Student Accommodation Sheffield

You’ll soon be heading home for your Christmas break, please find a number of useful points for you to think about before you leave your student property –

HEATING IN YOUR HOME – IMPORTANT

When leaving for the Christmas holidays, please do not turn off any gas or water.

Please make sure that you set your heating to come on between 8am and 10am in the morning and between 7pm and 9pm in the evening. The thermostat must be set to 18 – 20 degrees. This will protect the property from burst pipes etc. during any severely cold conditions.

SAFETY IN YOUR HOME

Although Sheffield is one of the UK's safest 'big cities', areas dominated by student accommodation tend to have a higher rate of burglaries and it's better to be safe than sorry.

You should make sure all of the windows and doors are securely locked and that your burglar alarm is fully set as you leave your property for your Christmas break. Make sure that all your valuable items aren’t on display especially in ground floor rooms and please close your lounge curtains.

PJ PROPERTIES OFFICE OPENING HOURS AND EMERGENCY CONTACTS

Our office opening hours during December and January are as follows –

9am – 5pm weekdays until Monday 17^th December 2018

Tuesday 18^th December – 9am – 12:30pm

Wednesday 19^th December – 9:30am – 4pm

Thursday 20^th December – 9:30am – 4pm

Closed Friday 21^st December to 2^nd January 2019

Thursday 3^rd January 2019 - 10am – 2pm

Friday 4^th January 2019  - 10am – 2pm

9am – 5pm weekdays from Monday 7^th January 2019

If you are living in your property over the Christmas break and you have an emergency for example, a burst water pipe, please call our office and follow the instructions to contact our emergency telephone number. Please note – if a non-emergency call is made to this number, you will be charged.

Alternatively, please email us at info@pjproperties.co.uk and a member of staff will answer your query in the New Year.

Have a very merry Christmas!

PJ Properties x

OUR OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED ON TUESDAY 28TH AUGUST 2018. FOR ACCESS TO THE EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBER (ONLY FOR EMERGENCIES) PLEASE CALL OUR OFFICE ON 01142667666. 

IMPORTANT: You will not be able to collect your keys without an appointment. If you arrive at our office unannounced, we will not be able to give them to you.

• Please give us a call on 0114 2667666 from 9:30am on Monday 25^th June 2018 in order to book an appointment to collect your keys. Our phone lines will be very busy on this day so if you can't get through straight away, please keep trying.
• You cannot collect your keys before your tenancy start date.
• You do not have to pick your keys up on the first day of your contract.
• If you would like someone else to pick your keys up for you, please let us know.
• If you and your housemates are picking up keys on the same day, please only make one appointment. However, if you are all planning on moving on different days you can just pick your own keys up.
• If you are planning to live in the property over the summer months (rather than just dropping stuff off), please let us know so that we can arrange for your property to be cleaned ASAP.
• We cannot accept key collection appointments via email.

IMPORTANT POINTS FOR NEW TENANTS

Please familiarise yourself with the content below:

MOVING IN ADVICE

• We cannot allow you to pick up your house keys until your tenancy begins (normally after 1pm on 1^st July). 
• If you are planning on moving into your house on July 1^st to live in it, rather than just dropping stuff off, please email us and let us know. This way we can prioritise your house for cleaning and any repairs that may need to be carried out.
• If your current tenancy ends before your new one starts, you can use a storage facility. We recommend Armadillo storage in the city centre as they seem very reasonably priced and you can share storage with your housemates to further reduce the cost.
• If you need to use storage facilities or stay in a hotel for a short time, please remember to book early to avoid possible disappointment.

Please remember to check your contract for the exact start date of your tenancy.

UTILITY BILLS

It is now time to set up your utilities.

If you have already signed up with UniHomes, they’ll be in touch with you shortly about setting up your utility bill payments. Please look out for emails from them.

If you haven’t already sorted your utility providers, PJ Properties recommend UniHomes to provide utilities to your property. We would suggest that you set this up as soon as possible to ensure your utilities are in place for when you move in. Please email hello@unihomes.co.ukand let them know that you’d like to sign up.

If you have decided to use separate utility providers, please contact them ASAP. Do not leave this until your tenancy start date.If you aren’t sure of suppliers, you can call the following numbers and they’ll tell you who is currently supplying your new address:

• Yorkshire Water: 0845 1242420
• Northern Power Grid (Electricity): 0800 1114005 (alternatively, you can visit www.northernpowergrid.com and scroll down to the ‘Who is my energy supplier?’ section)
• National Grid (Gas): 0870 6081524

It is vital that you take meter readings (gas and electricity) as close as possible to the start date of your tenancy and provide the readings to your utility suppliers. PJ Properties do not take meter readings for you.

