A student has slammed a letting agent as 'immoral' for demanding £300 after they were forced to isolate just 3 days beyond their tenancy agreement.
The 20-year-old student, who lived in a six-bedroom property in the Headingley area of Leeds, said that her housemate had tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month, which meant the entire household had to isolate for 10 days.
The isolation period ran three days past the end of their tenancy agreement, and so, they informed the agent, Beyond Lettings, of their situation.
The agent told the students they would have to pay rent and bills for the additional three days, which added up to £300.
Speaking to Leeds Live, the student, who asked not to be named, said: “We contacted the agents to inform them of our situation and they told us that if we had to isolate past the agreement we would have to pay rent and bills.
“For the additional [three] days isolation this means we have to pay £300. The only other option [was] to move back to our family homes or move elsewhere and risk spreading the virus more.
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"Being a house of students, £300 is not something any of us can afford especially as some of us have new tenancies starting in other properties.
“Putting a £300 charge on a house of students that are following government guidelines to isolate is unprofessional and immoral.”
Unable to afford to pay the extra fees, three of the students, who had negative Covid-19 tests, moved back home to finish isolating - and the third student moved into their new accommodation to finish the isolation period.
In response to the student’s claims Beyond Lettings said: "We have received confirmation from tenants at a few of our managed properties that they have tested positive with Covid-19 and their isolation period extends past their contract end date.
“We have tried to manage those situations amicably between the landlord, outgoing tenants and incoming tenants in line with Government guidance.
“We very much sympathise with our tenants in this situation, in what is a very challenging time for everyone, and their health and wellbeing is the priority.
“Before responding to them we sought advice from government guidelines to ensure our advice and actions were responsible and empathetic to everyone involved.
“We’re a business that prides itself on providing high quality accommodation and service to our tenants and Beyond Lettings are not profiting from this situation in any way.
“As we all have to, we're following the guidance and advice from the government as best we can, whilst trying to support tenants in these challenging times.”
Beyond Lettings stated that additional rent owed was charged on a pro rata basis.
It also said additional costs for cleaning and disinfecting the property between tenancies are being picked up by landlords.
Advice from Unipol states that tenants who have to self-isolate beyond their tenancy should expect to pay rent for the period they need to remain in the property.
