FAQ

1. How do I book a property or room? 

To book a room or property, initially whats app us on 0800 001 6632 for an instant response. We’ll send instructions on what we require to prepare a tenancy agreement. A deposit person is required together with a signed tenancy agreement to secure a property. Once this is completed, the property is taken off the market and all yours!

2. Do I need to book a whole property or can I book an individual room? 

This varies depending on the property. Most of our properties require to be taken as a whole with a group of tenants who sign a single joint tenancy. This means where a group are taking a property together all tenants are equally responsible for all the rent and any damage to the property as a whole. We therefore urge tenants to only share properties with responsible tenants capable of paying the rent and who will abide by the tenancy terms. This ensures there are no costly implications for other tenants. We do have studio flats designed for 1-2 people as well as some larger flats ranging from 8-9 bedrooms, where we allow booking of individual rooms.

3. How much is the deposit I need to pay? 

We offer two refundable deposit options.

i. For all shared properties with 2 beds or more we require a deposit of £250 per person. For 1-2 bed studios we require a single £500 deposit payment for single occupancy or £600 for double occupancy. For room only bookings the deposit is £250 per person. The security deposit is refundable at the end of the tenancy.

4.Do you have a maintenance team? 

We have a full time maintenance and cleaning team. We pride ourselves on providing an excellent standard of property and as such we are passionate about making sure the student experience is great throughout the year. We often make little upgrades and improvements and encourage tenants to give recommendations on how we can be better. Reporting issues is also really easy using our what’s app customer service line.

5. Do I need a Guarantor? 

Yes, as a tenant, each will be asked to provide a UK guarantor for your tenancy within 30 days after securing the property. A UK guarantor is someone who guarantees the rent and liabilities of the tenancy on your behalf (usually a family member). They will be liable for any payments that you cannot meet within the given deadlines.  Guarantors will be required to demonstrate they have income of at least three times the rent payable to act as a guarantor or will be required to own their own home without a mortgage if they are unable to provide proof of income. All UK guarantors are required to be UK citizens with employment or self employment in the UK only. For termly payment options, a UK guarantor is a prerequisite. However, if you don’t have a UK guarantor, it will be necessary to pay the rent in advance for each individual not able to provide a guarantor. Your guarantor will be required to sign a guarantor agreement and provide proof of ID, address and proof of income. Where couples are sharing a studio, only one guarantor is required. Alternatively, If you are an international student you can apply to services such as housinghand.co.uk or ukguarantor.com to act as your guarantor. These services do charge a fee for this.

6. What is included in the rent? 

a. A comfortable utility allowance for the term of the tenancy.

b. Complimentary unlimited fibre broadband

c. Responsive maintenance

d. CCTV security in all external public areas of our city centre flats.

e. Landlords contents insurance

f. Personal property manager.

g. A complimentary cleaning service where specified in the listing.

h. Free gym access where specified in the listing.

7. Do I pay my rent directly to the Landlord or an agent? 

We only manage our own properties. This has many benefits. It gives you confidence you’re paying rent to the property owners and not an agent, who may not pass your rent to the owner. It also ensures decisions can be made quickly and maintenance issues are also resolved swiftly. You will often find that agents who only manage properties on behalf of Landlords, take a very long time to resolve issues with the property, resulting in a poor experience.

8. When do I have to pay my rent? 

Rent payment dates vary depending on if you are a student with a UK guarantor or without one. Students with a UK guarantor pay in 3 termly instalments. The payment dates coincide with student finance dates. These are 6th October, 20th January and 20th April

. Students without a UK guarantor are required to pay their portion of the full rent 30 days in advance of the tenancy start date.

9. How fast is your Internet service and is the Internet service unlimited? 

All our Internet services are unlimited and fibre broadband connected. For traditional houses with up to 5 students we provide a minimum 38mb Fibre Connection.  For 6 bed houses we provide up to 100mb connection. For our city centre flats we have a 1gb direct fibre uncontented connection offering the fastest speeds in the city. Some properties also have the benefit of ethernet points in the bedroom. Perfect for gamers! Actual speeds achieved vary depending on if you are using WIFI or a direct ethernet connection. Ask us if you need to know if the property you are interested in includes an ethernet connection.

