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Index:
FAQs New Tenants

FAQs and hints for existing tenants
Safety & Security
Problems
Looking after your house
Appliances & Equipment
Bills & Utilities
General


FAQs New Tenants

I want to rent one of your houses. What do I do next?
Get your group together and check out “The Way Forward” on our website. We specialize in 5 bedroom houses, but we have three 4s, four 6s and two 7s as well.

How much rent do I pay?
Virtually all our rooms are £85.00 per week. This works out at £xx per calendar month.  (£xx x 52 weeks / 12 months).

Do I have to pay rent in the holidays?
We have two categories of property:
Gold: Half rent discount for all unoccupied rooms in the first month of the lease.
Platinum: Full rent all year.

Can I stay in the house over the summer?
You can stay in Platinum houses throughout the summer. If you rent a Gold house you may stay in the house during the first month of the tenancy, but full rent will apply on a student by student basis for the time you stay.

Are bills included in the rent?
No. You are responsible for gas, electricity, water and telephone/internet. Full time students are exempted from council tax. Depending on how long you leave the heating and hot water on, gas, electricity and water bills should not exceed £7.50 per person per week over the full term of the lease.

Do I pay Council Tax?
So long as all the tenants are full time students your house will be exempt from Council Tax.

How much is the deposit?
£0.00 - no deposit. We trust our tenants!

When do we get our keys?
GOLD: We will post your key to your home address unless you specify a different address before the end of the first month of your lease. We can give you access by prior arrangement to your house to drop off gear etc during the first month of your tenancy.
PLATINUM: Your keys are available on the day after the start of your tenancy.

Can we leave our gear in the house over the summer?
Yes. You may leave your personal belongings in the house during the first month of the lease.

Is our stuff insured?
Our houses are insured, but you will have to arrange your own insurance, if required, for your belongings. The NUS recommends Endsleigh.

Who do we call if we have a query or a problem?
You will only deal with John or Penny Morgan or with Simon in the office. Ideally, e-mail us on john.morgan45@virgin.net or, if it is urgent or an emergency call John’s mobile 07885 32 88 88. The office can be contacted on 01227 831047 between 9.00am and 3.00pm Monday to Friday.

Are we allowed to smoke in the house?
No.

Are we allowed to keep pets in the house?
No.


Do we have to pay the rent quarterly in advance?
We offer you the following options to pay your rent to suit your individual financial circumstances:
1. Bog Standard: Quarterly as per the lease. (generally when parents are paying)
2. Monthly in advance: (generally when parents are paying)
3. Quarter/Loan: Quarterly, with last three quarters tied to receipt of student loan.
4. Month/Quarter/Loan: Same as 3 but monthly in advance over summer.

What happens if my student loan is late?
If you know your student loan is going to be late, please let us know so that we can work out a solution. You will also need to advise your bank to avoid bank charges.

Do we have to arrange a guarantor?
Yes. All tenants have to provide a suitable UK resident to sign a guarantee. Those who cannot arrange this will have to pay the year’s rent in advance.

Is there an administration Fee?
Yes. We charge a non returnable administration fee of £xx.00 per person on the signing of the lease. This is to cover the administration costs of setting up the tenancy such as drawing up the lease, standing order forms, guarantor forms etc, as well as chasing up missing paperwork, late rent and organizing site visits. Surprisingly, we do not require a deposit. Please note that we do not charge VAT on the administration fee.

What happens if I want to leave the house during the course of the lease?
Your lease is a joint liability lease and if any person wants to leave they have to continue paying the rent until a suitable replacement is installed. If the person leaving does not pay the arrears and they cannot be recovered from them or their guarantor through the courts then the remaining tenants in the group will become liable for the arrears. It is not always easy to find a replacement who is acceptable to the remaining group members so once you have signed the lease you shouldn’t take the decision to leave lightly.

Who maintains the garden?
We maintain the gardens and lawns. However you are expected to keep your front and back gardens free of rubbish, paper etc.

