Likelihood of letting agent letting me out of contract i signed less than 24h ago?

Original post by orich2948

I’m posting this at 2:30am because I keep waking up in a sweat panicking about it. I’m in second year currently and have lived at home for the past 2 years for uni. Yesterday I signed for a house with one other person for july2019 12 month contract. Within about 2h i realised I made a mistake and want out. I know this is serious and it’s a legally binding contract and I can’t believe i’ve done something so stupid to be honest.
We havent actually seen the house and arent able to until july because current tenants are denying access, but we were convinced based on photos and seeing a very similar one on the same street. I’m also very unsure of the girl I signed with - shes very nice but i don’t know her very well at all and am worried about being just 2 of us in a small space and having to negotiate bills etc with her. As a whole i’m just having second thoughts about moving out of home. It just feels wrong. I chose to do this because i feel socially disconnected living outside the student area of the city and have been wanting change in my life after suffering with my mental health a lot this year, but i dont think moving into this situation is the answer to those problems. I think ill be trading one kind of happiness for another kind where I have to pay £5500 to live there and my problems probably wont improve. My friends were all sorted by the time i decided i might move out for 3rd year which is why i ended up with someone i barely know.
I never do things without feeling 100% comfortable and I didnt expect to go in and sign anything without taking it away but i felt pressured by time and the other people and wasn’t in a rational frame of mind at all.
I signed and paid the deposit (which i dont care about losing if i can just get out of this contract) but i havent given them my bank details for rent and my guarantor hasnt signed and given their documents. My parent refuses to sign for a house i havent seen and i’m unhappy with and I don’t want them to. Will this be enough to get me out of the contract? How can i pursuade the agency to release me from it? I know it’s my own fault and i don’t mind losing money to pay for my mistake but i really don’t want to live there. What’s the likelihood of them releasing me from it or will i have to find a replacement for myself (seems hard?) please please help 😫

It sounds like you will be fine as long as you let them know straight away. There is normally a cooling off period with this sort of thing (of about 7 or 14 days) and seeing as you haven't given them your bank details and your guarantor hasn't signed anything, I don't think they will be able to hold you to it. But tell them today, by phone and then in writing (email)

Reply 3

Original post by harrysbar

It sounds like you will be fine as long as you let them know straight away. There is normally a cooling off period with this sort of thing (of about 7 or 14 days) and seeing as you haven't given them your bank details and your guarantor hasn't signed anything, I don't think they will be able to hold you to it. But tell them today, by phone and then in writing (email)

Cooling off periods don't apply to accommodation/short term lets, esp if you signed the contract at their place of business which this sounds like.

Best bet is just to say you've made other arrangements or say the guarantor refuses to endorse it.
Considering it's 3 months before your due to move they can't really moan about loss of rent and I doubt they would pursue it, deposit is likely gone though.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 4

Original post by StriderHort

Cooling off periods don't apply to accommodation/short term lets, esp if you signed the contract at their place of business which this sounds like.

Best bet is just to say you've made other arrangements or say the guarantor refuses to endorse it.
Considering it's 3 months before your due to move they can't really moan about loss of rent and I doubt they would pursue it, deposit is likely gone though.

It's a twelve month contract so I wouldn't call it short term. My son signed a contract like this very recently and he was given a 7 day cooling off period (I'm told that certain other providers of student accomodation offer 14 days)

As above.

Hi, that's slightly reassuring thanks but still really worried. I emailed last night so just waiting for them to get back to me hopefully today. There is no cooling off period and the agent actually stressed that (however, we have 14 days to get all the guarantor stuff sorted and them background check them etc so could this be seen as a sort of unofficial cooling off period possibly?)
Is it better to keep it all in writing or just go down to the office to speak?

Reply 7

orich2948

OP

2

Didn't mean to post as anon sorry

Reply 8

Original post by harrysbar

It's a twelve month contract so I wouldn't call it short term. My son signed a contract like this very recently and he was given a 7 day cooling off period (I'm told that certain other providers of student accomodation offer 14 days)

The contract may have a cooling off period, you aren't entitled to one. (personally I do consider a 1 year student let short term, compared to other contracts anyway)

Landlordlawblog

"For some type of contract, there is a ‘cooling off’ period of seven days, and many tenants think that this also applies to rented property. Unfortunately not.

At ‘common law‘, there is no right to a cooling off period for anything. Where people have this right it has been given specifically by an act of Parliament.

There are two main areas of law where there is a cooling off period. The first is consumer credit contracts, where you are borrowing a lot of money, or are paying for something on credit. This does not apply to rented property."