For tenants moving into a property with the utilities supplied by Unihomes but no longer wish to use them, Unihomes will move the energy supply to a new standard residential supplier and a letter will be delivered to the house in the name of ‘new occupier’. The tenants can either call the supplier at this point or move to someone new.

Insurance

Please remember to consider taking out contents insurance for your belongings. We would recommend using Endsleigh Insurance as they are recommended by the NUS.

IMPORTANT POINTS

Remember that you have signed a joint tenancy agreement. This means that you are all jointly liable for each other. It is therefore in your best interests to ensure that each tenant respects the property otherwise you will all be liable for any damages incurred.

 

• Do not fix any locks or bolts to your door under any circumstances as per tenancy agreement.
• Keep the use of blue/white tak to a minimum. You will be charged for redecoration costs.
• Do not hammer tacks or nails into walls or put any shelves up.
• Please refrain from ironing your clothes on your bedroom carpet.
• Do not leave hot hair straighteners on your carpet.
• Any burns on your carpet will result in you being charged for a replacement carpet.
• Do not smoke or use candles in the property.
• Please ensure that you keep changing the hoover bag.

REPAIRS

All fridge/freezer, washer/dryer and electric oven repairs are made by our local contractor, D.A.R.T. You can contact them directly on 0114 2661699.

If your boiler breaks down, inform us immediately and we will send an engineer round ASAP.

If you’d like to report a non-urgent or minor repair, please visit our website repairs page and submit a repair form or email info@pjproperties.co.uk. For repairs of a more serious nature (leaks, plumbing problems, electrical problems), please phone our office.

For extreme emergencies outside of office hours, e.g. a burst pipe, please call the office and listen for the out of hour’s emergency number on our answerphone (this is strictly emergency only). 

We only use tried and trusted local contractors and we have a full-time handyman to ensure we get to you as quickly as possible.

GAS CERTIFICATES

All gas appliances are checked annually. If you cannot find your tenants copy within the property, we have certificates available at our office.

CONDENSATION

It is essential to have a balance of heating and ventilation to combat the effects of condensation. Without a balance of heating and ventilation, mould may form in the corners of rooms and on walls without airflow i.e. behind wardrobes etc. Refraining from drying wet clothes in bedrooms can help the situation. If mould occurs, simply wipe it off, using a mould/mildew spray, and increase the heating and ventilation. Moving furniture away from affected areas (e.g. cold outside walls) will help air flow and to combat mould, as will leaving the bedroom door open whilst you’re out. Under no circumstances place the bed against an outside wall. It is essential to open the bathroom window regularly after showering and bathing.

WHEELIE BINS

Place your bin on the pavement the evening before it is due to be collected and put it back as soon as possible after it has been emptied. Bins left out on the pavement are a constant source of annoyance to local residents and are a health and safety hazard. Any rubbish not placed inside the bin will not be collected, and the bin will also not be collected if it’s so full that the bin won’t close. If you are unsure of when your bin is collected, please visit the following website https://www.gov.uk/rubbish-collection-day.

SMOKE AND CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS AND FIRE INSTRUCTIONS

The detectors in your property are checked on an annual basis. If you discover a malfunctioning detector (normally indicated by a beeping sound), then please contact our office immediately.

IN THE EVENT OF A FIRE:

• Leave the room where the fire is and close the door.
• Alert any other people in the property.
• Leave the property by either the back door, the side door, or the front door (i.e. your nearest, safest exit). Do not stop to collect valuables.
• Call the fire and rescue service from a place of safety.
• Dial 999, ask for fire and give the operator the address and postcode.
• Wait outside, away from the building, and meet the fire service.

NB. Tenants must keep hallways and stairs clear from any obstructions (i.e. boxes, bin bags, rubbish etc.)

Please note that any communication with PJ Properties must only be from those who have signed the contract.

We do not deal with third parties i.e. parents or guardians.

If you have any questions regarding this email, please contact our office and a member of staff will be available to help.

PROPERTY VACATION INSTRUCTIONS

You will need to have vacated your property by 1pm on the date stated on your tenancy agreement. In nearly all cases, this is 30^th June. If you are unsure of your tenancy end date, please contact the office.

If you and your housemates are vacating your property before the end of your tenancy, please let us know and we can prioritise your deposit return.

In order to receive your deposit back, there are a number of things that you and your housemates must do:

KEYS

DO NOT TAKE KEYS WITH YOU

• YOU MUST:  bring all keys to PJ Properties office.
• Our office opening hours are Monday to Friday 9.30am – 5pm.