Who does the maintenance on the house?
We have a team of tradesmen who will look after your house and sort out any problems. (Remember that a cup of tea will always help)!


Can we have a lock on our bedroom door?
No. All our bedroom doors have bolts on the inside to give you privacy. However we like our groups to live like a group of friends and we feel that houses with keys on bedroom doors look like bedsits. We are not in the bedsit market.

When does the rubbish go out?
The rubbish and recycling are collected on alternate weeks. You can find your collection dates on www.canterbury.gov.uk/rubbish.php or by calling 01227 862211.

Can I park outside the house?
Some of our houses are in areas where you will need a parking permit (Somner Close, Mead Way, Roper Road, Beverley Road, Cossington Road, St Martin’s Road). You need to contact Canterbury City Council as soon as possible on 01227 862000. They will ask you for a photocopy of your lease.

Is the house furnished?
Yes. We provide microwave, bedroom and living room furniture. You have to bring your own toaster, kettle, iron, crockery, cutlery, pots and pans, bedding, a reading lamp, TV, PC etc.

Will the house be clean when we move in?
GOLD: Your house will be professionally cleaned before the end of your half rent period. If the house is unoccupied through the summer dust etc can accumulate before the start of term so we may, by arrangement with you, clean the house nearer to the end of the summer vacation.
PLATINUM: Your house will be professionally cleaned during the first two weeks of the tenancy.










FAQs and hints for existing tenants
Index:
Safety & Security
Problems
Looking after your house
Appliances & Equipment
Bills & Utilities
General


SAFETY & SECURITY

If you thing you smell gas at any time call 0800 111 999 immediately. 800 111 999 for mobiles.
Turn off the gas at the meter.
Extinguish all naked flames – do not smoke or strike matches.
Turn off all gas appliances and do not use until they have been checked by our engineer.
Do not operate any electrical appliances or turn any switches on or off, INCLUDING LIGHT SWITCHES.
Open all doors and windows to ventilate the property.

If you discover a fire:
1. Sound the alarm by letting the others in the house know.
2. Dial 999 to call the Fire Brigade.
3. Put out the fire if it is safe to do so using the fire blanket if it is a cooker fire, or the fire extinguisher.

On hearing the fire alarm from the smoke / heat detectors:
1. Leave building by nearest safe exit.
2. Close all bedroom doors behind you.
3. Assemble at front of house.

Smoke alarms are wired into the mains electricity supply and have a battery back-up which will start beeping when the battery needs replacing. DO NOT FORCE THE COVER: THEY TWIST OFF AND THE MAINS ELECTRICTY MUST BE TURNED OFF FIRST. If they start beeping, call us to replace the battery.

NOTE: All our houses are non-smoking throughout.

If the power suddenly cuts out in the house. This generally means that something has tripped the very sensitive safety trip we have installed. It could be something as simple as a loose screw in a plug or a blown light bulb. It normally happens as soon as the faulty item has been switched on.
1. Identify what you just switched on.
2. Turn it off and pull plug from wall.
3. Go to the electricity meter and reset the trip switch.
Your power should then return. If not, there may be a power outage in the street, call 0800 783 8866 for information. In any case contact us as we will need to check it out.

Close all windows when the last person leaves the house, especially those on the ground floor or those on the first floor accessible from a flat roof. Use the deadlock on your front door if you have one.

Candles
Candles can be very romantic. However their use is prohibited by the lease as they can constitute a fire risk. If you use candles in the house and accidentally cause a fire you may be liable for the damage to the house as my insurance may be invalidated.

Holiday checklist
Before you go home on holidays:
- empty your kitchen bin
- leave central heating to come on at least two hours at night and two hours during the day in case there is a freeze up (other than in summer of course).
- give the house a good clean as it is always nice to come back to a clean house after a holiday
- take all your portable valuables with you, such as lap tops, dvds, cds, jewelry, cash etc. If your desk top pc is too big to take home, back up all your files and take the back up discs with you.
- lock all windows and doors

Water leaks
If you encounter a serious water leak in the house (for example a burst pipe), turn off the water main asap. We will send a separate list on the location of the water mains in each house.