10. Can I smoke in the property? 

All our properties have a strict no smoking policy. Our city centre flats have external smoking areas with cigarette bins.

11. Do you provide a cleaning service? 

If you’ve lived on campus or at any shared accommodation where cleaning support isn’t provided, you’ll be aware it can look pretty awful, quite quickly, irregardless of the luxury standard of the accommodation. We appreciate cleaning isn’t always a priority for young students. Often no one takes responsibility over shared areas like the kitchen, shared bathrooms, lounge or corridor. This makes it particularly unpleasant for those who prefer a clean environment.  An unclean home can lead to depression, anxiety and affect your general well being and health. We are the first and only provider in Lancaster to include complimentary cleaning support of communal areas of properties where it is specified in the listing. We do this to ensure tenants have a pleasant environment throughout the year. The service is not anexcuse for tenants not to clean in between visits. Whilst the complimentary service is designed to give support to tenants. Tenants are responsible at all times to maintain a good standard of cleanliness of their property. Our complimentary service is to support not replace. It is particularly helpful during exams, when housekeeping is the last thing on your mind. Although our traditional houses don’t come with a complimentary cleaning service as standard, you can opt to have your property cleaned for a small cost. We encourage tenants to add cleaning. It’s worth every penny.

12. Is there car parking available in the city centre apartments? 

Car parking is available in our city centre locations. There are a limited number of parking space permits available for our tenants. The cost is £950 per annum.  All non city centre properties come with free on street parking or the council local resident parking scheme which is relatively inexpensive.

13. Do I need to pay council tax? 

No. All students are exempt from council tax subject to providing the correct evidence to the council that you are a student. If you stop being a student, you will be liable for council tax.

14. If I decide to stay in my property for another year, can I leave my personal belongings in the property over the summer? 

If you have opted to have a standard 51 week tenancy, your new tenancy will simply start on the expiry date of your previous tenancy. This allows you to leave all belongings in the property. If you have opted to return the property at 44 weeks and plan to return later in September, then your belongings will need to be removed from the property, but you will be able to store up to 5 boxes at our storage facility over the summer without further cost.

15. Can you store my personal belongings over the summer before I move in to my Unipad property? 

we can only store items from when the tenancy agreement starts. As such we cannot store items if your tenancy has not yet started.

16. Is the use of a washing machine and dryer included within the rent? 

Free use of the washing machine and dryer is provided with all our houses.  Our city centre properties come with a dedicated laundry facility which is operated by Circuit.

17. Where do I pick up my key? 

Before you are due to move in to your Unipad property, we will contact you via email to arrange a check in date during normal business hours of Monday to Friday between 9am to 5pm. If you are part of a group booking, only the first person to move in will need to book their check in date. The rest of the group will be able to move in at their own convenience. It is important to book your check in date 30 days in advance. On this day we will meet you at the property and prepare an inventory and inspection report of the property as well as take meter readings. We will give you all keys to the property at this time.

18. Do you have an office? 

Yes, we have a city centre office at 51A North Road, Lancaster, LA1 1NS.

19. What are the tenancy period options with Unipad? 

Unipad contract periods are 51 weeks starting 6th September as standard, with a discounted rate option at most properties for handing back the property at 44 weeks and using the remaining 7 weeks for storage only. All rates are payable for 51 weeks. To take advantage of the discount tenants are required to vacate at the 44th week, which ends after the summer term on 9th July. This option allows each tenant to then store up to 5 sealed boxes each measuring no more than 60cm long by 45cm in width and height in our storage facility for the last 7 weeks of the 51 weeks term and take advantage of the lower rate. Our storage facility is located at Mill Hall, Moor Lane, LA1 1QD. Tenants are required bring their boxes to the storage facility. This option is particularly great for tenants preferring to leave immediately after the summer term. You can decide to initiate it anytime up to the first 60 days of your tenancy start date. Many landlords charge tenants full rent for the summer, even though the property is unoccupied by tenants or their belongings over this period. We offer tenants flexibility. If you decide you want to hand the property back at 44 weeks, whilst still keeping your belongings in storage with us for the remaining 7 weeks, you will be able to do this and take advantage of the discounted rate. This means you pay less rent overall in comparison to keeping the property for the full 51 weeks at the normal rate. You get to enjoy a luxury property for a comparative cost to a sub standard property, where you are forced to pay full rent for 51/52 weeks. Unipad is the first and only provider offering such flexibility and affordability to students.

