We hope you will enjoy your time in one of our student houses and that your stay will be successful here in Liverpool.



Please take some time to browse through these Q&As - there is useful information here that'll help you understand your responsibilities as tenants and will make your stay with us a happy one.



There is some additional information on the student guide.

While you are renting from us there may be some charges. These are generally charged when you have been in default in some way; losing your keys (necessitating new keys) and rental payments are the main ones.



Please note that our charges are compliant with the Tenant Fees Act 2019.


Charge for replacement of keys: As per cost of key and reasonable costs for time to get cut.


•  Key deposit for borrowing an office set of keys to have them cut (refundable, acting as a holding deposit to ensure our office keys are returned) : £50



Change of locks



•  Individual Room: As per direct cost of key and locks and reasonable costs for our time to arrange.


•  Front or Rear door: As per cost of key and reasonable costs for time to get cut. Please note that reasonable costs may reflect time to get all keys cut and distribute keys to all tenants.



•  Out of hours callout to property to unlock house/room for you (lost keys out of hours/weekends): As per contractors invoice, settled with contractor directly (normally, but not guaranteed to be, £90 for a weekend/night callout).



Interest


•  3% above the Bank of England base rate for the period the rent is overdue.

•  Rent arrears requiring legal action against tenants/guarantors for recovery: Subject to tenancy agreement being signed prior to 1st June 2019; Solicitors legal fees, any court fees, and interest at the statutory amount of 8%. For tenancy agreements entered into after 1st June 2019, subject to court decision on fees and interest.


Rent charges


•  Cash : Not Accepted (we operate a cashless office and do not have facilities for holding cash).

•  Debit cards: no charge

•  Credit cards: not accepted

•  Cheques: not accepted


Professional tenancy renewal


•  Tenancy Renewals from 1st June 2019 are at a cost to the landlord. They will only be entered into on the request of the tenant if the landlord agrees to this charge.


Note: We allow all tenancies to roll on to a periodic tenancy (contractural periodic). If you request a new tenancy agreement we will seek the agreement of the landlord. If the landlord requests a tenancy renewal this will be done at no cost to you.

Yes! While there is no legal obligation to insure your belongings, while you are resident there is no insurance for your contents provided by the us landlord.


We can recommend Endsleigh insurance. We strongly recommend you take out insurance while you are renting.

The property and the landlords contents will normally be insured by the landlord.

Please adhere to the points below to reduce your chances of being a victim of burglary. Any other security measures that you can think of should be put into practice. Do not underestimate the importance of these procedures as they could prevent you from becoming a victim.



•  Close and lock (where possible) all windows when there is nobody in the house and the property is empty. From our experience windows left open is the number one entry point for burglaries in shared houses.


•  Set the intruder alarm when leaving the property empty.


•  If bedrooms have locks, lock your door with your individual room key.


•  Lock front door and check back door is locked before leaving. Do not rely on the night latch (sliding bolt lock) and do not rely on just closing the door - even if it appears secure, on the majority of doors, without the handle being turned and key turned in the lock to engage the lock it will not be secure.


•  Hide valuables (laptops, tablets) or take them with you when you go away.


•  Report anything suspicious to the police immediately.


•  Consider leaving a light on if the property is going to be empty for more than one consecutive evening. Do not leave the television running.


•  If you are leaving the property for more than 14 days contact TopProperty Lettings to inform them that the property will be empty and when you intend to return.

We accept payment by standing order, and direct bank transfer. Due to insurance limitations we are unable to take cash.


Paying by bank transfer


You can make payment by bank transfer to us direct - our account details are:


Account name: Topproperty Lettings Ltd

Account: 48805823

Sort code: 60-01-11

Reference: House address and surname


Paying by standing order


You can set up your standing order with your bank using the above details. You can also ask us for a standing order form that you can send to your bank. This remains under your control and you must take responsibility for the setup and maintenance of the standing order, including termination of it after the last payment is made. This differs from a direct debit that we control.

Our office days are Monday to Friday. Full office hours are outlined at here. Please note that we are not open outside of these hours.

We are always available via email or via our website.


General enquiries


You can contact us via the online form here - please select the type of query you have. This will direct your query to the appropriate member of staff.


