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GUIDANCE NOTES FOR STUDENTS 2012
 

Thank you for your enquiry regarding PIKES ESTATE AGENTS letting service for students. The following information has been designed to help answer your questions and set out some of your obligations should you decide to rent through us. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE RESERVING A PROPERTY VIEWING APPOINTMENTS In most cases the existing Tenants will be happy to show you over the selected property. Please bring your Student ID with you and a copy of our Student List to identify yourself to the existing tenants. In some cases appointments are necessary and this will be highlighted in the property description, the Tenants may require a minimum of 48 hours’ notice. RESERVATION Once you have selected a property each Student must fully complete a Reservation Agreement 1. Provide identification (either Passport, Photo Driving Licence) together with your University ID Card, bank details and satisfactory Guarantor. 2. Each student will be asked to pay a holding deposit of £150.00 together with an £50.00 (Incl. VAT) non-refundable Tenancy Fee (a total of £200.00). The holding deposit of £150.00 will form part of your property deposit on the commencement of the Tenancy Agreement. In the event that you are not able to proceed with your application £50.00 of the Holding Deposit will be retained by Pikes Estate Agents for administration purposes with the remaining balance of £100.00 being returned to you. 3. We are not able to hold a property without all of the above completed so please do not ask as your request will be declined. GUARANTOR Each tenant must have a Guarantor either a Parent or Guardian in full time employment living in the United Kingdom and being a ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ passport holder, who will guarantee your rental payments in the event of you failing to pay. A Guarantor can only guarantee one student and will be supplied with a draft copy of the Tenancy Agreement. In the event that you are unable to find a guarantor but still wish to rent the property, the full rent for the tenancy will be required in cleared funds before the commencement of the tenancy. We allow 10 days from the date of sending for completed guarantor forms to be returned to our office. After this period we reserve the right to offer the property to other prospective tenants. Please be aware if your tenancy start date falls within this 10 day period we do require all guarantor forms to be completed and returned to us before the Tenancy can commence and keys released. GROUP LEADER Once you have found a suitable property you should appoint a group leader whom we can liaise with during the setting up of the tenancy and who will be responsible for the administration of your deposit return at the end of the tenancy. The group leader must be readily available by email, telephone and have a United Kingdom postal address. At the end of the tenancy the group leader will be informed of any deductions and will be asked to liaise with the group and report back to Pikes Estate Agents. PROPERTY CONDITION By signing the Student Reservation Agreement you are agreeing that you have viewed the property. Please do not make any automatic assumptions about its condition, the decoration or what contents will or will not be included in your tenancy as some of what you have seen may belong to the present occupiers. Please ask us now if you are in any doubt or have particular requests so that we can resolve matters in advance. At the start of your tenancy you will have the opportunity to check a detailed inventory of the property, its condition and contents. If you are unhappy you should not reserve the property as the above is not open to negotiation at a later date. RENT & DEPOSIT The initial payments being your Deposit Balance and First Month’s rent are paid by leaving a post dated cheque at the time of signing your tenancy agreement allowing us sufficient time for clearance and the administration of returned cheques (Fourteen Days). After this time payment must be paid in cleared funds i.e. cash, Debit card at our office, bank transfer or bankers draft. Once the tenancy has begun, the second and all subsequent installments of rent must be paid by Standing Order (three days in advance to allow for the banking process) as specified in the tenancy agreement. Any payments made in the office thereafter will be subject to a £20 (Incl. VAT) handling fee. Please enquire at our office for guidance if you wish to pay your rent termly. Once the tenancy commences your deposit will be held in our Clients Account (as “Stakeholders” no interest paid) under The Tenancy Deposit Scheme. All rental figures quoted are per calendar month (PCM). Weekly rents quoted are for guidance only and worked out using the following method, monthly rent, multiplied by 12 (months in a year), divided by 52 (weeks in a year). For example £325.00 multiplied by 12 then divided by 52 gives you a weekly rent of £75.00. UTILITIES You will be responsible for all utilities at the property to include all charges connected to; gas, electric, water, telephone and council tax (full time students may apply for exemption). INSURANCE Your personal contents will not be insured under any of the Landlord’s policies so we strongly advise you to insure your own contents. You may wish to insure against accidental damage to the Landlord’s contents. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS All properties are generally available for a ten month fixed period on the dates below unless otherwise stated in the property description. Your group may choose your Tenancy Start Date from either Saturday 1st, 8th or 15th September 2012. Pikes Estate Agents are a member of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, which is administered by: The Dispute Service Ltd, PO Box 1255, Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP1 9GN Tel. 0845 226 7837  Fax 01494 431 123 email deposits@tds.gb.com . Your rent is paid by Standing Order and as such we have no authority to alter or cancel payments, any requests have to be made by the account holder. The Agreement you enter into is “joint and several”. This means that each individual in the group can be held responsible for the total rent payable and for any damage caused to the property. In other words the Landlord’s contract is with you as a single group, not with several separate tenants so it is important that you are all sure that you want to rent a property together. Your deposit is held as one lump sum against any rent arrears or damage to the property. Original Tenancy agreements must be signed at our office. CHARGES & FEES In addition to your Tenancy Fee paid on reserving the property, the following fees will be applied where necessary at our discretion: (All are inclusive of VAT) £20 Handling fee for any payment taken in the office once the tenancy has commenced. £20 Late payment fee if the rent remains unpaid for a period of seven days after it’s due. £20 To reissue any paperwork (including change of guarantor) through fault of the tenants or their guarantor. £195 Change of Tenant Fee. 3% handling charge for any payments taken on Credit Cards; International Maestro, International Visa & International Electron Debit Cards. American Express cards not accepted. Payments must be made at our office and PIN verified. On or before signing the commencement of the Tenancy, PIKES ESTATE AGENTS need to have received From each student in the group the following: 1: £350.00 Total Deposit (Unless stated otherwise within the property description) in cleared funds 2: Completed “Form of Guarantee” together with a copy of the Passport. 3: First month’s rent in cleared funds, i.e. cash or bank/building society draft (you must allow 14 days for personal cheques to clear) 4: Photocopy of your Passport or Driving Licence and your Student University ID. 5: £50.00 (incl. VAT) Non-refundable 6: Tenancy Fee payable upon reservation The Tenancy Agreement signed by all the tenants in the group. PLEASE NOTE: NO KEYS CAN BE RELEASED UNTIL ALL THE JOINT TENANTS HAVE SIGNED THE TENANCY AGREEMENTS, WHICH NEED TO BE SIGNED AT OUR OFFICE WE NOT ABLE TO POST, FAX OR EMAIL ORIGINAL TENANCY AGREEMENTS FOR SIGNATURE. THE TENANCY AGREEMENT IS A LEGAL DOCCUMENT AND WE THERFORE REQUIRE ALL TENANTS SIGNATURE PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU SIGN THE TENANCY AGREEMENTS PRIOR TO TRAVELLING ABROAD, GOING HOME FOR SUMMER ETC-AS NO TENANTS CAN MOVE IN WITHOUT ALL THE JOINT TENANTS SIGNING THE ORIGINAL TENANCY AGREEMENTS AT OUR OFFICE.