Accommodation - Living in the property

You and your landlord/agency need to work together. Most disagreements happen due to misunderstandings.

Essentially

• Respect the property as if it were your own home.
• Clean and Tidy makes life mighty fine.
• Live in a Tenant-like Manner which means taking proper care of the property.

‘Fair wear and tear’ is a phrase used to measure the natural degradation of properties during normal usage. Living in a tenant-like manner means that carpets, furniture et al will be subject to fair wear and tear, i.e. that no more natural degradation than expected from having a family with the comparable amount of people living in the property occurs.

Help by:

• Ensuring that things do not get damaged through.
• misuse or neglect.
• Taking shoes off or wiping them when you enter the house.
• Not sitting on sofas in dirty sports gear.
• Cleaning the house on a regular basis.
• Vacuuming the carpet/removing dirt on a regular basis.
• Attending to minor repairs: replace bulbs, replace batteries for fire alarms, tightening a loose handle, unblocking the sink/bath/toilet. Fixing damage caused by you or guests.
• Unlike in halls of residences your landlord is not going to come down to screw in a light bulb or other minor repairs.
• Immediately report maintenance problems to the landlord or agent, give specific details of the problem, the room or location that this is relevant to, and leave your contact details.
• Dispose of refuse correctly.
• Look after the exterior of the property e.g. cut weeds, long grass.

Paying Your Rent

It’s your responsibility to pay rent, not the landlord’s responsibility to chase it. Make sure the rent arrives on the due date, not leaves your account when it is due. It will make life hassle free.

Withholding rent is not a legal way of protesting against your landlord not fulfilling duties regarding repairs or other tenancy matters.

Deposits cannot be used as the last month’s rent.

Home or Away?

• Notify your landlord/agent if the house is going to be empty for longer than a week.
• They can keep an eye on the property which can reduce damage and security risks.
• If it’s likely to be cold when you are away, ensure the heating comes
• on for a short period of time morning and evening to avoid anything freezing.

Access to the Property

If you lose keys the landlord may have to replace the lock and all the keys, replacements are expensive and you may be charged. If you’ve left your key inside, expect the landlord to charge a fee if they have to let you in or use a locksmith.

Making a House a Home

The walls might be a tempting blank canvas to decorate but talk with your landlord and get written permission before plastering the wall with every photo you own or splattering the wall like the next Banksy.

Some landlords will allow you to hang pictures; some will want to put them up for you. Others will supply picture rails, and others will not allow you to put them up at all. Blu-tak can leave marks; hooks can leave holes.

If you don’t ask for permission to decorate the walls be prepared to pay to repair and possibly repaint the walls at tenancy end to return it to its original condition. In general if you haven’t asked assume it’s not okay before opening that can of paint or starting that photo montage.

Musical Chairs

Make a note of the furniture locations, you can move furniture around but landlords want to see furniture put back in the original location i.e. the room it was first located. Speak with the landlord if you need to replace or remove anything. You may want to bring your own mattress/bed/furniture but don’t assume the landlord will automatically remove theirs. The landlord’s furniture must remain in the roperty. Putting furniture owned by the landlord outside or in the garden/shed is not advisable; they will charge you if the furniture spends its tenancy al fresco. You will be liable when it’s damaged (that first downpour will see to that) .

Household Appliances

• No more endless waiting around the laundry room most student houses have a range of white goods for you to use.
• Washing machines: make sure filters and drain pipes are clear to prevent blockages/poor drainage.
• Only use washing machines when you are in the property. If they start leaking or having a hissy fit you can stop them, if not, they can cause a lot of damage.
• Tumble dryer: make sure that filters are cleared of fluff. Clothes can be ruined, electrics tripped. The tumble dryer could burn out because the heat can’t escape properly.
• They can cause a lot of noise. So try to be considerate of neighbours particularly if living in a flat.
• Save money and resources by making sure that you put on full loads.
• Electric cookers: electric hobs stay hot for a long time, be careful when you have finished using them to avoid burn accidents.