Reply 9

I have zero interest in debating with you about whether a one year private accomodation contract is short term or not - I wouldn't call it short term and you would but whatever. At least you now agree that the contract "may" have a cooling off period, whereas in your first post you bluntly stated that such things "don't apply" to accommodation.

The main point is that it is very usual for students signing accomodation contracts to be given a cooling period of at least 7 days, and it doesn't sound as though OP is tied into this contract anyway due to the lack of bank details or gurarantor signature. Obviously they need to contact the agency asap to explain the situation but I can't see them losing anything more than the deposit.

Original post by StriderHort

The contract may have a cooling off period, you aren't entitled to one. (personally I do consider a 1 year student let short term, compared to other contracts anyway)

Reply 10

Original post by Anonymous

Hi, that's slightly reassuring thanks but still really worried. I emailed last night so just waiting for them to get back to me hopefully today. There is no cooling off period and the agent actually stressed that (however, we have 14 days to get all the guarantor stuff sorted and them background check them etc so could this be seen as a sort of unofficial cooling off period possibly?)
Is it better to keep it all in writing or just go down to the office to speak?

Pretty much, check the contract section regarding the guarantor, if it's required and yours has refused, well that's probably the end of it as a condition hasn't been met. I'd keep it in writing, 'My guarantor said no way' means the same in text as in person. Just a hunch but I doubt they will pursue it, not worth the paperwork and they'd have a hard time proving loss of income.

Have you mentioned this to your flatmate BTW?

Reply 11

Anonymous #1

I dont think shes happy about it because she was content with the house even though we hadnt seen it. it was more her preference to risk it with the house because it was within her budget while others that we were more informed about werent. We originally went in to discuss another one. I am going to wait to see what the agent says. I think best case scenario is the agree to end the contract, and the worst is they tell me to find a replacement for myself, which I think will be very difficult but i'm not sure. Everything has to be signed by both of us anyway, as it's one contract not two individuals, so I hope she understands.

Original post by StriderHort

Pretty much, check the contract section regarding the guarantor, if it's required and yours has refused, well that's probably the end of it as a condition hasn't been met. I'd keep it in writing, 'My guarantor said no way' means the same in text as in person. Just a hunch but I doubt they will pursue it, not worth the paperwork and they'd have a hard time proving loss of income.

Have you mentioned this to your flatmate BTW?

Reply 12

Original post by harrysbar

I have zero interest in debating with you about whether a one year private accomodation contract is short term or not - I wouldn't call it short term and you would but whatever. At least you now agree that the contract "may" have a cooling off period, whereas in your first post you bluntly stated that such things "don't apply" to accommodation.

The main point is that it is very usual for students signing accomodation contracts to be given a cooling period of at least 7 days, and it doesn't sound as though OP is tied into this contract anyway due to the lack of bank details or gurarantor signature. Obviously they need to contact the agency asap to explain the situation but I can't see them losing anything more than the deposit.

An individual contract can have anything in it, including a cooling off period (which this one doesn't), You aren't entitled to one, the legislation does not apply to tenancies. Which are often referred to as assured shorthold tenancy or short assured tenancy, so you can see where I take 'short term' from.

No argument at all that a landlord CAN offer one, whether it's normal I'm not so sure, but I wanted the OP to know it's not a right.

EDIT : removed snideness, wasn't really warranted, and i''m really more angry with the prk downstairs with the drum machine.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 13

Original post by StriderHort

EDIT : removed snideness, wasn't really warranted, and i''m really more angry with the prk downstairs with the drum machine.

Haha...I didn't see the snideness which is probably just as well.

Thanks for removing it anyway :smile:

Reply 14

Notoriety

22

Original post by StriderHort

The contract may have a cooling off period, you aren't entitled to one. (personally I do consider a 1 year student let short term, compared to other contracts anyway)

Landlordlawblog

"For some type of contract, there is a ‘cooling off’ period of seven days, and many tenants think that this also applies to rented property. Unfortunately not.

At ‘common law‘, there is no right to a cooling off period for anything. Where people have this right it has been given specifically by an act of Parliament.

There are two main areas of law where there is a cooling off period. The first is consumer credit contracts, where you are borrowing a lot of money, or are paying for something on credit. This does not apply to rented property."

Not saying the end result is wrong, but the reasoning in this is as sloppy as ****. The Consumer Contracts (ICAC) Regs 2013 apply to a bunch of contract types beyond credit. The key test is whether the contract was concluded via distance or off-premises.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 15

Noodlzzz