Maintenance queries


You can raise any maintenance queries via our online issue reporting tool here.


By Post


You can always write to us at the address specified here or at the bottom of the website.

If you have exceeded the set limit you will have to contribute towards the overspend.


Your landlord will generally monitor the utility usage throughout the year. If there is an excess spend the landlord will generally let us know and we will inform you. If this is the case, you will need to contribute towards the cost. In some situations the landlord will notify you of overspend and give you the opportunity to reduce usage to bring the cost down for future months.

For inclusive houses there are set limits on usage. This is based on a per monthly cost and includes Gas and Electricity and Water. The use of Broadband or TV license is not included within the inclusive limit.


As of August 2022 the limits are generally:


Studio: £100

2 bed: £120 (note that very few two beds are inclusive)

3 bed: £130

4 bed: £143

5 bed: £156

6 bed: £169

7 bed: £182

8 bed: £195

9 bed: £208

10 bed: £260

Note that some contracts may be on our lower allowances as follows:


3 beds: £120 per month.

4 beds: £130 per month.

5 beds: £140 per month.

6 beds: £150 per month.

7 beds: £160 per month.

8 beds: £170 per month.

9 beds: £180 per month.

10 beds: £190 per month.

For specific details please see your contracts.

There are some things you can do to help you to use the energy efficiently.



•  Do set the heating to come on and go off once in the morning and once in the evening.
Keep the temperature to a sensible and comfortable level on the boiler/thermostat


•  Do not have the heating on 24/7 - use the timer on the boiler or thermostat with settings for your use of the house - eg, on for first few hours in the morning before you leave for uni and also in the evening.


•  Do not have the heating on during the night. This is bad for your general health and comfort and ventilation of the house.


•  Ventilate the house to manage humidity levels (to avoid condensation problems) but avoid having windows open full while the heating is on.


•  Do not dry your clothes over the radiators as this will prevent the heat from warming the house and may also damage the plaster behind the radiators. It can also cause serious condensation for which you will have to pay to be remedied


•  Under no circumstances use portable fan heaters unless authorised due to failed central heating (and as part of a short term solution while the heating system is repaired). These are expensive to run which may result in a utility overspend charge and present a genuine risk to property and life through fire.


•  At all times we ask you to be mindful of the energy you are consuming and to use it responsibly.

To move out at the end of your tenancy, you will either a) give notice (professional lets) or b) move out at the end of the fixed term (student houses).

•  You will need to clean the property to the standard it is when you moved in. We do not require the property is professionally cleaned (eg cleaned by a professional cleaning company), but it will need to be cleaned to a good standard.  We have a tenant's guide to cleaning here:  here
•  You will need to ensure you close down any utility accounts you have in your name.
•  You will need to notify the council if you are a council tax payer and you are paying council tax and make sure the account is fully paid up.
•  You will need to ensure the bedroom furniture is in the same location in the house as before the tenancy.
•  Empty the bins in the house and ensure the rubbish is put out and the refuse bin returned to the property.
•  You will need to return your keys to Topproperty Services.

As part of our checkout process at the end of the tenancy we perform a closing inspection/checkout on the property.


This includes any defects in the property for the landlords attention, as well as any areas where damage has occurred. We will note if it appears to be beyond normal wear and tear.


The landlord will consider the report, and decide if any charges need to be made. For bills inclusive contracts the landlord will also look at energy consumption to ensure you have not exceeded your inclusive allowance.


We will then seek your agreement for any charges to be deducted from the deposit.


If agreement cannot be reached the deposit scheme used (either the custodial DPS or the insurance backed my|deposits) will have a dispute service that can be used, subject to both parties agreement.

We are registered with the ICO, registration number Z1712743.

As part of carrying out our duties, we need to process personal data. For the majority of these uses we need use the Legitimate Interest reason.

