Signing up for a property with a group of friends can be an exiting and life changing experience, especially if this is means you are leaving your family home for the first time or you have arrived here from another country. One of the most fulfilling parts of our year here at Student Holmes is helping you through this journey, working with you to find the home that best suits your needs and budget.
We have a wide variety of houses and apartments of various sizes and prices ranges to suit the needs of student groups just waiting for you to view and reserve for 2026/2027.
To help you decide if a joint tenancy is the best option for you, here is some information of what signing up would involve and some things to remember when choosing your next home.
Choosing your housemates
Who you live with will hugely impact your experience at your rental property. It is a very good idea to choose wisely who you commit to spend the next year with, and to have any potentially awkward conversations before beginning your search.
Things to discuss before moving in together:
- A realistic, affordable maximum monthly rent and energy bill budget
- How you would split up cleaning tasks
- Your daily routines, such as bath/shower times. In case of clashing schedules, work out possible compromises before committing
- Bill payments, how they will be split, etc.
- How you'd deal with disagreements with your housemates
The Joint & Several Liability Clause
What this means to you:
You are individually liable for your room and any damages or payments relating to your room
You are jointly responsible for the property as a whole. This includes all financial responsibilities, and damages to the property
An example of this would be if a member of your group cannot contribute towards a monthly rent payment. They will be responsible to meet this payment, and their guarantor (if applicable) would be contacted if necessary; but ultimately you are jointly responsible to ensure that the monthly rent is paid on time.
Your Lead Tenant
As part of your contract compilation and also as a requirement from the deposit protection scheme, you will be asked to nominate someone within your group to be the ‘Lead Tenant’.
The person that you nominate for this role will be your groups main contact for us should there be any issues throughout your tenancy. They will also be responsible for collecting the rent from you each month and setting up the standing order for your rent payments, and informing us of any issues that arise on behalf of you all. They will also be expected to take the lead when you move out, as they will be the person who will speak on your behalf should there be any issues regarding your deposit return and also will receive the refunded amount to distribute between you all. The lead tenant will be named clearly on your tenancy agreement, and you will all be expected to sign in agreement with your choice.
If for any reason your group decide to change the lead tenant during your tenancy, we may be able to help you, but this would be a chargeable service, and may require permission from your landlord. Because of this we would advise you to discuss this carefully with your group, and make sure that the person that is nominated is happy to take on this responsibility.
Your Budget
Before you book in for viewings, we would strongly advise that you get together and decide how much you can realistically afford per month as a group.
You will also need to take into consideration that most student properties that are obtained via agencies or private landlords will not have bills included. If you are lucky enough to find a tenancy with bills included, this would be stated in the contract.
Your rent payments would be due calendar monthly, on the date stated in your tenancy agreement.
Please be aware that any uneven split of the rent or any other bills would be a personal agreement between yourselves. If a dispute regarding this split should arise during your tenancy neither Student Holmes or your landlord would be able to help you to find resolution.
What if it all goes wrong?
We are all human, and completely understand that sometimes things do not work out.
Should you sign up for a tenancy, and then later find that you were not accepted for course(s), or should things not work out within your tenancy group for any reason, we do offer a service that would allow you to replace yourself within your tenancy group. Please note that this service is chargeable, and is dependent on your landlord’s agreement and also on the rest of the group agreeing to the person that wishes to replace you. This service will be detailed within your contract if it is available to you.
