The Student Room Group

Witholding halls rent payment?

Since my flatmates and I moved into halls last September there has been constant, non stop blaring music coming from the flat below. I'm not talking your average "yay I like music" volume, one of the lads doing it djs at the union and so most nights (and early mornings!) its on at an amazing volume, including throughout exam period. So, my flatmates and I have been to the housing office and they do little more than interview the residents of the flat below and I think once in 4 months they have been fined for the noise. The security guards even came over to us last night to say they feel sorry for us and are sorry there's not more they can do to help. (We live in what is allegedly the quiet block and pay more rent than any of the other blocks because of it btw). The head of accommodation and I have been emailing backwards and forwards and the most they seem prepared to do about it is "monitor" the noise and leave us to suffer. We don't mind occasional partying or even if it was just weekends but it is every night and now they know it's us who has reported them, they sit down there screaming "****** you" and banging bottles and stuff on their tables to rack us off.

My question - my next instalment of rent is due tomorrow and I wondered if not paying it would make them take any more notice of what's going on? We've followed all the rules so far but after a full semester of it and travelling 12 hours each way to get home on weekends just so I can get some peace and quiet I've had enough.

I'm sure they'd come after me far more quickly than they've gone after the noisy ones though but to be honest at this stage evicting me would be a blessing! What do you think? :smile:

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
Don't withold your rent whatever you do, as otherwise you've breached your contract.

Since you've already been in touch with the housing people, I'm not too sure what else there is. You could try Environmental Health at your local council as they might be able to do something (I've heard of them being called for loud music, tho not in a student halls situation)
Yeah I thought of that - we'd actually have more "protection" if we lived in private housing because the police and environmental health could get involved. In the halls it's all campus security who in reality can't do much of anything....and the guys below us know that.
Reply 3
You could still try Environmental Health, they may suggest something else or get in touch with your housing lot, might put a bit more pressure on them to do something.

Have any other flats in your block had/reported problems with the noisy lot?
There are 3 stories in the block, they're on the ground and we're in the middle, upstairs is vacant (why they don't just move us up there I will never understand lol) and the particular guy doing it lives in the corner room, so there's no-one around him directly other than his flatmates (who are almost as bad).

The wardens have heard it, the RAs have heard it, security have heard it.....and still all that happens is a telling off.
Reply 5
I tried witholding my rent last year from uni, totally different reason, but as soon as the realised that I hadn't paid I had a letter from them telling me that I would have to pay, gave me a date a week later, added interest on and said that if I didnt then I would have to leave the halls and they would take legal action to recoup the money I owed them. In the end I had to pay it, and they didnt sort the problem out, if anything it made them more difficult. So I really wouldnt suggest witholding payment, although I don't know what else to suggest - sorry!!
Reply 6
Cathie86
I tried witholding my rent last year from uni, totally different reason, but as soon as the realised that I hadn't paid I had a letter from them telling me that I would have to pay, gave me a date a week later, added interest on and said that if I didnt then I would have to leave the halls and they would take legal action to recoup the money I owed them. In the end I had to pay it, and they didnt sort the problem out, if anything it made them more difficult. So I really wouldnt suggest witholding payment, although I don't know what else to suggest - sorry!!


I had a dispute with my university, refused to pay the last terms rent (£800), got a letter from them, claiming, that I would not get my degree certificate until i paid, however, the degree turned up the following week.....

I still owe them £800, but as it was over eight years ago, I doubt they will ever get it :smile:
At the risk of sounding totally infantile, have you considered stooping to the irritants' level somehow? Like, I dunno, being totally loud outside their door in the morning after they're up partying 'til the wee hours, or something? In sort of the reverse, I knew someone that began calling the head of the housing department every time things got bad, and things happened pretty quickly after that because the guy didn't like getting woken up all the time, but the student was within his rights to do so.

Be careful with that sort of action, though; it can escalate awfully quickly. Sorry I don't have anything more helpful to say! :rolleyes:
Reply 8
my dad didn't pay the rent one year at uni because the halls didn't fulfil their health and safety obligations. They still haven't claimed it yet... :biggrin:
When I had this problem I took the nice little action of treating the person(in this case,the guy next door to me) to my music at 9am when he would be trying to sleep....

He soon learnt.
Reply 10
gazter
I had a dispute with my university, refused to pay the last terms rent (£800), got a letter from them, claiming, that I would not get my degree certificate until i paid, however, the degree turned up the following week.....

