Tenants Guide
Living Guide
With these helpful hints, you can help make sure that your student living experience is an adventure, not a nightmare!
Click here for info on what you'll need to do as a tenant and here for help with your contract
Council Tax
Council Tax is charged by your local authority and pays for your bins to be emptied, roads swept and all the other council services you couldn't do without. Usually this needs to be paid by the tenant but full time students can apply for exemption. It's up to you to make sure you do this If you're a University of Manchester student, you'll need to go to the Student Services Centre. They'll take your address and student ID and forward them to Manchester City Council. If you go to any other Uni or college, you'll need to go to your relevant Uni or college department (usually Student Services Centre, Programme Office or Academic Department) to get an exemption letter. You then need to forward a copy of this to the Council Tax Unit and keep a copy for yourself.
Contact Details:
ManchesterThe Council Tax Service |
SalfordSalford Direct |
Deposits
Your landlord or their agent will probably request the equivalent of up to 6 weeks' rent which they hold until your tenancy ends. They may make deductions for damage or unpaid rent. Non payment of rent is a breach of contract and the landlord could still sue you if you don't pay all rent due, even if they have the deposit.
Your landlord can withhold your deposit until all the final utility bills are paid on the house - but only you can pay your own bills.
If you don't receive your deposit back within 6 weeks of the end of your tenancy, write to your ex-landlord, asking when you can expect to receive it. Be polite, keep it short and make sure you keep a dated copy for yourself. Ask the landlord to give you a written breakdown of anything that's going to be taken from the deposit and ask them to respond to you by a certain date (about 10 working days is reasonable). If they don't reply by this date or you're not happy with their reply, drop in to see us and bring their letter, your letter and your contract.
Utilities
Usually gas, electricity and water. You're usually responsible for paying these - check the terms of your contract.
As soon as you move in, you'll need to take meter readings, then contact the gas, electricity and water suppliers to arrange for the accounts to be put in your name(s). You'll avoid a lot of hassle later on if you (or the first tenant to move in) does this straightaway and names of all tenants are put on the accounts.
When you move out, take meter readings again and let the suppliers know that it's the last day of your tenancy. It's up to you to replace light bulbs and fluorescent tubes.
Rental or upkeep of appliances
Gas and electric hobs need keeping clean and vacuum cleaner bags empty if you want them to carry on working. Hoovers are for picking up dust - not bottle tops, tins, coins, stones, food, pools of beer etc. etc.! Don't put oil, hair, rice, pasta down the sink - you'll be left with a blockage, a seriously unpleasant smell and, possibly, one hefty bill!
It's not that common these days for appliances to be rented - except TVs, DVDs etc. If you're interested in renting a TV, it's a good idea to do as much online research as you can.
Landlord Relations
Remember to do everything in writing. It might sound bureaucratic but if you've got anything at all to communicate to your landlord, whether it's a problem with the house or a request for repairs, put it down in writing and keep dated copies for yourself. This makes it a lot easier to sort out problems if they happen.
A few tips:
- Don't waffle. You know that feeling when you're reading a long essay and your eyes are glazing over? That's how your landlord's going to feel if you wax lyrical for page after page - s/he's likely to miss the finer points of what you're saying
- Be polite - if you've been having problems you're bound to feel wound up but leave it out of your letter.
- Give a reply-by date. If you ask your landlord to reply to you by a certain date, e.g. by '25th September' or 'within 10 working days' you can refer to this if you don't get a response and want to take the matter up with us. Again, keep it polite - 'we would appreciate' is more diplomatic than 'we expect'.
When Things Go Wrong
At Manchester Student Homes, we'll do our very best to advise you if you have problems. When you drop in to see us, make sure you bring any letters you've sent to your landlord and/or they've sent to you and your contract.
All landlords who advertise with us commit to our Code of Standards. If your landlord is registered with us, there's more we can do to help you if there's a problem or dispute. You might want to make a Code Complaint against your landlord if you think they've broken one or more of the clauses of the Code. You'll need to read the Code carefully and fill in a Code Complaint Form, which you can get from our office. We can often offer mediation between you and your landlord. As you can probably appreciate, we'll need to get their side of the story as well. We then try to bring things to a fair resolution that suits both sides as far as possible.
Dos and Don'ts
Do:
- Take meter readings the day you move in and contact the utilities companies with the names of everyone in the house
- Get an inventory and tell your landlord about any discrepancies
- Get your council tax exemption form and send it to your Local Authority
- Get a receipt for your deposit
- Communicate with your landlord in writing
- Contact Manchester Student Homes if you're having problems you feel you can't resolve yourself
- Get contents insurance for your stuff
Don't:
- Withhold rent, no matter what kind of problems you're having- it's illegal
We know, we know - you're an adult, even more so now that you're looking for your first rented place. You've moved away to Uni, you're working to top up your loan, so do your parents really have to be involved in your housing arrangements?
Unfortunately, for most of you, this is going to be the case - we're sorry!!
Landlords looking to rent to private tenants would generally run what's known as a credit reference check (see our Jargon Buster for details). However, as many students don't have a credit history, student landlords are likely to ask for guarantors - usually a parent or guardian.
When your prospective landlord gives you a copy of his/her contract to read through, s/he should also give you copies of the forms your guarantors will sign. We can check these through when you come to Manchester Student Homes to get your contract checked.
Your guarantor will be asked to sign to guarantee your rent and obligations (i.e. that rent is paid and you'll do what's expected of you as a tenant - see Your Rights for details) If you're signing a jointly and severally liable tenancy agreement, it's likely that your guarantor is signing to guarantee rent and obligations for your whole group. This means that it's legal for your landlord to demand payment from your guarantor for any damages or unpaid rent, whether they're caused by you or one of your housemates. Contact us for help if you're not sure.
Is there any way around this, we hear you cry?! Unfortunately, not usually. If you have any problems getting a guarantor, do contact us for advice. (Your parents are welcome to contact us as well). However, if you let a University Leased House, we won't ask you for guarantors.