PROBLEMS

Don’t sit on a problem for days. Contact us as soon as you have a problem, especially a water leak, as water problems generally get worse and can cause a lot of damage if not resolved quickly. Unless it is an emergency contact us by e-mail.

Rent
Most of our tenants pay their rent on time. However each year we get a small percentage of tenants who never pay on time and whom we have to chase constantly. This is a headache to us and a huge drain on our resources. If you think you will be late in paying please let us know beforehand.

Moving into house
If when you first arrive and you find things that any of the equipment is not working (eg freezer), list everything and e-mail it to us. We spend a lot of time and money sorting the houses out in the summer but we can miss things especially if appliances are not actually being used. Remember everyone comes back at the same time so we have to prioritise the jobs we receive in the first batch. Sometimes we get parents calling us up in an abusive manner – this is definitely not the right way to start a relationship in which we need to co-operate closely with each other for the next year. Best thing is to keep your parents on a short lead.
Inform us of the problem and we will sort it as quickly as possible.

Drains
If you put the surplus food from your plates into the sink the drains will block up. If we have to call out a drain company the cost is around £100.00 minimum and this will be at your cost if the drain has been blocked by food being put down the sink or condoms, tampons etc being flushed down the toilet.

Noise
All the neighbours have our telephone number and call us if they are disturbed late at night. While we don’t expect you to be robots we try and keep the neighbours happy. The best ways to do this are:
- speak to them when you see them, rather than just ignoring them thinking they are the enemy.
- don’t have loud music blasting from the house
- if you come home late at night after a few drinks, don’t stand outside the house talking loudly when it is obvious the rest of the street is asleep
- don’t slam car doors late at night when the rest of the street is asleep.
- basically be pleasant and reasonable.

Toilet
Please don't flush any condoms, tampons or other similar items down the toilet as they will block up the system and the drain companies charge a minimum of £100.00 to unblock a drain. This cost will be borne by the tenants if the blockage was caused by condoms etc.

LOOKING AFTER YOUR HOUSE

Open windows a little when you are in the house to provide an element of ventilation, especially the bathroom.

Leave bedroom doors open as much as possible when you’re not in the room to let air circulate in the house and discourage mould forming on the walls.

Keep the house clean and tidy, especially the common areas, as the group will soon get fed up with living in a messy house or if some of the group aren’t pulling their weight.

Use a chopping board

Put your rubbish out the night before collection day. Surplus black bags will not get collected, and left on the ground quickly attract vermin, so if you forget to put your bin out take the excess bags to the council tip on Vauxhall Road, between Broad Oak Road and Sturry Road.
Note garbage bins will only be collected every alternate week. The council will collect recycling bags on the other weeks. The things you can put in the recycling bags are: paper, cardboard, magazines, newspapers, food and drink cans, aluminium foil, plastic bottles, yoghurt and margarine tubs.
If your house has a green topped bin please note that you can only put garden waste in these, otherwise it won’t be emptied.
You must return your empty bin to your front or back garden after collection or the Council may impound it – fee £42.
The Council also have inspectors who open and check recycling bags. We understand that fines of over £100.00 have been imposed for incorrect recycling.
You can find your collection dates on www.canterbury.gov.uk/rubbish.php or by calling 01227 862211. Alternatively Serco can be called on 0800 031 9091.

Blu tak
Many students cannot resist the temptation to cover their bedroom walls in photos stuck on with blu tak. To limit charges for damages at the end of the lease we have nominated one wall in each bedroom to be used as a poster wall. You will not be charged for putting posters on this wall providing you remove the blu tak at the end of the lease. Please do not put any posters up on any of the other walls.

Decorating rooms
Unfortunately we cannot allow any tenants to paint their rooms. There are many reasons for this but basically if we use one main colour, then we can often touch up marked walls at the end of the lease without having to charge tenants. We could not do this if every room was painted in a different colour.

