- Background: Bristol City Lets specialises in student & professional lets, we act as either the landlord’s agent & manage the whole property throughout the tenancy or offer a simple tenant finding service & responsible in finding new tenants on behalf of the landlord. (This service is for those Landlords that wish to manage their property themselves) You are our business and we try to be as fair as possible to you, but must also act on the Landlords behalf.
- Moving In: If you wish to move in on the first day of your tenancy, keys can be collected after 3pm. Our general opening hours are 9.30am – 5pm Monday to Friday. Or keys will be collected direct from the landlord, if the property owner/landlord is managing the property themselves. (You will be given all the landlords contact information, ie name, address, contact no etc)
- Each group must elect a Representative who will be responsible for liaising with Bristol City Lets regarding maintenance.
- Maintenance: Please report any maintenance to us early in the day during office hours – We are not always able to specify an exact time when someone will be able to attend – However we will do our best. There is a number on our answerphone for emergencies. However any unnecessary call-outs will normally be charged the full call-out fee as charged to us by the contractor attending (this includes locking yourself out, changing light bulbs, flipping electricity fusebox switches back on!)
- Painting: Please do not paint your room without being given written consent. Rooms that need painting will be done during the summer by ourselves or landlord.
- Shelves etc: If you want to put up shelves – Please check regarding shelves with ourselves or landlord to check what is allowed for property your renting. If they are allowed do so properly & leave them at the end of the tenancy.
- Pictures & posters: Please check regarding this & the use of Blu tac & picture hooks with ourselves or landlord to check what is allowed for property your renting. If Blu tac is allowed – remove very carefully at the end so you don’t damage walls.
- Mattress Protectors: These are normally supplied – Put on all beds straight away.
- Rent: Is normally due via quarterly BACS transfer/standing order payments set up with your bank – Rent does not normally include any utility bills. (You will be advised whom to make the rent payable to whether ourselves or the landlord) If your student loan has not arrived on the exact date the rent is due – Please let us know that your waiting for your student loan/funds to arrive.
- Joint & Several Tenancy Agreement: You have signed a joint tenancy which is a legally binding document. Once tenancy agreement is signed by everyone, should an individual tenant wish to withdraw from the tenancy agreement at any time they must find a replacement. Until they do so, they are still liable for their share of the rent until the end of the tenancy agreement. Agent/Landlord has to approve any proposed new tenant and has the right to accept or decline if not deemed suitable. Due to the amount of work involved (ie Liaising with new tenant, Liaising with existing tenants, New tenant checks, Guarantor checks, Right to rent checks, Deposit registration, Preparation & execution of new tenancy agreement, Serving & providing all other new legal documents required) administration costs of £395 will normally be charged & deducted from your deposit.
- Neighbours: Be considerate to neighbours. The tenancy agreement states that you must not make any noise so as to cause annoyance to neighbours. Many properties are in residential areas and families keep very different hours to students!
- Rubbish: Ensure rubbish is put out as required by Bristol City Council. Check the day for collection & place the correct items in the appropriate bin or recycling box.
- Emails, Mobiles: We will contact you by email & mobile. Please ensure you let us know of any change in email addresses & mobile numbers, & add us to your address book.
- Viewings: May we remind you that in some cases you may be responsible for showing students around your property next year. The new list will come out in Dec & the mobile numbers of the group representative plus one other will be put onto the details. We are happy to change these numbers at your request.
- Insurance: We strongly recommend that you take out contents insurance for your personal effects.
- Cleaning:
If outgoing tenants have not cleaned properly, a cleaning company will be used & charged to the outgoing tenants. - Inventory:
This must be checked & any discrepancies reported to Bristol City Lets immediately. - Maintenance information:
The property was reserved as seen, however, we do inspect each property at the end of the tenancy & recommend improvements where necessary. - Gas Safety Certificates: These are issued for every property with gas appliance(s).
- Electrical Safety Certificates: These are issued for every property.
Information on Utility Companies
Read all meters as soon as the first person moves in. We will register you with Bristol Water & will advise you which gas &/or electricity supplier to register with. Do not change utility companies unless you have written consent from Bristol City Lets. Put all bills into ALL tenants’ names. To avoid a high final bill, check all bills for estimated/actual readings. If requested, home addresses of tenants will be given to Utility Companies when final bills have not been paid in full