Bothered by urgent housing issues – need guidance!

Are you eligible to live in the student hall? Have you read the contract, has anyone spoken with the agency? How are you going to afford it?

The student reports their change of circumstances, you report yours. How is that difficult and why would fraud come into it?

Best thing is to be upfront with everyone. I would check whether the private student hall accepts non-students in these circumstances. If not, look elsewhere. If they do, ask them what the council tax situation will be, get advice from Shelter and also call the local council tax department and check with them too.

I am waiting for a copy of the contract in order for me to have a look and judge the suitability.

Then I would do the above. If you have to be a student to live there, even in a sub-let type of scenario, then it is not suitable for you.

You can easily check this and the council tax issue by contacting the hall of residence and, if need be, the council tax department and Shelter.

If you want to speed things up, you can do this right away before waiting for a contract.

I guess you want to be careful as you don't want to be the only person liable for council tax in the building. The other students would be exempt.

There is no issue here as long as you are upfront and check things properly, so nothing to worry about, other than the fact that you may need to keep looking for accommodation.

Good luck with finding somewhere suitable to live.

You may need to claim council tax support and universal credit for money to live off and housing costs once you are no longer a student. Contact Citizens Advice for a benefit check if so?

Thanks – my parents will pay for it. What matters the most is a shelter. The Council is able to help, though I have doubt with living in temporary council housing – for the worst case scenario – which is claimed by some to be full of drug addicts or criminals.

It's not necessarily going to be full of drug addicts or criminals.
Good luck with finding somewhere.

I'm a local student currently in stage 2 appeal against the university's decision to terminate my studies, which doesn't have a good chance, and will have to vacate my university hall if the stage 2 appeal fails.

Come across someone having lived in a private student hall owned by an agency unaffiliated with the university, who has taken study leave and looked for someone to take over their room so that they wouldn't need to pay the full rent. I got in touch with the said person, viewed the house and found it great. However, I'm wondering if the takeover is possible given my circumstances.

The housing situation is very tight in my area. I'm trying my best to look for somewhere to rent before having to vacate my current university, despite loads of uncertainties, and it took a great deal of luck to find out the house I recently viewed.

I know students are exempt from council tax but will be liable for it once they cease to be students, so it'd depend on the student to report any change of circumstances to the said agency. However, I'm not sure how to handle it and afraid of tax fraud allegations if being found out.

Has anyone ever got into such situation? Would you mind giving me guidance?

Sorry to hear about your situation. If you moved into a student house, you would be liable to pay council tax and would need to notify the council. If you were the only person in that house paying tax you would be eligible for a 25% discount however, be aware that the amount payable would be based on the banding of the house, which if it is a large house could be quite costly. You should be able to get this sort of information from your student union but failing that citizens advice can also help

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Good luck!

Because it may raise suspicion of deceit / intention to avoid council tax when private student halls are exempt from council tax on the basis of supposedly every resident being a full-time student exempt from council tax...? I am not sure

I used to work in college and University accommodation services.for their own halls.

Our rental contracts made clear that students who are withdrawn from their studies must vacate their accommodation.

We waived their fees after 28 days for the rest of their contract from the date their studies ended.

We were informed by Academic services of withdrawals because some expelled students would not inform us and tried to stay on in their halls when they were not entitled.

I expect that private halls of residence have similar clauses but may not be so generous about waiving fees from someone quitting their course prematurely.

See if they have a sample contract or if it's covered in their FAQs.

If you are hoping to stay on in a private hall once your status changes and you are no longer a student, I don't know your options.

On the one hand, I don't think private halls (or flat mates) would like non students to live there.

On the other hand, how would the accommodation provider know if one of their residents stopped being a student?

It's a shame your father sabotaged that option but he is paying your rent and as you expect to lose your student status soon, not a viable one anyway.

Hopefully you are being supported by your student union and/or student services.

It must be stressful for you being at the mercy of your university, parents, benefit system and council housung department while you have health issues, too. I hope you are receiving support during this period. If you are not, I expect forum members can suggest some options.