Furniture
Your house is supplied with furniture. We cannot remove beds, wardrobes etc to accommodate any bits of large furniture you have brought from home. We also don’t want furniture leaving the house (some tenants ask to bring their own bed and take ours back to their house in the meantime). If you have a problem with the furniture provided call us and we will check it out.
Please take care in moving furniture around the room, especially wardrobes, as these can easily get damaged if not first emptied and carried by at least two people.

Cleaning
Try to keep the house clean and tidy, especially the common areas, as the group will soon get fed up with living in a messy house or if some of the group aren’t pulling their weight. We provide each house with a cleaning roster at the start of each academic year and the houses which don’t bother to follow the roster generally end up in a big mess with a lot of arguments amongst the group.

Gardens
We cut the lawns and maintain the gardens. However you are expected to keep your front and back garden free of any rubbish, paper etc.

Light bulbs
Normal bayonet light bulbs can be changed by first turning the light switch, hold the socket in your left hand, take the bulb in your right hand, push it up gently and turn it to the left. Don’t just try and jerk it out or you will break the fitting. Sorry to be patronising, but this has happened.

Mattresses
Turn your mattress over every three months to get a more comfortable sleep.

Mattress covers
Mattress covers are there to stop your mattress getting stained. It cost around £80.00 to replace a stained mattress but only £10.00 to replace the cover. Please use the mattress covers all the time and we suggest that you wash them at least once a month, otherwise they will start to honk a bit.

Mould in house
Mould will occur on your walls if there is a lack of air circulation and/or an excess of moisture. To prevent this you need to:
- Open windows in the house a little bit each day during winter.
- Leave bedroom doors open when you are not in the room
- Use the tumble dryer (if your house has one) as opposed to drying your clothes on radiators
- Open the bathroom window during or after you have had a shower to let the steam go out of the house
- Don’t have your bed pushed right up against a wall.

Shower head blocked
Descale the shower head each time the holes start to block up with lime scale. You need to unscrew the shower head from the hose (don’t lose the black rubber washer) and wash out any loose bits of scale from the head. Then place the shower head in the glass container of diluted Kilrock-K (under the sink) for an hour or so – this descaler can be re-used so don’t throw it away.

If you have a Mira shower, while you are descaling the head and it is disconnected from the shower hose, turn the shower to hot for 10 seconds, then full cold to blast any scale particles from the shower. Repeat at least 10 times until all the bits stop coming out of the shower hose. You normally need to do this about once a week as there is a lot of lime scale in the water in Canterbury.

APPLIANCES AND EQUIPMENT

TV License
Make sure that you buy a TV license.

Phone
The previous tenants may have had the phone disconnected. If so you will need to phone BT on 0800 800 150 to get it re-connected.

Dryers
To ensure your tumble dryer doesn’t break down:
- clean the lint out of the filter every time you use it
- don’t over fill the machine
- don’t dry wet towels in the machine or anything that hasn’t been through the spin cycle in the washing machine.

If the dryer rotates but doesn’t create any heat, it generally means you have overheated it by one of the above. There is a trip switch on the back (generally a red button) which needs to be pressed to reset the machine, after you have cleaned the filter and reduced the load.

If you have a condenser dryer empty the water from the reservoir (top left corner) every time you use it. If this overflows it will destroy the dryer.

Microwave
To prevent your microwave rusting up inside you need to:
- mop up any overflow caused by cooking and dry it off immediately
- leave the door open for a while after cooking to let the steam out.

Vacuum cleaner
Replace your vacuum bag when it is full. We provide spare bags if you run out. Most houses have “Henry” hoovers – you replace the bags by firstly ensuring that the hoover is not plugged in, then undo the two side clips, lift the top off, lift out the filter and you will see the full bag. Take it out and replace it with a new one.

Washing machines
To ensure your washing machine doesn’t break down:
- empty all your pockets before putting clothes in the wash
- don’t overfill the machine
- don’t try and force the door to open if it has a time clock on it – with some machines you have to wait about a minute after the wash finishes before opening the door.

