Attenborough House, Nottingham

When you move in to the property, they will take readings and they will notify the relevant suppliers of electricity and gas (usually Eon) and water (Severn Trent). After you have moved in and the accounts have been set up in your name (this process normally take 7-14 days), they advise that you speak with the suppliers to agree how you pay your bills. Utility bills are usually considerably cheaper if you arrange to pay by direct debit. In any shared house you will need to agree how the bills are to be paid – i.e. who pays what.

They will notify the appropriate Council that you have moved in to the property (Lenton, Dunkirk, Wollaton = Nottingham City, Beeston = Broxtowe). The Council will then usually write to you asking for payment of Council Tax. Students are usually exempt from Council Tax meaning that there is no charge payable. You will need to contact the Council confirming that you are a student following receipt of your bill. The University will usually provide a disk of names to the Council around October time and the Council will then usually check your name against this list. If you move in to a property prior to your course starting or move out after it has finished, the Council may wish to charge Council Tax for the period that you are not registered as a student. For further information on Students and Council Tax click here. If you are a Researcher or if you are not attending University or College for at least 24 weeks out of the year and for at least 21 hours per week during term time, you are likely to be required to pay Council Tax. Please bear this in mind when you are considering where and with whom to live. This can have significant financial consequences.

They recommend that you start to arrange your services for internet, phone and cable or satellite TV (as required). There is always a lead in period before internet services etc. can be installed and ideally you should sign up with your chosen supplier about 4 weeks before you are due to move in. September is a very busy time of year with lots of students moving and failure to plan ahead can mean that you can be without internet for a number of weeks after the start of term. They will register you with Virgin Media after you have signed your contract. This will not commit you to signing a contract with them but it will give you a discount voucher that you can redeem if you do decide to use Virgin to supply internet, phone and/or TV.

The Landlord is responsible for the repair and maintenance of the property including any electrical items that are supplied with it. As Tenant, you are responsible for keeping the property in a clean and tidy condition and for any damage that is caused to the property. You are not responsible for normal wear or use of the property but you will be responsible if you cause damage over and above “fair wear and tear”. An Inventory & Schedule of Condition is agreed at the start of the tenancy to provide a record of the condition and contents. This document is then referred to at the end of the tenancy should any damages occur.

When or shortly after you move in to the property, you will be given an Inventory & Schedule of Condition to review. The Inventory lists the contents of the property and comments on the general condition. This then forms a record of the property and its contents at the start of the lease for the benefit of both parties during or at the end of the tenancy. You should check through the document and let them know if there any points that you are unhappy with within 7 days of receipt. The Inventory is not designed to record each and every blemish of each and every room – it is designed to be a fair reflection of the state of the property at the start of the lease. If you want to add more detail then you can do this but you must do this at the start of the tenancy – not at the end. The form of Inventory allows you to add to any description or comment generally. Once the Inventory has been returned, they will review it and either agree to accept the modification or make an appointment to come out and review.

Tenants are responsible for any damage caused to the property or contents and for the replacement of any items missing from the Inventory. You are not responsible for normal wear and tear. If there are items damaged, then they will usually charge the person that has caused the damage. If they are unable to establish who has caused the damage, they will usually spread the cost between the tenants in the property. You should therefore disclose as and when damage occurs who has caused the damage to avoid being charged for damage caused by another person in the property.

At the end of the tenancy, you will need to arrange a Final Inspection once the house has been vacated. The condition of the property will then be checked against the Inventory agreed at the start. If there are no issues following, the Deposit can be returned quickly (usually within 15 working days of the Final Inspection). If there are issues to resolve, the Deposit can only be returned if costings have been agreed or once work has been completed.

(a) Cleaning The cost of a standard clean equates to around £50 per person. This figure will vary according to the condition in which the property is returned. (b) Damage to decorations caused by Blu Tac The most common deduction after cleaning is for re-decoration of walls due to damage caused by posters and other pictures being placed on walls with Blu-Tack or similar adhesives. These adhesives leave oily marks and damage decoration. Costs of re-decoration are usually £45 per wall.

Students will be asked to provide a UK based guarantor who will be responsible for any unpaid rent, damage or other charges that may become due. If you are an overseas student and you are unable to provide a UK based guarantor, they will need to discuss terms with you. Landlords may require more rent to be paid in advance and or a larger deposit to be paid based upon the specific circumstances. They would ask you to discuss your situation with them.

Properties come with the basic furnishings – bedrooms usually have a bed, desk, chair, wardrobe, drawers, bookshelf and bin. Kitchens come with basic appliances – usually oven and hob, fridge and washing machine. Some properties have dishwashers, dryers, microwaves, kettles and toasters. As contents vary property by property, interested parties should satisfy themselves on the level of furnishings prior to application. Additional furniture will not be provided once you have moved in. They do not usually provide any pots and pans, kitchen utensils or crockery. In the bedrooms, they do not provide any sheets, duvets or pillows. You will need to bring these with you when you move in.

