Where it all started

Like most first year students my friends and I started to look for a house to rent together after our university accommodation finished. 

One afternoon, after our classes, we and a few other students met an estate agent who showed us around multiple houses. The estate agent let us in the doors and stood outside. They were very ‘hands off’ and left us look around, without the normal friendly Belfast chat that we love. Only time and experience has shown that this is unusual for estate agents.

One of the houses we really liked. It was in a good condition, on a quiet street, and just a couple of minutes from the campus. One thing that we did note was that there was one door off the landing upstairs which didn’t open. We assumed it went to a cupboard and ignored it. 

"A deposit is generally equal to a month’s worth of rent and is held just in case the landlord chooses to charge you for any damage to the property once you move in."

That evening we tried to find the house on Property Pal, and found that it had not been advertised online. This should have been Red Flag Number One that something wasn’t right! 

We got in touch with the estate agent and they sent us a form to fill out, they took all our details and accepted our offer within a couple of days. The next step was signing our tenancy agreement, which is the contract you sign to rent the house. This was a smooth process, and so we paid our deposit on the property. A deposit is generally equal to a month’s worth of rent and is held just in case the landlord chooses to charge you for any damage to the property once you move in. This is a normal part of renting, so we were happy to do all this.

All was then on hold until later that summer when the estate agents sent out contracts to our guarantors and asked for their personal details, ID and signatures. This was the last step before our contract could be made fully contractually binding.

How the lid came off

The guarantor is the person who pays your rent for you, in case you’re not able to pay. It means if anything happens to you as the renter, the landlord still gets paid his side of the contract. My dad was my guarantor, and he very quickly said that something felt ‘off’ about the tenancy agreement. 

The first thing we did was go to the estate agent’s website. Dad pointed out that as a company they would have guidelines on how they manage their client’s personal data. So far, the documents they had shown us were inconsistent. There are two important things to check for on your estate agent website, the first one is ‘terms and conditions’, which are the basic set of rules that show the rights and responsibilities of each party in an agreement, or business relationship.

"There are two important things to check for on your estate agent website, the first one is ‘terms and conditions’...The second important thing is a ‘privacy policy’."

The second important thing is a ‘privacy policy’. This tells you how a company is going to manage your personal data. These are legal necessities, and they protect you from your data being sold or used against you. With this in mind we scanned the website. Down at the bottom of the page were two links for ‘terms and conditions’ and ‘privacy policy’. 

We selected the links and neither of them gave us the information we needed. The links did not take us to any documents. In short, there was no way of finding out how our data would be used by the company, or what rights we had as their clients.

It started to dawn on me that this situation was pretty serious. We followed a hunch and went on the Belfast City council’s HMO register. Rental properties for students are typically licenced as a ‘House in Multiple Occupation’ or HMO. It basically means that as a landlord or agent, you are allowed to rent a property to three or more people from different households, and it is up to a good, safe standard for tenants. 

We typed in the house number and postcode into the register and nothing came up. The house was simply not there. At the top of our recently signed tenancy agreement, it stated that the property was an HMO, yet it was completely unlicenced to be rented out to us. We had signed and entered an illegal contract.

Moving forward

It was like a gut punch, I felt really overwhelmed. I had already put down a £350 deposit and all of my personal information down for a house that was being illegally rented to us. I also had to explain to my friends what had happened, and then go through all the practicalities of making sure we could get safely out of our contract and get our deposits back.

The estate agents and landlord had come up with a loophole in the contract so they didn’t have to get it licenced. They told us that a family member of the landlord stayed there sometimes, and that negated the need for the house be licenced. Under this arrangement they would have right to access the house at any time as they were ‘living there’. Needless to say, we were all horrified, and were quickly reminded of the locked door in the house when we’d viewed it, which would have doubled as an extra bedroom for this family member.

The next step was the legal process. We called Belfast City Council and informed them of the situation so they could pursue the estate agents and landlord if they thought that was appropriate. We then got into contact with a property lawyer and he helped us get our deposits back by putting on the pressure through legal letters and with advice. Then we had to go through the whole house hunting process again, and as the year had moved on, good houses were few and far between, and they were much more expensive!

Advice to new students:

I am writing this blog to raise awareness of about the property market for students, so that you don’t make the same mistakes as we did. Here’s a handful of tips that are a must do for renting a house.

Check your house is on the HMO register: If you are renting with three or more students, the house should have a licence. This is for your safety so it is up to a ‘lettable’ standard and covers your back legally if anything goes wrong.

Talk to people who know about renting: Don’t think just because you’re at university you know everything! Ask a family member or a friend, even ask older students about their rental experiences.

Be proactive with estate agents: Ask questions, and be persistent with needing information about your contract, the licencing on your house, or your landlord. The estate agents are being paid to know information about these houses, and it is their job to answer your questions.

Make the most of the support Queen's offers: Queen’s SU offers information about private renting on their website at https://www.qubsu.org/AdviceSU/Accommodation/ and if you want to contact them directly you can also email them at su.advice@qub.ac.uk with queries about private renting. Don’t be scared to reach out for support!

DO NOT sign contracts without reading them thoroughly: this should be obvious, but for so many of us, we’re happy to say we agree to something without knowing what it entails. Pay particular attention to the ‘jointly and severally’ clause (which is common in rental contracts) as this holds each tenant responsible for the whole tenancy, not just their own share. If someone doesn’t pay their rent, the landlord is within their rights to ask any of the other tenants to pay it for them. Because of this, you need to know and trust the people who you are renting with. 

Adding someone in because they are a ‘friend of a friend’ doesn’t cut it, do due diligence, read your contracts fully, and trust the other tenants; your safety and financial security may depend on it. 

Consider Queen’s Accommodation: Take the stress out of seeking a new home for the year by applying for student accommodation at Queen’s. Various rooms are available for returning students in accommodation such as Mount Charles, Swanston House, Aster House and Bradbury Place. Find out more here.

Already been scammed? If you are reading this and concerned that your current house is unlicenced, look into what provisions there are for pursuing a landlord who hasn’t got an HMO licence. Belfast City Council are hot on the case of unlicenced houses, and will produce fines and quality standards. 

Finally, trust your gut: Human intuition is a wonderful thing: if in any doubt, don’t sign. Ask the right questions first.

I wish you all the best with your house hunting!

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Anna Mohon Politics | Undergraduate Student | England, UK Hi, I’m Anna, a Politics student at Queen's. If you’re going to see me around campus, it’ll be hunched over a laptop in the library with an iced mocha from the café, or in the SU, discussing the lows and highs of politics with anyone who will listen. My younger self would be very impressed that I moved out of the northeast of England and spread my wings when it came to university. Moving to another country, even one as close by as Northern Ireland has come with its joys and challenges. From the misery of not doing my dream degree of law and applying to Queen's through Clearing, to loving every bit of my degree now. Outside of the classroom I enjoy taking walks, I make the most of the Botanic Gardens and Ormeau Park when the weather is good. While I love reading: my diverse literature tastes confuse even me…you can see me with a Jane Austen one day and Tom Clancy the next!  Queen's has given me incredible opportunities to grow in my independence and step out in a way I never would have done before. From starting my own blog to learning to cook more than just pot noodles - university has been an incredible learning experience.