BILLS AND UTILITIES

Central Heating
If you want to save money don't heat the house during the day when everyone is on campus. Use the timing controls intelligently.

Water companies
There are two water companies who will bill you:
- Mid Kent Water for supply and
- Southern Water for taking away the waste.

The billing system is a bit messy as firstly it depends on whether your house is metered or un-metered. Secondly the billing year runs from 1 April to 31 March. In the long run you will only be billed for the time you are in the house (un-metered) or for the water you use (metered). Problems arise because the companies bill in advance for un-metered and you can be faced with a big bill on 1 April which you have to pay up front and then wait for a refund after you leave the house.

Utility bills
If your supplier is EDF energy for both electricity and gas.
We read the meters at the start of the lease and also at the end of the lease.
In the meantime you will receive bills that you need to pay.
During the period of the lease Seeboard will bill you on estimated readings (the reading on the bill will have an “E” against it). This all gets sorted out in the wash when you receive your final bill but it would be easier for you if you received bills based on actual meter readings.
Therefore if you receive a bill with an “e” against the reading (which means that it was estimated) then you should read the meter yourself and call up Seeboard with the true reading and get them to issue a revised bill. Just be careful to read the meter correctly, especially the old fashioned one with clock faces on them.
If your supplier is Utility Warehouse.
We read the meters at the start of the lease and also at the end of the lease.
In the meantime you will receive bills that you need to pay.
During the period of the lease you will be paying by monthly direct debit, based on previous years useage. Your meters will be read at Easter and you will be informed of any variance which will affect your bill (either up or down).

Utility suppliers
You will get a lot of door knocking salesmen coming to the house trying to get you to sign up to their company. They all say they are the cheapest and have various print outs to prove it. Obviously most of them are lying as they all can’t be the cheapest. Many of them use fraudulent tricks to get you to sign a contract, such as “just sign her to say that I’ve been to the house”.
Changing suppliers gives enormous administrative problems both to you and to us. Basically it can take months for the changeover to take place and it often occurs after your group has left the house. Then the person whose name the account is in will get an enormous bill based on estimated readings and they will spend months trying to sort it out with the supplier and the other members of the group.
For this reason your lease prohibits you from changing the supplier so the best way to get rid of the salesman is to tell him that the electricity and gas are included in your rent and they should leave you alone.

Electricity bills
High electricity bills will normally be caused by:
- having very long showers if your house has an electric shower
- leaving lights on in rooms that are unoccupied (though we do supply low energy light bulbs)

Gas bills will be high:
- if you don’t use the timer on the central heating system so that your heating is only used when required. Specifically, there is no point having the heating on when you are not in the house and after you have gone to bed.
-
GENERAL

Contacting us by e-mail
Please state your name (including surname) and house address on your e-mail. This saves us having to look you up if you just sign off by your first name and no reference to your house.

Change of home address/mobile
Please advise us of any change to your home address or mobile number.

Guests
Occasionally boyfriends or girlfriends stay over which isn’t a problem for us. However boyfriends or girlfriends are not allowed to move into the house on a semi-permanent basis as the house is only registered for the number of people on the lease. Also it annoys the other tenants even if they don’t always say something. There’s nothing more annoying than wanting to go to the bathroom and finding it always seems to be occupied by someone’s guest.

Mail for previous tenants
We always advise outgoing tenants to get the post office to re-direct their mail. They rarely seem to bother so you may get inundated with mail for people not living there anymore. We haven’t got the resources to forward it on so we suggest:
- If it looks like junk mail then open the envelope and if it is junk just chuck it out.
- If it looks important just keep it in a pile until the outgoing tenants come around to collect it.


Workmen
As well as Penny and John, we have a big team of maintenance staff who will call to your house from time to time to sort out any of your problems. Specifically:
Builder: Alan Walker, plus Warren and Ryan
Central heating engineer : John Barrett
Electrician : Chris Filmer
Handyman and gardener : Bob Cadby
Plumber : Keith Blacker
Tiler : Dave Cotton
Washing machine engineer: Alan Annis.