1. home and garden

HOW TO RENT
STUDENT PROPERTIES
CP Walker & Son’s letting procedure for the 2013­2014 academic year
1. Identify a property you would like to rent
We would ask you to arrange all viewings through our office. For security reasons, we advise our tenants not to let
people in to properties without a prior appointment. If you are interested in a reserving a property without seeing it
(e.g. you are based abroad and you are unable to view before your arrival in the UK), we strongly advise that you to
speak with a representative at CP Walker prior to submitting your application. We will give you accurate feedback on
available properties. Once an agreement has been signed, you are not able to change properties when you arrive in
Nottingham if for any reason you decide you don’t like the location etc. It is not a good long term solution for a landlord
to have an unhappy tenant in his/her property and so we will try and make sure you find the right property initially.
2. Complete an Application Form
Once you have identified a property that you want to rent, you will need to complete an Application Form. This
provides us with the details we require to take appropriate references and obtain the owner's approval to proceed with
the letting. Students are asked to provide with their application:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Photo ID (copy passport or driving licence)
A copy of your Student Card (or a copy of your offer letter if you are not currently registered as a student)
Overseas Students will be required to provide confirmation of their overseas address
When handing in the application, each person will be required to pay an Application Fee of £75
Once the application has been accepted, the property is placed “Under Offer” and no further viewings will take place.
We would ask you to contact us immediately if for any reason you have a change of plan and decide not to proceed with
completing the Tenancy Agreement. If there is any delay on your behalf in completing the Agreement, we reserve the
right to place the property back on to the market and we will inform you when this has been done.
3. Check Tenancy Agreement and obtain Guarantor
A copy of the Tenancy Agreement will be prepared and emailed to you so you can check through it and raise any queries
that you may have on any of the terms and conditions. We will also write to your Guarantor and ask them to complete
a Guarantor Form. Guarantor Agreements will then be sent for your Guarantor to complete. You should speak with
your Guarantor to forewarn them about this so that Forms and Agreements are returned as quickly as possible.
Overseas applicants will be considered but may be required to pay an additional deposit or more rent in advance. This
will vary landlord to landlord so please check with CP Walker to find out if this applies to you when or before you submit
your Application.
4. Complete the Tenancy Agreement & Pay the Deposit
Once we have the owner’s approval to proceed with the letting, we will contact you to make an appointment for you to
come in to CP Walker’s offices to sign the Agreement. Students that are based overseas or who are unable to come in
and sign will need to make alternative arrangements for the Agreements to be signed (usually emailed over, signed and
returned by email or post).
On completion of the Tenancy Agreement, each person is required to pay the deposit (or “damage bond”) which is fixed
for each property at £300 per person. The Deposit will be held by CP Walker & Son in accordance with the terms of The
Tenancy Deposit Scheme. The Tenancy Deposit Scheme provides tenants with the protection that the Deposit will be
dealt with fairly and will be returned at the end of the tenancy less any proper deductions. The Scheme offers an
arbitration service for both parties to use should there be any dispute about the Deposit at the end of the Tenancy. For
further details of the scheme, visit www.thedisputeservice.co.uk.
www.cpwalker.co.uk/students
0115 925 4062
5. Rent Payments
Rent payments are due by Standing Order (bank transfer). The Standing Order Mandate will be completed at the same time you
complete the tenancy. If payment is going to be made by a parent or other third party, please inform us so the mandate can be
prepared accordingly. The first instalment of rent is due 14 days before the start of the tenancy. This allows cleared funds to be in
our account when you come to collect keys. Unless otherwise agreed, further rent payments are due in the following amounts and
on the following dates (to tie in with the dates for student loan payments):
Payment date
Tenancy start
1 October
1 February
1 May
Amount of Rent Due
6 weeks (48 week contract) or 9 weeks (51 week contract)
16 weeks
16 weeks
10 weeks
If you are not in receipt of student loan payments and you would like to discuss monthly payments you should seek to agree this
before you submit your application. Payment terms for overseas students without UK guarantors will also have to be agreed in
advance subject to the specific circumstances. If you don’t have a UK account when you complete the tenancy agreement (i.e. you
currently live overseas), then you should make the initial payment by international bank transfer and complete a Standing Order
once you have set up your UK account.
Keys will only be released once the initial payment of rent has been received in full (i.e. everyone in the house has paid).
6. What to do next – arrange internet services etc.
Unless you advise us otherwise, we will pre­register you for Virgin’s student “early bird” scheme. The start of any academic year is
always a busy time with lots of people moving and a failure to plan ahead can mean that you are waiting weeks for internet to be
installed after you have moved in. We will register you with Virgin Media after you have signed your contract; this will not commit
you to signing a contract with them but it will give you a discount voucher that you can redeem if you do decide to use Virgin. You
should think about placing your order around 4 weeks before you plan to move in and arrange your installation date accordingly.
7. Utility Suppliers
When you move in to the property, we will take readings and we will notify the relevant suppliers of electricity and gas (usually Eon)
and water (Severn Trent). After you have moved in and the accounts have been set up (this process normally take 7­14 days), we
advise that you speak with the suppliers to agree how you pay your bills. Utility bills are usually considerably cheaper if you arrange
to pay by direct debit. In any shared house you will therefore need to agree how the bills are to be paid.
CP Walker can arrange for the utility bills to be fixed for the year (so you can budget your weekly expenses). This does not give you
unlimited use but it will allow you to budget more accurately. Typically you may look to pay £15 per person per week for a bills
inclusive deal (subject to the number of occupiers in the property). Ask when you submit your application if you are interested in
finding out more information about a bills inclusive.
8. The move in – collect keys and agree the Inventory
When you are ready to move in to the property, YOU SHOULD CONTACT OUR OFFICE AT LEAST 48 HOURS IN ADVANCE to notify us
that you are coming in to collect the keys. We also advise that you CHECK TO MAKE SURE YOUR INITIAL INSTALMENTS OF RENT
HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. Keys can be collected 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 12.30pm on Saturday. Keys will only be
released once we have received the initial instalment of rent in full. If you have a Joint Tenancy then this means that everyone in
the house has paid. You are advised to check payments have been received before you start your journey to our office.
When or shortly after you move into the property, we will give you an Inventory & Schedule of Condition. This document records
the general state of the property as at the start of the tenancy and lists the various contents that are supplied with it. You will then
have a period of 7 days to check through the Inventory to make sure you are happy with it. The Inventory forms a record of the
state of the property for the benefit of both parties and against which any disputes can be referred to during or at the end of the
tenancy.
We will take meter readings at the start of the Tenancy and will notify the gas, electric and water suppliers. We will also notify the
Local Authority. Once accounts have been set up, you should speak directly with the suppliers with any queries that you may have
on any of these accounts. As these accounts will be in your name, the suppliers will not discuss any aspect of the account with CP
Walker or the Landlord under data protection rules. The Local Authority will normally send you an invoice for Council Tax and you
will then need to contact them direct with your Student ID to confirm your exemption to Council Tax.
If you have any further questions, please telephone (+44) 115 925 4062 or email students@cpwalker.co.uk
www.cpwalker.co.uk/students
0115 925 4062