If you need more information about (one of) our properties, please get in touch, preferably by email or WhatsApp. We aim to respond swiftly during normal office hours (9am-5pm).
Because of the new Renters' Right Act, and specifically the rule known as "Ground 4A", we can only sign Tenancy Agreements on a day which is less than 6 months away from the move-in date. We therefore first sign with you a "Holding Agreement", which reserves the property for you until we can sign the actual Tenancy Agreement in January. In exchange for a Holding Deposit of 1-week rent, we take the property off the market and can legally not offer it to anyone else anymore.
If your group is interested in signing the Holding Agreement for one of our properties, email (not text) us with your full names, mobile phone numbers, student IDs and a permanent contact address (parents) with phone number and email address. We will then send a draft Holding Agreement. Once you are all happy with the terms, we set it up for online signing.
Please be aware that things often move fast, and there may be one or more groups ahead of you "in the queue". We will try to be fair and allocate on first-come-first-serve basis, but that sometimes means you have to wait.
We prefer to let our properties with bills included so you know exactly what you are going to pay for your accommodation. The amount we charge for this is based on the average over a number of years of usage, and you are unlikely to pay substantially less with a bills-exclusive option (but you potentially pay more if rates go up). However, if you really want a bills-exclusive agreement, this option may be available.
All our Tenancy Agreements start on July 1st, and on this date at least one of you needs to collect the keys and sign the inventory. We will give notice sometime in February the following year to vacate the property by the end of June, as per "Ground 4A" of the Renters' Right Act. Under normal circumstances, the duration is thus 52 weeks.
We sign our contracts electronically using Signable, so you can sign even if you are not currently in Durham. If you want someone else on your behalf to view the property before you sign (advisable!), please get in touch.
Under normal circumstances, the Holding Deposit becomes part of your standard refundable Tenancy Deposit once the Tenancy Agreement is signed in January.
If, for whatever reason, you decide not to sign the Tenancy Agreement despite having signed the Holding Agreement, you lose the Holding Deposit.
Yes, the Tenancy Deposit will be returned to the lead tenant at the end of the tenancy, after we have inspected the house. We will claim deductions if we find damage caused by you, or if there are other costs which you have not settled yet (e.g. unpaid rent, costs for key replacement, necessary cleaning because you did not do that yourself).
We will always inform you which amounts we deduct from the Tenancy Deposit. If you do not agree, please get in touch with us so we can get to an agreement.
We only sign Assured Periodic Tenancy Agreements, with all students in a property forming one party to the contract. If one of you decides to give notice to cancel the contract, this means the contract will end for everyone. So discuss this among yourselves carefully. If you can find a replacement tenant, we are always willing to sign a new contract, which is usually a better solution for everyone.
You cannot give notice to cancel a Tenancy Agreement before the move-in date, but if you can find a replacement group we are happy to sign a new contract with them and cancel the old one.
The time between one group moving out and the next one moving in is very short, and in this period we typically schedule cleaning and minor repairs. For this reason it is unfortunately not possible to store any of your belongings in the house except during the strict term of your contract.
The last day of your tenancy is stated on the first page of your contract. You are expected to vacate the property latest by noon on that day.
Any time the property will be empty for more than 7 days you need to let us know by email. This is a requirement of our insurance and if you fail to report such absence you violate the terms of your contract.
All properties have an instruction sheet which tells you how to operate the heating controls, program the timer and so on. If you cannot figure this out, please get in touch.
Under no circumstances should you directly operate the controls on the boiler itself (except to shut it off in case of an emergency). Always report to us when you think you had a valid reason to ignore this rule and change the settings on the boiler anyway.
Report this immediately to us via email. If you lost your keys together with other things from which a potential thief could identify the property, we will have to replace the locks.
We will provide you with replacement keys and the cost for these will be deducted from your Tenancy Deposit.
Unless there is a leak somewhere (which is of course our responsibility), mould will be caused by condensation. Condensation happens when the air inside the house is very humid. Water gets into the air because of showering, cooking and just breathing. The only way to remove it is to ventilate properly.
All our properties have a humidistat (a moisture measurement device which tells you how humid the air is), as well as a dehumidifier which can be used to help you get humidity levels down. If the humidistat tells you that the humidity is regularly above 60% you are not ventilating enough.
Mould needs to be removed as soon as possible with a special-purpose mould cleaner. Be aware of the instructions for use; these are dangerous chemicals.