Flatmate paid for everyone’s deposit without asking first

My flatmate paid everyones deposit for a flat without asking first- then we had to pay them back our half, the tenancy starts soon and I can’t afford the flat and don’t know if I’m even able to stay at the uni I’m currently at due to mental health issues and bad grades.

My parents don’t want me to live there and I don’t want to sign anything and pay like £7k for a year…I don’t know that everyone can get their deposit back but I’m also so annoyed because I didn’t say yes go ahead of anything…I don’t want to fall out with my friends/ flatmates but I might have to for my sake

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

OP

Original post by Anonymous

My flatmate paid everyones deposit for a flat without asking first- then we had to pay them back our half, the tenancy starts soon and I can’t afford the flat and don’t know if I’m even able to stay at the uni I’m currently at due to mental health issues and bad grades.

My parents don’t want me to live there and I don’t want to sign anything and pay like £7k for a year…I don’t know that everyone can get their deposit back but I’m also so annoyed because I didn’t say yes go ahead of anything…I don’t want to fall out with my friends/ flatmates but I might have to for my sake

Has anyone else had this happen?

Reply 2

boulderingislife

20

Yup, i found someone else to take over the tenancy when i dropped out of uni. Thought it was a pretty common thing?

Not had a flatmate pay for my deposit without asking my permission before though.

Original post by Anonymous

My flatmate paid everyones deposit for a flat without asking first- then we had to pay them back our half, the tenancy starts soon and I can’t afford the flat and don’t know if I’m even able to stay at the uni I’m currently at due to mental health issues and bad grades.

My parents don’t want me to live there and I don’t want to sign anything and pay like £7k for a year…I don’t know that everyone can get their deposit back but I’m also so annoyed because I didn’t say yes go ahead of anything…I don’t want to fall out with my friends/ flatmates but I might have to for my sake

Hi there,
This sounds like a difficult situation. Even if your friends has paid the deposit, I am guessing that you have not signed a tenancy agreement? It may be worth contacting the accommodation provider/letting agent to ask for their advice and if they have a cancellation policy, definitely have a read of that. Perhaps having a conversation with your friend is worth doing, just to say that you can't afford to live there but look forward to visiting etc.

Hope this helps!

- Sophie

Original post by Anonymous

My flatmate paid everyones deposit for a flat without asking first- then we had to pay them back our half, the tenancy starts soon and I can’t afford the flat and don’t know if I’m even able to stay at the uni I’m currently at due to mental health issues and bad grades.

My parents don’t want me to live there and I don’t want to sign anything and pay like £7k for a year…I don’t know that everyone can get their deposit back but I’m also so annoyed because I didn’t say yes go ahead of anything…I don’t want to fall out with my friends/ flatmates but I might have to for my sake

Hi there!
I'm so sorry this has happened to you and it's definitely not the ideal situation. I had this happen to a friend of mine last year where they'd paid her deposit without her even viewing the house because she was on placement. She didn't want to live there and never once showed interest in living with that group of people but they went behind her back anyway. They also did this to someone else in the group and in the end they took two different approaches. My friend took the approach of confronting them because she'd never agreed to it. She stood her ground and said she wouldn't be paying the deposit and that they'd need to find someone else because she wouldn't be signing the contract either. It literally didn't take them very long at all to find someone else to take it over and this happened around the same time of year that you're facing this problem. The other person wasn't a very confrontational person and opted to just suck it up and live with them. They're on good terms because they never said anything about it, but the social aspect isn't the same as it was in first year. They don't go out as much and naturally gravitate towards other members of the house.

My advice to you is to stand up for yourself. As you say, you never said yes to any of this so they literally cannot force you to sign anything. Of course it's going to be an uncomfortable conversation but there's no other way around it as they've done something in your name without your permission. They can very easily find someone else to move in and it's definitely not too late. Try to join some Facebook groups for students in your city as there's always people looking to takeover tenancies and join houses, especially people who were going to do a placement year but decided against it. This doesn't mean it needs to be an argument. You've just got to come at it from the nicest angle you possibly can and explain your situation and politely say that you never agreed to any of it and can't afford it. They can't shame you for not being able to afford it, that's silly. I know you've probably heard this before, but if they're not supportive of this then they're not your friends. There's still plenty of time to get this sorted and hopefully everything will work out alright in the end.

Hope this helped!
Lucy - Digital Student Ambassador SHU

Reply 5

University of Sunderland Student Ambassador

Official Rep

11

Original post by Anonymous

My flatmate paid everyones deposit for a flat without asking first- then we had to pay them back our half, the tenancy starts soon and I can’t afford the flat and don’t know if I’m even able to stay at the uni I’m currently at due to mental health issues and bad grades.

My parents don’t want me to live there and I don’t want to sign anything and pay like £7k for a year…I don’t know that everyone can get their deposit back but I’m also so annoyed because I didn’t say yes go ahead of anything…I don’t want to fall out with my friends/ flatmates but I might have to for my sake

Hi there,

This is a tough situation! If you haven't signed a tenancy agreement you may be able to chat to your friend and let them know about how the situation and how you feel, I am sure they would understand. You can also often find someone to take over your tenancy, the best thing to do is to let your friends know so that they are aware of the situation and just keep them totally in the loop.

I hope this helps,
Ellen
Y3 Medical Student
University of Sunderland
Digital Ambassador

Flatmate paid for everyone’s deposit without asking first

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