Once you have viewed the houses that you are considering renting and found the one that meets your requirements, we will need a list of everyone’s names, home addresses, home telephone numbers, mobile telephone numbers and e-mail addresses together with a holding deposit equivalent to one month’s rent for the whole house. No references are required. Upon receipt of your deposit the house is yours!
We appreciate that not everyone will have access to the requisite deposit monies on the same day but we will be able to accept part payment as a holding deposit for the house until all monies are forthcoming provided that this is within a pre-agreed timeframe eg within a few weeks of the first installment of holding monies being paid.
Once all holding deposit monies have been received and you are settled with regard to the individuals making up your group, we will be able to provide you with your tenancy agreement to sign and return and (where relevant), your deposit monies will then be protected under the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme.
Upon booking of your house we will ask you to nominate a ‘Lead Tenant’ from your group. This person will be our principal point of contact with your group. Tenants have the option of renting inclusive or exclusive of utility bills and for those renting on an exclusive basis all utility bills will be transferred into the name of the Lead Tenant as at the start date of your tenancy. All deposit monies will be returned to the Lead Tenant at the end of the Tenancy Agreement. Where renting on an exclusive basis, the Lead Tenant can settle your closing utility bills prior to distribution of the balance of your deposit monies between each other. Where your deposits are protected under the government’s Tenancy Deposit Scheme the Lead Tenant also acts as the principal point of contact with the administrators of that scheme in the unlikely event of any dispute.
When renting exclusive of bills, the gas, electricity and water accounts will be transferred into your names from the start of your tenancy agreement. Utility bills will therefore be forwarded to you from the relevant providers on a quarterly basis and you simply divide up the bills between you and pop a cheque in the post to the appropriate suppliers. As students, you are of course exempt from council tax though you will need one TV licence per house.
Though your tenancy agreement will stipulate that rent should be made monthly in advance, we have no objection to tenants paying their rent on a quarterly or termly basis. Similarly, we don’t mind whether you pay your rent via cash, cheque or standing order (though our preference is for the latter). Simply let us know which payment method and frequency suits you!
We are quite familiar with problems that can arise with grants and loans and like to think that we are flexible in this regard so whether you are self financed, parent financed, have a loan or a grant, just talk to us if you anticipate that there may be a problem in paying your rent promptly.
In accordance with our obligations under various housing rules and regulations we must ask that you comply with any reasonable requests that we may make with regard to the manner in which you choose to live in your house whether this be relating to basic standards of cleanliness; safety of your own electrical equipment; not smoking in the houses; or interfering with fire safety equipment or keeping the stairwells clear of obstruction etc
Deposit monies are returned within 21 days of the end of the tenancy – this being defined as the last day as at which tenants are legally able to remain in the property or the day on which all tenants obligations under the tenancy agreement are fulfilled – whichever is the later. All deposit monies are returned to the Lead Tenant for distribution amongst the various members of your group.
On vacating the property we would expect to find that all rubbish and personal belongings have been removed and that the house has been restored to a level of cleanliness fit for new tenants to move in. Full details of our check-out and deposit refunds procedure can be viewed on the Downloads page of studentheaven.co.uk
In accordance with UK legislation, smoking in houses is not permitted.
