us within 3 calendar days from the date your results are published for you to be eligible for a refund of your deposit and accommodation fees. Your refund will be returned in full within four weeks.

There is no charge if you exercise a right to cancel your application under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000, full details of which will be set out in your tenancy agreement.

CAN I TERMINATE MY TENANCY ONCE I HAVE MOVED INTO THE ACCOMMODATION?

No, you cannot terminate your tenancy agreement once you have moved in, even if you have terminated your university/college course. You can move out of the accommodation, but you will remain liable for the remaining rent charges until the end of the fixed term period, or until you find a suitable replacement student who we agree to. Once we have accepted the replacement student, you must return the room key to the property office and confirm your contact details when you leave.

You can submit an appeal to be released from the contract earlier than the fixed end date by submitting a request to the property office along with supporting evidence. This will be passed to a panel who will review your request and make consideration of your circumstances. Once the panel has reached its decision, both you and your guarantor will be notified in writing.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

You can terminate your tenancy agreement if you have an existing medical condition and this is recorded on your application prior to a room offer being made. We will require medical proof with your application and you will be liable for a minimum of 4 weeks’ rent or to the end of the current rent period, whichever is the longer.

If you have a medical condition and this is not noted on your application, we will accept your termination, but you will remain liable for the rent to the end of the fixed period or until you find a replacement who is acceptable to Homes for Students.

Tenant deceased – tenancy agreement ends.

Cancellation Policy:

You can cancel your booking up to 14 days after you accept your offer or pay your deposit (the Initial Cancellation Period), which reduces to 7 days from 1st August ahead of the academic year being booked, providing you have not already moved into the property and we will refund your security deposit in full. Deposits will normally be refunded within 28 working days of cancellation, however, our legal obligation as a landlord is to secure all deposits with a third-party protection scheme. In the event that your deposit has already been sent to the protection scheme by the time you cancel your booking, your refund could take up to 60 days to be refunded due to the protection scheme’s processing period and your deposit refund will come directly from them – you will need your repayment ID which will be sent to you directly by the protection scheme. If the deposit has already been sent to the deposit protection scheme, unfortunately, we are unable to influence their processing time.

If you cancel your booking after the 14-day Initial Cancellation Period (7 days after 1st August), you will remain liable for the weekly rent (for each and every week or part week) until we are able to re-let the room. If we are able to re-let the room we will release you from the agreement upon payment of a £50 variation of the contract fee which we will recover by retaining part or all of your deposit. If you have paid a lower deposit amount, that’s the amount that will be retained.