Can student tenant of university cancel new letting?

[99sc1610]

If the terms and conditions say that you are obligated to stay there for a year then im afraid it seems you are stuck with it. You are not the first, and no doubt wont be the last student to think that the university would put student's interests first. Unfortunately you will have to treat the Uni accommodation staff as though they were private off-campus landlords. It is, however, unlikely that students can get the uni to change any terms they are not happy with....they know you need the room, especially first years. As far as the comment about the police is concerned...as you are renting the propety the police will not be allowed to do 'random' checks. They can only enter with a warrant, or if they have reasonable suspicion that a crime is being committed in the room. i.e. they couldnt just walk into your house to check there is nothing illegal going on, but if they saw someone beating up their wife, they could come in without a warrant. I would write a letter to the uni informing them of your concerns.

[pcwilkins]

Most likely they did take advantage as I told the woman when I viewed place I had no sleep night before and was struggling to stay awake lol.

Ok, so you view and accept a property whilst struggling to stay awake; you sign agreement to terms and conditions you haven't seen; and you expect sympathy. Let's face it, you didn't take this seriously; the Uni are.

AS for the contract, I assumed it was like the last uni and the college before that, it was a year contract but had a months notice period if you wanted to move.

Police officer: You were driving at 70 in a 30 zone, Sir.
Me: Sorry officer, I assumed it was like the motorway.
Police officer: Oh, that's ok then. Off you go.

What I find unfair is if you have to leave university as you cant handle it or are chucked out you aren't allowed to stay in halls but still must pay rent till end of year.

There is a discussion going on about unfair terms. My view is that you signed up for these terms so you have to stick by them. Others might argue that the term is unfair and therefore you can ignore it.

What I dislike is the thing about police, I have nothing to hide, but if I was sitting in my room and police walked in I would be VERY angry. whats my legal position on that btw as there was nothing on contract stating this and I see it as an invasion of privacy and rights.

I believe that the police have the right to enter any property if they are looking for drugs or firearms. I guess, being student digs, this might be what they're looking for --- at least the former but that's the law in this country, so sorry, you're stuck with it. If the police start harassing you, that's a different matter.

Peter

[99sc1610]

Peter - I am afraid you are wrong regarding your interpretation of the law. The police can enter a property to search for things such as drugs or firearms, but not without a warrant. The only time they can enter without a warrant is if they need to arrest someone for a specific crime (even then its not a given). I.e. if they saw a man with a gun at the window, they would not need to apply for a warrant and could go straight in. What would not be allowed is to randomly search people's homes just to see what they could find. In this case, there is no way a warrant would be granted to give the police officer power to randomly check student rooms for drugs.

If the police do turn up at your door asking to search and they do not have a warrant simply tell them to come back when they actually have legal authority to carry out such a search - that is the law

[pcwilkins]

The police are given powers to enter premises without a warrant by many Acts of Parliament. For example, under the Gaming Act 1968 they have power to enter licensed premises to carry out inspections. Other powers include searches for drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and for firearms under the Firearms Act 1968. In addition, they may have the right to enter premises without a warrant to deal with or prevent a breach of the peace.

http://www.yourrights.org.uk/your-ri...-warrant.shtml

The police can search premises without a warrant if they are looking for drugs or firearms, if a crime is being committed on the premises, or to arrest someone.

http://www.yours.co.uk/nav?page=Your...source=6154749

Are these out of date?

Peter

[99sc1610]

I did agree with you that there are times where they may enter without a warrant. If you actually read the Acts of Parliament which make provision for entering without a warrant, such as Misuse of Drugs Act you will find that they can only do so with "reasonable suspicion" that an offence has taken place. In this situation, randomly searching student accommodation would not be based on reasonable suspicion. You also ought to bear in mind that such legislation also has to be read in line with the HRA 1998. Believe me, there is no way that a police officer would get away with turning up at the door without a warrant and saying "I'm here to check if you may have drugs or a gun...there is no evidence to suggest that you may have...we are just doing random checks." A police officer tried to use anti-drugs legislation on me once without reasonable suspicion...after one complaint to the IPCC he got sacked

[pcwilkins]

In this situation, randomly searching student accommodation would not be based on reasonable suspicion.

Perhaps. Or perhaps it's reasonable to suspect all students of taking drugs these days I wasn't aware that the situation in this case was that the police could do random searches, only that they could enter rooms without notice.

Peter

[99sc1610]

Yes that could be a good point, even on my final year law course there are those who are not shy of the odd dodgy substance!

[jeffrey]

Be careful what you label students with - there could be a severe backlash on the forums !!!

Well said, Simhar.
Gosh; your posts are fascinating.

[pcwilkins]

Be careful what you label students with

I use permanent marker, that works pretty well.

Peter

[Surrey]

Both very witty ripostes, Jeffrey and PC. The reply I was thinking of had rather more Fs in it!