The beginning of the spring semester commences for most students with a rush to secure a decent property for the following academic year. Competition is fierce – you and your cohort narrowly eye your competitors in the Darwinian chase to land a good deal. Sometimes groups of students literally race one another, sprinting back to a letting agency after viewing a house in order to be the first to sign on the dotted line. Allied to the problem of competition, there is so much else to consider – location, price, room size etc – that many of the boring details of the actual contract are overlooked in the excitement and competition for property.
Equally, landlords and letting agencies are of course keen to get students to sign as quickly and as expensively as possible. This is done with the aquafresh smiles and smart-suited charm one would expect from an agent – “and all this for only £360 a month!”
The breezy charm of the estate agents and the excited naivety of students can make for an unhappy alliance of rushed decisions. The consequence of all this is often not felt until the end of the year. By then it’s a situation of weary students and colgate frowns. That deposit that at the time seemed unimportant now is the subject of intense and unforgiving wrangling between you and your landlord. Perhaps you shouldn’t have been so hasty in signing that contract.
Most students know someone who has experienced one of these end of year horror stories. Emma Barron contacted Epigram told us that, after cleaning their house from top to bottom in accordance with the itemised checklist provided by their letting agency ‘Terry Olpin Property Management’, her and her flatmates received an email informing them that some deductions were going to be made. This came as no surprise; there are usually a few small things that are easily overlooked in the cleaning process, and it is fair enough for the landlord to charge for them. But, to their amazement, Olpin asked for a deduction of £932.82 from their deposit of £2580. This included £573.44 for maintenance, including repainting the whole flat except for one room, and £359.38 for an apparent 25 hours of cleaning.
Emma told Epigram: “after six weeks with little progress via email, we asked Terry Olpin to move to the arbitration process under the Deposit Protection Scheme”. Under this scheme, tenants are able to receive the undisputed amount of their deposit back while an independent adjudicator decides on what deductions from the deposit are reasonable.
At this point Olpin compromised, offering a reduced proposal of £749.90. This offer was also rejected and the process continued for three more weeks. Eventually they managed to settle on a deduction of £181, with a reduction in the cleaning bill from 25 hours to 2. A pretty incredible drop!
Sometimes the relationship between landlord and tenant can deteriorate more quickly; in some cases almost immediately. Another student told Epigram that on arriving at her new flat on July 1st 2008, she was turned away and told to sleep elsewhere as building works had started on the property. Her letting agency, DIGS, justified themselves by saying that she had not notified them that she was to be arriving over summer. But, none of the tenants had actually been informed that any building work was actually taking place. It subsequently became clear that the building work undertaken was a huge project encompassing the entire building, and therefore affected all nine flats within for an indeterminate duration. The tenants ended up living for the rest of the year with exposed concrete stairwells and hall lights that worked only intermittently. The problem escalated during the hot summer months when rubbish was not collected for almost a whole month, in violation of the weekly collection agreed by DIGS. In spite of tens of phonecalls to DIGS requesting that something that something be done, the residents were ignored, whilst maggots accumulated in the bins.
In spite of all this, and even after intense cleaning efforts, money was still deducted from their deposits. As well as cleaning, money was deducted for repainting, waste disposal, and ‘electricity charges’. For the temperamental hallway lighting, the 41 people living in the building were charged £40 each for the year.
A spokesperson from Terry Olpin told Epigram: “On the whole most of our tenants do not have any problems. We deal with both professional and student lets and there generally isn’t that much difference between the two, although students have a bad reputation. There will be the odd case where the house or flat will be absolutely trashed but 80% of our tenancies will be problem free.”
When asked about the returning of deposits at the end of tenancies, Terry Olpin said: “A lot of the time, students don’t realise how expensive it is to have a house cleaned and they don’t leave it in the state that they found it when they moved in, often leaving things like ovens dirty. We don’t unfairly take money from students’ deposits but from the other side it can sometimes seem that way.”
These are just two examples of the stories that have been sent to Epigram by students wanting to provide cautionary tales. In the race to find the best student housing for the cheapest price, it can often be easy to overlook the finer details of the contract. What students need to remember is that unlike halls, the main priority of their new landlord is not them and if things start to go wrong then you need to make yourself heard.
Jenny Flack
Rory Graham
Advice for Students from the Accommodation Office
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
When?
There’s currently more property than ever available on the market to rent in Bristol. There’s no need to rush as good quality property becomes available throughout the year. The main house-hunting time for current students is during the spring term. Larger groups of six or more should consider looking for property early on as there is a more limited supply of large properties. You should never allow yourself to be panicked into taking a property you don’t like or you cannot afford. Students who are willing to wait until August or September can gain from reduced rents and shorter tenancies.
Who?
Before you start your search ask yourself:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· How many people do you want to live with? - what about their friends/boyfriends/girlfriends, it’s likely you’ll have to spend time with them too<!--[endif]-->
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· Can you all afford the rent and bills? <!--[endif]-->
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· Do your potential housemates have similar ideas about partying? Loud music? Sleeping? Time studying?<!--[endif]-->
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· Will everyone do their fair share of washing up and cleaning? <!--[endif]-->
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· Will you feel able to discuss matters comfortably with your housemates as they arise?<!--[endif]-->
What?
Make sure you have a good look round the property before you agree to rent it. Use a housing checklist like the one on the Accommodation Office website to make sure everything is ok with the property
Always try to meet the current tenants and ask them what living there has been like. Never rely on promises by an agent or landlord that they will clean or redecorate the property - if they promise to do building or any other work get the exact details of what they will do and when, in writing. If the work will make the property uninhabitable you should not have to pay rent for any period you could not live there.
Where?
Accommodation Office
The Accommodation Office have 2 main sources of accommodation on their website:
- PROPERTY SEARCH: where landlords advertise their properties for let,
- BULLETIN BOARD: where students advertise empty rooms in their properties.
There are no fees for students using either site and landlords who advertise through us have had their gas safety certificates checked. They also sign an agreement to deal with their tenants fairly and professionally. If we receive substantiated complaints about them we remove them from our list. You can access these services at www.bris.ac.uk/accommodation/prs.
Other free sources
There are one or two specific ‘student’ property search websites. You could also try local newspapers such as the Bristol Evening Post and Trade It, look at advertisements in local shop windows or use a letting agency.
Letting Agencies
Students should avoid using agencies where possible:
- The majority of letting agencies in Bristol charge a fee - usually between 25% and 35% of one month’s rent plus VAT so around £135 per person.
- The agency is working for the landlord and will always put his interests first, often at the expense of the tenants.
- Some agencies will charge the same fee just for letting students stay on for a second year.
- Some landlords advertise through the University or other free websites as well as using an agent, so always check before you sign up through an agent.
If you do use an agency remember that they cannot charge you an agency fee until you actually sign up for one of ‘their properties’.
If you’re going to look at a property on your own, make sure you know who you’re meeting, try to go in daylight and always let someone know where you’re going and when you expect to be back.
There are a number of fraudsters operating through websites such as gumtree or other rental websites. NEVER handover any money unless you have seen the property and you are confident that you have proper contact details for the landlord or agent.
If you do have any housing problems before or during your tenancy, the Accommodation Office can help. We’re based on the 4th floor of the Student Union Building.
Tash Burden
11/01/2010