Yes but the owners are not usually able to remove or store any of the existing furniture from the property.

Where properties are marketed on a room by room basis, they stipulate one person per room only. If you are a couple, then you would either need to rent two rooms in a shared property or find a one bedroom flat or other self contained property. If you are taking a house as a group then they need applications from everyone that is planning on living in the property. You may be able to share a room if you are in a group but this will need to be discussed and agreed before you submit an application. They will need to assess whether there are sufficient amenities (e.g. bathrooms) in the house for the number of people that are proposing to live there. There may well be licensing or other legal issues that will need to be considered. This will depend upon the particular characteristics of each property – so it is important that you disclose how many people are going to be living in the property.

All properties will be professionally cleaned at the start of your contract. Sometimes there are items of work that are required when people move in to properties. They try to pick up most items during final inspections and deal with them prior to the start of the tenancy. If there is a short turn around between tenancies, this is not always possible. They would always endeavour to complete work but where there are only a few days between tenancies, this may make this process difficult. They will endeavour to keep you advised if there are issues like this when you are due to move in. If you find items when you move in, you should email these they would ask you to provide one complete list rather each and every time you find something. Please also bear in mind that there are many people moving during the student turnaround and this will always cause a strain on the amount of work that has to be carried out. They will programme work according to urgency.

If there is something wrong with your room or the property, you need to report this to the Repairs Team at the property. You should report these through the Fixflo software which you can bookmark on the home screen of your smart phone. They use this software so they can be sure that you provide them with enough information so they can deal with the problem efficiently. If you wish to speak with someone you can call their office during normal office hours (9am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 1pm on Saturday). They are usually closed on Bank Holidays and hours of opening during holiday periods are published on their website. If you have any emergency repairs required at any time (even when the office is open), then you can call follow instructions provided on their website. They will take your details and determine whether the repair is a genuine emergency in which case they should send a contractor immediately or whether the repair is classified as a routine repair in which case you should report the repair to their office in the usual way. Please do not try and contact individual members of staff directly out of hours. Please do try and report repairs as soon as they occur. It is usually difficult to call contractors out over the weekend and a delay in reporting repairs until a Saturday will usually delay completion of the work. The Landlord is not responsible for the day to day running of the property and tenants will have to make their own arrangements for changing of light bulbs, bleeding radiators etc.

One of the most common complaints with all student properties is condensation. Condensation is caused by a combination of excessive moisture being produced (e.g. from drying clothes inside), inadequate ventilation, cold spots in rooms (e.g. in areas behind furniture) and inadequate heating. Condensation is usually caused as a result of the use of the property rather than a fault with the property itself. They would advise all students to make sure they ventilate rooms at least an hour a day by opening the window. Trickle vents on windows should be left open at all times. Most double glazed units have two locking settings – either closed completely or slightly ajar with an opening of around 10 mm. If the window is locked in the ajar setting, it will allow significant ventilation without affecting security. You can therefore keep your property ventilated and secured by setting your window accordingly when you are out e.g. at University.

Whilst they understand the need for privacy, locks on doors can create a number of other issues – e.g. inhibit egress from a property in the event of fire. There are other rules that can be made to apply to a property with locks on bedroom doors that are designed to deal with bedsit type situations. TV licensing, for example, will ask for a TV licence for each room in the property. If the property does not currently have room locks, it is unlikely that locks will be provided. If you are concerned about this, you should ask before you apply for the property. Locks are unlikely to be provided once you have moved in to the property.

Not without the permission of the Landlord. You will not be allowed to keep cats or dogs but smaller pets may be considered.

They appreciate that sometimes finances can be tight but rental payments should be paid on time. If you fall into arrears you will be incur charges for the non payment and they will contact your guarantor for payment of the debt. Please refer to your tenancy agreement for details on charges that could be applied. The sooner you let them know of any extenuating circumstances the quicker they can try and work with you.

As a resident, you will be responsible for disposing of your waste appropriately. The arrangements for waste collection will vary property to property and they will email you when you move in to the property with details of the specific arrangements. They would ask that you take care and make sure you put your bins out and return them each week. Bins left out on streets cause more complaints from residents that any other issue and you may be liable to a fine from the local authority.

Your name and contact details will be shared with the suppliers of Gas, Electricity, Water, Local Council and phone and internet providers as appropriate for use in connection with your occupation of the property. They will also provide contact details to contractors so they can contact you for access in to the property to carry out any repairs or other work required in connection with the use of the property.

Landlords will maintain an insurance policy for the buildings and the contents in the property that belong to the Landlord. Tenants are responsible for insuring their own belongings. Often the most economical way for a student to insure is by extending your parents’ home policy to cover your term time address. They can provide you with an insurance quote if you need; please ask once of their members of staff if you do want a quote.Access and Inspections? The property management will carry out periodic inspections of the property during the period of the Tenancy to monitor care. From time to time, access will be required for other purposes; they would seek to give you at least 24 hours prior notice by email (except in the case of emergency).