To Let
Student Letting Information
SECURING YOUR PROPERTY
Viewings for all of our properties are by appointment only and must be arranged through our office. We carry out block viewings which usually fall on the same day/time each week. We have to respect our current tenants and ensure disruption is kept to a minimum for them.
Once you have chosen your property you will be required to call the office and express your interest. As several groups may want to take the same property we cannot guarantee that your group will be chosen, but we will let you know as soon as possible. The chosen group will then be required to fill in a Student Tenant Details Form and pay a holding deposit equivalent to one week’s rental, via the referencing platform Goodlord.
A guarantor is usually required for students, unless the student can provide evidence of private income which is sufficient to fulfill referencing requirements. If you do not have a guarantor and you can not pass referencing on your own, talk to us about a professional guarantor company. If a guarantor is needed to guarantee rent payment and any other amounts deemed payable by the tenant for the duration of your tenancy, details of which you will need for the application process. We will then produce contracts which will be sent to your guarantors for their signatures. You will not be able to move into the property until contracts are signed by all tenants & guarantors. Please note that all Guarantors must have an income of 36 x the amount of individually apportioned rental amount.
MOVING IN
Some properties have bills included in the rent (please check the property listing for clarification). Utility charges are subject to fair usage.
Full time students are currently exempt from council tax but in order to qualify an exemption certificate must be provided to the council tax office if required. If you are a first year student you will not be exempt until your course actually starts and should therefore be aware that you will be liable for council tax from when your contract starts until the start date of your course. Similarly, if you change course, starting a new course in the new academic year, the council will not consider you exempt again until your new course starts. Please note if any tenants drop out of their course they will then become liable for paying council tax for the whole property. Please note, these are not our rules but the council have their own regulations about this.
Payments must be made by bank transfer on the day specified in your tenancy agreement.
Living In your Property
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the appropriate recycling bags and rubbish bins. If you do not have them you can order them on the council website. Please find a link here. Please check the council website to see which day your bin collection is on.
Open fires should not be used as this will invalidate your landlords building insurance.
• Smoke detectors should In accordance with Fire Safety Regulations be tested in the property at least once a month. Should any detector appear to be faulty you should report this to our office.
• We would ask that if you use fairy lights or similar in the property you must ensure that these are safe, e.g. will not pose any fire risk or hazard.
• No candles or naked flames to be used at any time, as per your contract.
• No smoking or any substance and no vaping is permitted in any of our properties.
Locking yourself out of your property or losing your keys is not classed as an emergency. You will be able to obtain a copy of your key from our office during office hours by paying a £10 deposit which we will refund once keys have been returned. Alternatively if this is out of hours, you must employ a suitable professional locksmith to get you access. If replacement keys are issued, you must provide a copy of these to our office.
Some of our properties (unless otherwise stated) include gas (where applicable), electricity, water rates, broadband internet. This is all subject to a ‘Fair Usage Policy’ which you can find in PDF format below.
Some of our properties include contents insurance. Please check with us if your property package includes contents insurance.
Maintaining your Property
A representative of Townsend Accommodation Ltd will visit the property on a regular basis to carry out an inspection of the condition of the property to ensure that the terms of your tenancy agreements are being adhered to. The date of the inspection will be notified to you, in writing. At this time please feel free to discuss any issues arising that you may be concerned about and we will do our best to resolve matters. Cleaning guidelines and Mould/mildew information can be found on our website.
If the property requires maintenance work to be carried out on it that has been caused by the tenants and it is the tenants fault, this will be invoiced to the tenants(s) immediately after the works have been carried out. Payment is to be made direct to Townsend Accommodation.
We receive many calls throughout the autumn and winter months regarding the development of mildew in properties and have therefore produced the following information to assist tenants in preventing this problem as in some cases mildew development is caused by the way the property is being used. Please note that if you are going away for a long period of time (ie over a week) you should ensure that your room and house is sufficiently ventilated and heated throughout the time you are away to avoid condensation mould build up.
Mildew is generally caused by a build-up of condensation and stale air. Condensation occurs where moist air comes into contact with air, or a surface, which is at a lower temperature.
