how to

Once you have identified a property you are interested in, please contact us by either using the contact link, or call/text Paul on 07850 622184 and we can discuss your requirements and arrange a viewing.

Should you like to take the house, a copy of the contract (a Joint Assured Shorthold Tenancy) will be provided for you to take away and look through. As members, we use a pro-forma tenancy agreement issued by the National Residential Landlords Association to ensure fairness and clarity.

At a second viewing (or the first if you are sure) if you’d like to have the property, a £50.00 per person holding deposit will be taken. This is NOT a fee, just a commitment and will be deducted from the full deposit.

If you prefer a BILLS INCLUDED option this can be arranged

The remaining deposit should be paid within 10 days and the deposit is registered with the MyDeposits scheme.

The Contract and Guarantor paperwork will then be issued for return within 14 days.

When you move in, at least one tenant will need to attend on the day to receive keys and agree on an inventory and condition report.

During the whole process from viewing, letting and occupying, you will be treated with respect and honesty

When you take one of our homes, we will help through the whole process and we can help with taking meter readings and setting up accounts for services such as gas, electric etc.

AT THE START OF TENANCY

Day One

Make arrangements to meet at the property so that the keys can be issued, not all of you need to be there, but all the keys will be issued.

The keys can be collected any time after the start of tenancy during office hours by arrangement.

Cleaning

The previous tenants should leave the property clean and tidy but if there are any problems we will step in and get the property professionally cleaned.

The house will be clean.

Utility Bills & Council Tax

To avoid confusion, we will take the meter readings for the gas, electric and water on the day of change over for you to give to the utility companies when you make the the change into your names. Although most electric and gas metes are now SMART meters so the the utility company can take their own readings anyway. Water is still a manual read and I will do this for you. So the outgoing tenants will have their names removed from the bills and you new guys will have their names added.

This avoids any potential issues if the leaving group give a reading a few days early when they leave and the new group take theirs on day of arrival and there is a couple of digits difference, the fall out over 10p of gas can be epic!

We can take photographs of the readings and issued to all, but you can of course be there when readings are taken.

We don’t normally deal with phone/broadband as everyone has different desires, but will assist in every way, and in many cases it usually means taking over the broadband contract from the outgoing group.

We will advise the council of your arrival, and the leaving groups’ departure, the Council will write to you in due course.

However as students you won’t need to pay Council Tax but you will need to tell them that you are students. We will assist with this if required.

Inventory

An inventory will be issued when you move in, it is important that you go through it properly and advise of any discrepancies, it is important that you make any comment within 1 week of commencement of the tenancy otherwise it will be deemed as accepted. Record photographs are taken and issued to all to be read with the inventory.

DURING TENANCY PERIOD

Rent

Rent should be paid by standing order to be received into our bank on or before the 28th day of the month previously to which it refers, so rent for August should be in our bank by 28th July and so forth.

A standing order avoids you ‘forgetting’ the transfer on rent day.

Maintenance

Please see our section on Maintenance for more information.

But, urgent issues are treated urgently.

We prefer to be notified as and when issues arise to enable the properties to be kept in good condition, so when something gets ‘loose’, please tell us BEFORE it breaks.

We are approachable and flexible in getting things done.

Keys

If you lock yourself out of the house or room, we will be happy to open up for you during normal office hours, without charge, for the first time at least…
However, replacements for lost keys are subject to a charge of £20.00 each and call-outs will also attract a fee of minimum £50. Please refer to house manual.

Gardens

We maintain your garden and external areas and this is included within the rent. A gardener comes fortnightly during the summer and as and when needed during the winter.

AT THE END OF TENANCY

Moving Out

The property should be vacated and keys returned by 4.00pm on 28^th June.

The house should be completely empty of your stuff and be clean.
We are happy to provide contact details for contract cleaners who are very reasonable and good if you prefer. Don’t struggle, don’t stress, just talk to us, we can help.