If you vacate your property outside office hours, please post your key through our letter box in the steel door at the rear of our office. Turn left up by The Royal Bank of Scotland on the corner and left again after 20 metres. Just follow our PJ signs.

• Place your key in an envelope with your name and address of the property.
• FAILURE TO RETURN YOUR KEY OR LATE RETURN OF KEYS WILL RESULT IN A CHARGE OF £70.00 MINIMUM.

CLEANING INSTRUCTIONS

Please make sure that you thoroughly clean your property. If it is not cleaned to a reasonable standard, we will instruct our cleaners to do a thorough clean, the cost of which will be charged to you. You and your housemates should allow plenty of time to do all the cleaning. As the tenancy is joint, you are all responsible for bringing the house up to standard including each other’s bedrooms.

General Cleaning

• Thoroughly hoover all carpets/clean laminate flooring.
• Wipe and dust all surfaces including window sills and skirting boards.
• Remove all blu-tak and drawing pins from walls and ceilings. Excessive marks may mean re-decoration and this will be charged to you.
• All windows need to be cleaned on the inside.
• All rubbish must be removed from inside and outside of the property. Please remember that refuse collectors will only collect rubbish from wheelie bins with closed lids. Any rubbish left outside of the property that has to be removed will be charged at a minimum of £60.00.
• No items are to be left in the cellar, the cost of removing any items/rubbish from the cellar will be charged at a minimum of £60.00 (TV removal £75.00).
• Make sure that your vacuum cleaner is in working order. Do not wait until the last few days of your tenancy to let us know that your vacuum cleaner isn’t working, let us know now.  
• Even if you think that the new tenants will benefit from some of your own personal items, please do not leave them in the property. You will be charged for the removal of any items left in the property.

Kitchen

• All cupboards need to be emptied and thoroughly cleaned inside and out.
• Wipe clean all work surfaces, tiles, grouting and white goods.
• Cookers, ovens and hobs must be degreased and scrubbed inside and out.
• Thoroughly clean the fridge and defrost the freezer (please allow 24 hours for defrosting). If you turn the power off to the fridge/freezer after cleaning, please leave the doors open to avoid them going mouldy.
• Please remove any unwanted crockery and pans from the kitchen.

Bathroom/s

• Thoroughly clean your toilet, shower, bath, tiles, sinks and flooring.
• Remove all personal bathroom items.

Bedroom/s

• Remove all blu-tak and drawing pins from walls and ceilings.Excessive marks may mean re-decoration and this will be charged to you.
• Vacuum your carpet including under the bed and furniture.
• Clean the bedroom furniture and remove all items.
• Re-position furniture into original position and replace original curtains and lampshades if you have changed these during your tenancy.

BILLS

Please make sure that all final bills are paid and that you have final meter readings for gas, water and electricity if you have sorted the bills yourselves (i.e. not Unihomes)

SMOKE DETECTORS

• Please inform us NOW if you have removed any smoke detectors or smoke detector batteries. These will all be checked in the first two weeks of July and if any are found to be damaged or removed there will be a charge of £80.

DEPOSITS

• Your deposit is held by The Deposit Protection Service, a government approved scheme designed to protect your deposit.
• A lead tenant was nominated when you signed for the property, The DPS and PJ Properties will deal with the lead tenant ONLY.
• The lead tenant must not apply for the deposit to be returned until the expiration of your tenancy.
• The lead tenant will need to go online at www.depositprotection.com. They will need to log into the account and select ‘request a repayment’. These login details will have been sent to the lead tenants email address and home address before your tenancy started.
• If you do not know your login details for The DPS or you require more information on your deposit, please see the help section of their website or contact their dedicated helpline on 0844 4727 000. PJ Properties DO NOT hold these details as they are unique to each lead tenant.
• If we do intend to make any deductions from your deposit, we will send details to the lead tenant via email. All correspondence regarding your deposit MUST be in writing.
• If there are no deductions, we will agree to your repayment request and The DPS will release your deposit ASAP.

PJ PROPERTIES DO NOT WISH OR INTEND TO DEDUCT ANY AMOUNT FROM YOUR DEPOSIT. PLEASE DO NOT PUT US IN A DIFFICULT POSITION BY IGNORING THE REQUESTS LISTED ABOVE.

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT SPEAK TO PARENTS/GUARDIANS REGARDING DEPOSITS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

If any aspects of the above instructions are not clear, please contact our office on 0114 2667666.

Thank you for your co-operation and good luck for the future.

PJ PROPERTIES