Moving in

  1. Paying rent and providing guarantee forms
  2. Arrangements for moving in
  3. Utilities
  4. Council tax
  5. Inventory
  6. Insurance
  7. Parking permits
  8. Staying or leaving?
  9. Fridges, freezers and curtains
  10. Bin collection

Paying rent and providing guarantee forms

Under the terms of your tenancy agreement you will be expected to have paid your first instalment of rent and provided guarantee forms. If any payments or forms are outstanding you will almost certainly be denied access to your house.

Arrangements for moving in

If we are managing your house we will contact you about making arrangements to move in, but you will need to schedule an appointment for key collection. Where we have been asked to act on a tenant find basis only, you need to contact your landlord to make the necessary arrangements. We will have sent you an email with a copy of your contract and contact details for your landlord.

Utilities

For almost all tenancies bills are included, it will be reflected in your rent and will have been agreed before you signed the tenancy agreement. For those properties without bills you can find more information on setting up bills here.

Council tax

Full time students can apply to be exempt from council tax. The admissions staff for your course will be able to advise you if you qualify for exempt status and provide an exemption certificate if required. However, most exemption applications are now dealt with online.

Inventory

If we manage your property you will receive a separate email explaining the process for agreeing your inventory which is dealt with by an independent body. This will need to be agreed within 7 days of you collecting keys.

Insurance

Your landlord is responsible for taking out adequate insurance for the building. The buildings cover will be for major damage such as fire, third party vandalism etc, but usually will not include accidental damage. Usually, landlords do not insure the contents as tenants are responsible for most damage to these.

You are fully responsible for your own personal possessions and no landlord’s policy will cover these, even if loss arises from an event the landlord is insured for. For example, if the house is severely damaged by fire and the landlord can claim on his buildings policy, you cannot claim from your landlord or his insurance for your own possessions that are lost.

We mentioned above that usually landlords do not insure the house contents. This is because the likelihood of an insured loss (eg fire) is remote. Similarly, you might decide that you are unlikely to suffer a significant loss and decide not to take out general insurance. However, you will have a few key items which are sometimes moved around, such as a computer or a bicycle, which are more valuable and more likely to be lost. You have a few choices:

  1. To not bother with insurance, running the risk of loss from accidental damage or theft.
  2. Check the policy covering your parents´ home as this may provide cover or allow an extension of the policy for a small extra premium.
  3. Take out your own policy.

Parking permits

If your property is within a residents’ parking zone, you will need a permit to park on the street. Permanent permits are available for your own car, or visitors’ permits valid for a day for occasional parking. Full details on obtaining permits and the cost are available here.

Staying or leaving?

It helps if you give some indication of likely occupancy during the summer, in particular if you are all going home immediately or if the property will be empty for a significant length of time. There are various reasons for this:

  • If the property is not adequately cleaned by the group moving out, but the house will be empty all July and August, the cleaning can be postponed. This would mean the house will not be dusty again by the time you return.
  • Most landlords are aware of some improvements that could be made to their houses, eg redecoration or replacing some furnishings. If they know the house will be empty, or almost empty, they are more likely to have the work done.
  • If the house will be empty for some time, arrangements will be made to visit periodically to check it.

If you are not staying in the property, we recommend that you only leave low value items such as spare clothes, text books, course notes etc. Any high value items, in particular laptop computers and other electronic goods, should be taken home. Furthermore, we recommend that you leave your possessions packed until you return.

Fridges, freezers and curtains

If fridges and freezers are going to be left empty and turned off, leave the doors propped open to prevent mould and nasty odours developing. For similar reasons, it does no harm for the doors of dishwashers and washing machines to be left open. Finally, leaving the curtains closed is a clear advert that the house is empty and may contain items of value. It is far better to put any boxes upstairs and leave the curtains open.

Bin collection

Please see the council’s website for your household waste collection calendar.

Please call 01904 411111 if you have any questions, or would simply like more information, alternatively contact us now.