Leaving Early

If you find you cannot complete your contract, this may happen at 2 specific points:

  1. Dropping out before you move in
  2. Dropping out after you move in
  1. Dropping out BEFORE you move in
    If, having signed a contract to rent a house a student is nevertheless unable to move in (for whatever reason), they are still responsible for rent for the duration of the contract (in most cases 1st July - 30th June of the following year) or until a replacement tenant is found.

    Salford Student Homes do not want to charge tenants for unoccupied rooms. We therefore recommend you advertise (very easy to do) for a replacement tenant as soon as you decide you are not going to move in. Please remember that the later you leave the decision not to move in, the more difficult it will be to find a substitute tenant.
    1. If you are part of a group, tell the rest of your group ASAP, one of them might have a friend who would be more than happy to take your place. Also this is the best option for everyone as it likely to be someone known to all of you!
    2. Ask around your friends if anyone is looking for a house share in a property such as yours.
    3. Tell us at Salford Student Homes as we can match single students who request a house share. But the longer you leave it the harder it becomes for a replacement to be found.
    4. Start to advertise your place as soon as you know you will be dropping out, you can do this in a number of ways:-
      Place notices or flyers on as many notice boards as you can around Campus and Halls.
      Place flyers under all your doors in your hall and that of friends.
      Place an web notice on the student to student notice board of student accommodation websites
          i. www.accommodationforstudents.com
          ii. www.manchesterstudenthomes.com
          iii. www.homes4u.co.uk
          iv. www.upagumtree.co.uk
          v. www.easyroommate.co.uk
          vi. www.spareroom.com

Once you have someone interested in taking over your tenancy, ask the prospective housemate to contact Salford Student Homes. Salford Student Homes will arrange an appointment to view the property and meet the rest of the group.

When a new housemate agrees to rent the house, and when the remaining tenants are happy with the new housemate we would organise to sign the contract. The rest of the group must be happy, as it is they who will be sharing their home with this new tenant.

Do remember that if, after promising to take the house, this substitute tenant does not proceed to sign the contract, the original tenant remains liable for rent.

  1. Dropping out AFTER you move in

Should you find that you are unable to reside at your student house until the end of your tenancy agreement ends (in most cases 1st July - 30th June of the following year), students are still responsible to Salford Student Homes for paying rent until the end of the tenancy (i.e. 30th June) or until a replacement is found.

We know that students are not normally wealthy and Salford Student Homes do not want tenants to be unnecessarily burdened. Therefore, if students need to leave the house then the original or remaining tenants must find a replacement student tenant to take over the responsibility for the remainder of the tenancy period.

Whilst the responsibility for finding substitute housemates lies with the tenant(s), tenants can however, ask college mates, current housemates and Salford Student Homes, to assist in the search for substitute housemates.

They can also undertake to advertise their place in a number of ways as noted in the previous section "Dropping out before you move in"

Students may decide to leave a tenancy for any reason:-

  1. 10% of students drop out of University during the academic year.
  2. Some continuing students leave their courses due to incompatibility.
  3. Some continuing students leave purely for personal private reasons

Leaving before the end of your contract can be a very difficult experience. However, you must remember that you remain responsible for your liabilities, under the contract you have entered into. However by following the advice below you are more likely to find a substitute tenant.

As soon as you think you may need to leave the property, start looking for a replacement. The sooner you act the more likely it is you will resolve the issue. As the Academic Year progresses the less likely it will be that any student will move.

If you leave your decision to later into the academic year, the harder it will be to find a replacement as students do not usually disrupt their living arrangements during an Academic Year. Moving house for some is recognized as one of life's most stressful events. So students will only endure this if it is necessary, worthwhile and will not interfere with revision and examinations.