Rent payment frequency for international students

Rent payment frequency for international students

11:01 AM, 5th August 2014, About 10 years ago 5

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The letting agent I use to manage an HMO for me has proposed a new set of tenants for the upcoming academic year.

They are a group of International Students. They have suggested a 4 month advanced payment schedule with pay dates falling at the start and two other intermediate dates.

Is this okay for this type of tenant or should full payment be sought from International Students which do not have a UK guarantor? Appreciate to know what other landlords do.

Kind Regards
Rajinternational


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Comments

Ian Ringrose

11:48 AM, 5th August 2014, About 10 years ago

I would rather take a deposit of 4 months’ rent, and then have rent payable monthly. Otherwise what if they don’t make the 2nd rent payment?

International Students are close to impossible to enforce a CCJ on, but can make very good tenants.

Mark Crampton Smith

12:30 PM, 5th August 2014, About 10 years ago

There are a number of other questions that you agent should address on your behalf.......Do the international students have Visas for a period exceeding or co-terminus with the term of the tenancy agreement? Many students from the Middle and Far East are on 6 months Visas and will need to return to the home state to renew. Do the student applicants have a UK based guarantor..... we find that when pressed they can often find one, and if not there is an interesting insurance based product to offer an alternative. http://www.housinghand.co.uk. We do not advise quarterly (or longer) rental payments as this can impact on notice terms for section 21s and securing vacant possession. In extremis, we have, if both parties agree, held funds for rent for the last three or four months of a tenancy term, on behalf of the tenants, who pay monthly from the commencement, and instruct us to pay the landlord from funds held in an escrow account for the last period.

Raj Kirpalani

14:31 PM, 5th August 2014, About 10 years ago

Thanks for the responses guys. What is the actual issue with taking quarterly or longer payments?

Ian Ringrose

17:38 PM, 5th August 2014, About 10 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Raj Kirpalani" at "05/08/2014 - 14:31":

The first issue is that you have no comeback if they fail to make a payment apart from the normal eviction process, at the time that the 2nd (or 3rd) payment is due, you are in no better a state then if you were taking monthly payments.

You then have lots of issues if you have to use a S21 notice as you may have to give a lot more than 2 months notice. The case law is very complex even when dealing with monthly rent payments…

Personally I think you will be better off with a large deposit and monthly rent payments.

G Brown

20:34 PM, 5th August 2014, About 10 years ago

Good advice above. It might also be worth you checking their visas/passports to check their maximum stay. Students will be issued tier 4 visas and any restrictions will be on there. I've let to Saudi student who get their bursaries paid every 4 weeks (muslim calendar) and havent had any problems from them of Chinese tenants. It's also worth checking the dates of the tenancy coincide with their courses. A phone call to the uni may tell you the length of the course, but in no way will guarantee that you will have a paying tenant there when rent day comes up... i've been stung before by letting to an international student, and while 99% are good tenants, a larger deposit seems like a good option

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