Use of data for tenants includes:

Application Stage
We may pass your data to the following people using the legitimate interest basis. This is to allow us to assess your suitability for a tenancy.
•  Credit Reference agencies
•  Agencies conducting Right to Rent checks.
•  Former landlords
•  The landlord of this property
•  Current employer
•  Fraud prevention agencies

At the application stage we require you to agree to our use of data for this legitimate interest.
As part of your application we ask the lead tenant to provide contact details for your co-tenants if the lead tenant is part of a group. We will use this information to send texts with links to the house being applied for, and may use it to call others in the group.
Retention period for data captured during tenancy signups will be for 12 months from point of application if the application is not successful. Your data will be used for your tenancy if your application is successful and will be kept for up to 10 years to allow up to comply with our legal requirements.

Active Tenancies
Once you are an active tenant we will use your data under the legitimate interest basis which you will have granted consent for at application stage. This consent will be used going forward for the duration of the tenancy.
During your tenancy we will use your data to manage your tenancy. The data may be used in the following ways:
•  Passing of data to third parties such as credit reference agencies, previous landlords, etc.
•  Passing of data to contractors for arranging works.
•  Passing of data to the local authority to enable you to be correctly charged for council tax (and for student tenancies, to have an exemption applies).
•  Use of data for marketing for houses from us.
•  Passing of data to third parties so they can contact you to set up a broadband account (for non-inclusive houses).
•  Passing of data to relevant agencies to allow the continual approval for right to rent.
Retention of data for tenancies will be up to 10 years. This is to allow us to respond to post tenancy queries and to allow us to fulfil our legal obligations.

Please note that in tenancies with more than one tenant you will have a joint obligation to pay rent and an individual (or number of tenants) not paying rent may have an impact on other tenants in the property because of this joint and several obligation.  We may discuss rent arrears with all members of a tenancy as all members have a right to know of rent arrears and the potential impact on them.

Use of data for landlord clients includes:

•  Processing data to enable us to market and let your property.
•  Disclosure to HMRC
•  Processing data to enable us to effectively manage your property.
•  Passing of data to third parties in the execution of our services, including local authorities, utility companies etc.

Third party marketing

We will NEVER share personal data with external companies for marketing services to you unrelated to your tenancy.

Marketing from us

We may market services to you via mail providers such as MailChimp. For tenants this will in most cases be to offer houses to re-let or for new houses coming to market when your tenancy ends. For landlords it may be to keep you updated about our services. You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time however if you receive such marketing without an unsubscribe option you can contact us directly to be removed from our list. For these reasons we require your consent. In the majority of cases we will use the email contact provided when you registered online to view a property. If you were not asked for consent at that stage, or did not select to grant consent when asked, we will not use your information for marketing.

Guarantors
If you have applied to be a guarantor we will use the legitimate interest basis to manage your data.
which you will have granted consent for at application stage. This consent will be used going forward for the duration of the tenancy you are acting as a guarantor for and for as long as your obligation as guarantor remains.
The data may be used in the following ways:
•  Passing of data to credit reference agencies.
•  Passing of data to third parties for debt collection if such need arises.
We will never use this data to market to you.

Storage of personal data:

We retain data for as long as necessary to carry out our duties. Tenancy Agreements and guarantor deeds will normally be kept for up to six years after your tenancy ends. Information about you may be kept for up to 10 years. Ancillary documents will be deleted and destroyed when no longer required and will vary depending on document type and use.

Coronavirus update
We have started to collect data for viewings that come under Special Category Data. This is to safeguard our viewers and tenants for viewings and house visits. This is handled under the basis Group Public Interest. This is restricted to use to office staff when booking in visits and determining the risk of visits to properties. The retention policy for this information is secure deletion of records once the Coronovirus emergency ends as this information will no longer be needed.

Our disclaimer is hosted online to allow emails to be shorter, saving on paper if printed.



Emails sent from Topproperty Services and the information they contain may be privileged and/or confidential. It is for the intended addressee(s) only. The unauthorised use, disclosure or copying emails, or any information they contain, is prohibited and could, in certain circumstances, be a criminal offence. If you are not the intended recipient please email info@topproperty-services.com or reply to the email immediately. Internet Communications are not secure and therefore Topproperty Services does not communicate formally by email and does not accept legal liability for the contents of this message.



Topproperty Services, Topproperty Lettings and Topproperty Sales and Lettings are the trading names of Topproperty Lettings Limited registered in England and Wales - company number 05820819

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