20. Do you offer additional services? 

We provide cleaning services and gym access all inclusive of the rent for our city centre studios and shared flats and all our tenants in houses are welcome to use our city centre gym for free. We are also flexible enough to often accommodate individual tenant needs. Just ask and if we can do it, we will.

21. Are Bills Included?

A comfortable utility allowance is included for the duration of your tenancy. This allowance covers electric and water, as well as gas if the property has gas. Due to rising energy costs, the usage is capped to a fair usage. The allowance varies each year depending on prevalent utility rates and we regularly monitor usage from previous years. As long as tenants are sensible with their usage they shouldn’t go over their allowance, unless there is a significant unexpected rise in utility rates. We also reward exceptional tenants with a utility allowance bonus for looking after our properties and returning them as they should at the end of the tenancy. So if you do go over the fair usage and have been great tenants, we will increase your allowance as a thank you. The bonus is added at the end of the tenancy after calculating all utility costs for the year. We regularly keep tenants informed of usage throughout their stay, so they can control usage during the tenancy. Some properties also have energy usage monitors. Our properties are also very energy efficient and designed to minimise energy waste.

21. Am I Allowed Overnight Guests?

We allow guests overnight for a maximum of 3 continuous days without the need for prior notification. If you wish to host a guest for longer than this, you are required to first seek authorisation by email from us. We never restrict tenants from having family or friends over except where the overnight guests are causing an issue for other tenants or are using it as a principal home. We do not charge tenants for having overnight guests for longer than 3 days where permission has first been requested. We are restricted by law as to how many people can reside permanently within a particular property and are required to know of all occupants staying for more than three days to maintain our insurance cover. It also enables us to keep record of all occupants in case of an emergency situation such as a fire.

22. Am I Allowed To Host A House Party?

We have a very strict no party policy. This is because our properties have high end fixtures and fittings and are often regarded as the highest standard available on the market. We’re geared towards responsible sensible tenants who will respect our property and treat it like a proper home. Inviting excessive guests often results in expensive damage and disruption to neighbours and other tenants. After all your party guests are not accountable if they cause damage. You are. If you intend to have a celebration and wish to have more than the standard number of guests, simply request this in advance and we never say no unless, we have had issues with tenant behaviour. If tenants intend to misbehave and host house parties, without authorisation, then our accommodation isn’t for you. As standard we allow a maximum number guests equivalent to the same number of tenants. For example. If you have a 5 bed property, you can host a maximum number of 5 guests at any one time without authorisation. If you wish to host more than this, we simply request to seek authorisation first and ensure that all guests will be respectful and not cause disruption to neighbouring properties. There are penalties for not adhering to these terms.

23. Are there TV’s In The Bedroom?

All our studios, shared flats and houses that have ensuite bedrooms, also have a smart TV in each bedroom. These are fully connected to the WiFi and have built in features such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and BBC iPlayer

24. Can I personalise my room or property with posters and pictures?

We understand the temptation to personalise your room by covering walls and furniture with pictures or posters or LED lighting strips. However attachments to parts of the property always leave staining from blue tac, adhesive residue and even paint damage. Even when you think it won’t, it does. This then becomes unsightly after you remove them. The cost of redecoration is hugely expensive. For this reason we do not allow anything to be attached to the property walls or furniture. We do provide a notice board in every bedroom where you can attach anything you wish to. This ensures there is no damage to the property after you leave and reduces the risk of you being charged.

25. Do I have to pay for cleaning at the end of the Tenancy?

Before you move in, your property will be professionally deep cleaned. This means a thorough clean of all areas including washing of mattresses and carpets and all hidden areas. As such at the end of the tenancy it’s important to ensure you return the property to this deep clean condition so it’s ready for the next tenants. This is often difficult to arrange with tenants leaving at different times. As such we take care of the deep clean at the end of the tenancy for a fixed fee per person. This charge is deducted from your deposit as long as we hold an adequate deposit. The charges are specified in your tenancy agreement. This allows you to pack your things and leave without worrying about cleaning the property at the end.