Air contains water vapour in varying quantities, its capacity to do so is related to its temperature – warm air holds more moisture than cold air. When moist air comes into contact with either colder air or a colder surface, the air is unable to retain the same amount of moisture and the water is released to form condensation in the air or on the surface. If the moist air is allowed to ‘escape’ out of the house condensation will not form on surfaces.
The moisture in the air comes from a number of sources within the house. Water vapour is produced in relatively large quantities from normal day to day activities – a 5 person household puts about 10 kg of water into the air every day i.e.
-breathing (asleep) 0.3 kg
-breathing (awake) 0.85 kg
-cooking 3 kg
-personal washing 1.0 kg
-washing and drying clothes 5.5 kg – every time one load of washing is dried indoors!
-(1 kg of water equates to about 1 litre)
Condensation is generally noticeable where it forms on non-absorbent surfaces (i.e. windows or tiles) but it will form on any surface and it may not be noticed until mould growth or rotting of material occurs. Classic examples of areas developing mildew are behind wardrobes and beds. These articles are constantly absorbing moisture and it is therefore wise to move them slightly away from walls to allow air to circulate and minimize condensation.
The effect of moisture generation is made worse by keeping the moist air in the house – it is possible to avoid condensation by adequate heating and ventilation. Usually in certain areas of a house (such as bathrooms and kitchens) the warm air contains a lot of moisture, if that air then spreads to cooler parts of the house, it will condense on any colder surface.
If you do dry washing indoors you MUST provide adequate ventilation to allow the condensation produced to escape.
In most cases where we have received reports of mildew in houses we have found, during routine visits and inspections, that no windows have been opened! We do appreciate many of the reasons given for not having windows open but we cannot emphasise enough that ventilation is the key to condensation prevention and we suggest that if you develop a routine whereby when individuals are in the house at differing times they ensure that windows are opened during occupation and secured if the house is to be left vacant. Another most important fact is that an individual does not have to be residing in a room for condensation to form. If other people are in the house a vacant room will still develop condensation. Equally when the house is totally vacated e.g. for holiday periods, if condensation has not been minimized before departure mildew will develop. Keeping a house sensibly heated will reduce the amount of cold surfaces on which condensation can form.
Patches of mildew that do develop on walls/ceilings, in tile grout and bath seals can easily be cleaned away by the use of a proprietary mildew remover such as Dettox Mould & Mildew remover This product can be purchased at most supermarkets
Should you experience any maintenance problems at any time during your tenancy please telephone/email our office. Issues such as leaks, appliance breakdowns, and electrical faults should be reported to us immediately by telephone. During out of office hours times, please call the emergency number (01326 335000) and you will be transferred to our out of hours emergency contractor; this is strictly for emergency issues only. You can also report issues via Street.
PERMITTED PAYMENTS
When you have a let agreed on a Townsends property, we are obliged to make you aware of any permitted payments which are due before you sign your Tenancy Agreement and any which may become payable during and after the tenancy.
One week’s rent. This is to reserve a property. Please Note: This will be withheld if any relevant person (including any guarantor(s)) withdraw from the tenancy, fail a Right-to-Rent check, provide materially significant false or misleading information, or fail to sign their tenancy agreement (and / or Deed of Guarantee) within 15 calendar days (or other Deadline for Agreement as mutually agreed in writing).
Any rent that is due.
If requested, up to five weeks’ worth of rent.
This covers damages or defaults on the part of the tenant during the tenancy.
Tenants are liable to the actual cost of replacing any lost key(s) or other security device(s). If the loss results in locks needing to be changed, the actual costs of a locksmith, new lock and replacement keys for the tenant, landlord any other persons requiring keys will be charged to the tenant. If extra costs are incurred there will be a charge of £15 per hour (inc. VAT) for the time taken replacing lost key(s) or other security device(s).
£50 (inc. VAT) per agreed variation. To cover the costs associated with taking landlord’s instructions as well as the preparation of new legal documents.
60% inc VAT (50% plus VAT) of a months rent.