I still owe them £800, but as it was over eight years ago, I doubt they will ever get it :smile:
If it was longer than 6 years since you got any letters about it then they can't chase you for it
Hee, cherrychocolate, that's what I'm talking about! :wink:
Reply 12
Tarts n Vicars.. don't withold your rent. At the moment you are the innocent one, withold your rent and you'll no longer have a clean record. Continue to complain to the housing officers (or equivalent) until something is done. Does your uni have a student welfare officer? If so, go and see him/her immediately and talk to them about it. They're generally sympathetic in these sorts of situations and do have the power to do something about it.

Also if you've not been keeping a diary of the noise then i'd recommend you start now.
Reply 13
I saw withhold away - after all, they breached the contract first, why shouldn't you breach your side of the bargain. A bit like if your ordered something to be delivered that never came - you wouldn't expect to still pay it.

Find out first if your halls can recoup money through the university court. That'll make life more difficult for you if they can - university courts systems are a joke and you often have to go through months of letters to morons before you find someone who'll actually listen to your problem. If they can't (they couldn't at mine, they were still uni halls, but operated by a private company) then it's plain sailing as they're not going to take you to court - particularly if they have been seen to neglect their contractual duties.

Withhold away - money really does talk and they can't simply throw you out without a lot of bureaucratic nonsense. Chances are someone will actually listen to your problem.

I see no real negative consequences that can follow from giving it a shot. If they moan, just point out that they were the first ones to make a breach.
Reply 14
I don't know how the uni/halls system works there so I can't say about that. But as a first step, may I suggest ear plugs? :biggrin: Just make sure you don't miss your alarm..
If it actually says in your contract that you pay more for it to be in a quiet block, they must do all they can to fulfill that contract, otherwise they are in breach of a condition, so yeh not paying rent is good idea. Altho here if you dont pay no one cares right till the end.
Yeah I sleep with ear plugs in every night lol (and I got them from a factory I worked in years ago so they are pretty powerful)...I still get woken up from the music!

I just think we're doomed to have a really c*ap year at uni...never going in halls again EVER. Against my bestter judgement I've paid this instalment, but if things haven't been rectified by the time the next one is due I won't be paying it...and they can sue me for it :cool:
Reply 17
If it is ment to be a quiet block then they should be forced to do something. Try talking to the union or student welfare office they may be able to help you. If you have access to a tape recorder then how about recording the noise one night and then take it with you as an example of what you have to put up with. Point out that you a paying extra for it to be quiet so they should either charge you less or sort out the noise.
LibertineNorth
Find out first if your halls can recoup money through the university court. That'll make life more difficult for you if they can - university courts systems are a joke and you often have to go through months of letters to morons before you find someone who'll actually listen to your problem. If they can't (they couldn't at mine, they were still uni halls, but operated by a private company) then it's plain sailing as they're not going to take you to court - particularly if they have been seen to neglect their contractual duties.


How do you find out if they can do this or not? My uni are threatening to fine our flat because the cleaners haven't been able to clean the kitchen like, 4 times, and me and my friends sure as hell aren't paying when it isn't our mess...
Tarts_n_Vicars
Since my flatmates and I moved into halls last September there has been constant, non stop blaring music coming from the flat below. I'm not talking your average "yay I like music" volume, one of the lads doing it djs at the union and so most nights (and early mornings!) its on at an amazing volume, including throughout exam period. So, my flatmates and I have been to the housing office and they do little more than interview the residents of the flat below and I think once in 4 months they have been fined for the noise. The security guards even came over to us last night to say they feel sorry for us and are sorry there's not more they can do to help. (We live in what is allegedly the quiet block and pay more rent than any of the other blocks because of it btw). The head of accommodation and I have been emailing backwards and forwards and the most they seem prepared to do about it is "monitor" the noise and leave us to suffer. We don't mind occasional partying or even if it was just weekends but it is every night and now they know it's us who has reported them, they sit down there screaming "****** you" and banging bottles and stuff on their tables to rack us off.

My question - my next instalment of rent is due tomorrow and I wondered if not paying it would make them take any more notice of what's going on? We've followed all the rules so far but after a full semester of it and travelling 12 hours each way to get home on weekends just so I can get some peace and quiet I've had enough.

I'm sure they'd come after me far more quickly than they've gone after the noisy ones though but to be honest at this stage evicting me would be a blessing! What do you think? :smile:




What ya need to do is get hold of the contract you signed when you moved in and look at the terms and conditions... if you arnt getting the enviroment to live in that you paid for as set in in the contract, you're within your rights to withold payment by law till they sort out the problem.