FAQs:

Meet your neighbours, find a home for your stuff and celebrate with your housemates. We hope you enjoy your new home and we’re really happy you’ve found where you belong. To help you settle in smoothly we’ve compiled a quick checklist below.

• Take meter readings and contact your utility providers (no need if you are bills-included!) Don’t know your supplier? Call 0870 6081524 for gas, 0845 6015467 for electricity and 0330 303 1263 for water.

• Contact Brighton & Hove City Council Full-time students are exempt from Council Tax during term time, in order to claim your discount you must register online. Or call the Council on 01273 291291 for further advice.

• Get a TV licence You need a TV licence if you watch or record live TV programmes on any channel, or if you watch or download programmes on BBC iPlayer http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk

• Set up Broadband, TV and Phone. If you haven’t opted to have these services included in a bills package, there are various suppliers available. Search the market for the best price, you’ll often find introductory offers available. Make sure you select a broadband speed suitable for the amount of tenants and devices online at any one time, the last thing you want is slow internet in the middle of conducting research for your dissertation because your housemates are playing FIFA!

• Check your refuse and recycling collection days. Missing a refuse bin or recycling box? You can order one online and find out the collection days for your street by calling 01273 292929 or by visiting www.brighton-hove.gov.uk.

• Get contents insurance (no need if you have it included!) We strongly advise you to invest in your own contents insurance as the landlords insurance does not cover your personal belongings in the event of a fire, burglary or leak. It may seem like an extra cost when living on a tight budget, but ask yourself if you could really afford to replace your things in the event they were damaged or stolen.
  If it’s included in your rent, please make sure you confirm you cover.

• Contact your neighbours. We recommend you introduce yourselves to your neighbours and exchange telephone numbers. After all, you may need them when you’ve run out of milk! Please always be respectful of your local community and keep noise to a minimum. We love turning the volume up and dancing in our rooms as much as the next person, but be considerate – your neighbours may work nights, have young children napping, or be older people who feel vulnerable.

• Keep on top of your garden. Gardens grow surprisingly quickly, particularly in the summer months! We would advise you to keep on top of it now and maintain it throughout the year to avoid complaints and a large gardening charge at the end! If you need any advice about what you need to do to maintain your garden just get in touch. If you’re a lucky tenant with a gardener included keep an eye on your emails for your the dates the garden will attend. 🌱

Before you move we’ll send you an email and text message confirming your check-in time. Come to our office on this day and time to collect your keys!

We need to you come to the office in person to provide your ID before we can give you your keys. Each tenant must bring one of the following;
> UK passport
OR
> Driving licence AND birth certificate
OR
> International Passport AND sharecode.

You’ll need your phone to scan a QR code and complete an online form that contains lots of important information about moving in to your new home.

After this you’ll be given the keys to your new home! You can now move in at your leisure! Make sure if you’re travelling from afar, or have organised moving vans, that you won’t get access to your property until after the key collection appointment, it’ll take roughly half an hour.

An inventory is a document compiled the day before your tenancy starts. It is an itemised and photographic list of contents and conditions. It includes everything from, walls, flooring, fixtures and fittings to furniture and appliances.

The inventory company we use are normally very accurate, however if you feel there is something not right, it’s important you let us know! If there is something missing on the inventory you have 7 days to make any amendments or comments. The inventory will be emailed to you and it will contain instructions on how to do this.

If either you or any of your housemates have any outstanding paperwork or payments, unfortunately we are unable to issue keys to any tenant.

Please make sure you read all paperwork thoroughly and complete everything required, this includes, referencing, guarantors, IDs, signing your contract and standing order. Payments must be fully cleared into our account before we can issue keys, so please make sure you paid any due payments and have sufficient funds for your standing order to avoid payments bouncing.

We know it’s frustrating if you can’t collect your keys if you’ve done everything but your housemate hasn’t, unfortunately, because you are on a joint tenancy agreement, all housemates must have completed all paperwork and paid all funds due before you move in.

We ask that you all attend together, however we understand that’s not always possible, especially with so many festivals 🤘 and holidays 🏝 falling over the summer months! Please organise so the majority of you come together. Anyone that can’t attend the original appointment can come to our office at a later date to provide their ID and collect their keys.

Please remember we cannot issue any keys if any housemate has any paperwork or money outstanding.

If no one can make it, please respond to the email called ‘Moving in appointment’ and select a new date and time as early as possible so we can re-arrange. Please note, we may have limited availability of alternative appointments so it is important you let as know as soon as possible as we may not be able to move you in the same day.

If you’ve already confirmed your appointment and things have gone wrong last minute – never fear, just call us on 01273 645 797 and we can help.

Please let us know as soon as you can if you are going to miss your appointment slot. We will try our best to be accommodating, please note we often have back to back appointments, so it may mean you might have to wait for the next available welcome rep. You can’t move in until you’ve completed your check-in appointment, so it’s super important you allow for traffic or delays and get to us in plenty of time.

To find out who your current utility suppliers are call 0870 6081524 for gas, 0845 6015467 for electricity and 0330 303 1263 for water.

If you have signed up for bills included with a minimum of 2 weeks before you tenancy starts then your water, gas and electricity should all be sorted when you move in. We aim to have your WIFI set up when you move in too but please note that this can take up to two weeks after your tenancy starts as a third party company deals with the organisation of this.