Simply contact ourselves on 07805 291250 or email us at info@lingardbell.co.uk
If you are a group, please suggest a date and time when you are all available to view the property - this saves us disturbing the current tenants more than is necessary. We always give our tenants at least 24 hours notice of any visits and start our viewings from 11am onwards. We will then meet you at the property, show you around and answer any questions you may have. We try to give you the opportunity to speak to the current tenants in private so you can ask them for their opinion of us as landlords. Please remember to bring a notepad/pen and also a camera as you may be able to take photographs with the permission of the current occupiers.

Please make sure all your group has considered the implications of signing for the property. If you do decide to go ahead, please get in touch with us quickly. We can reserve the property for you for 24 hours until you have had chance to read through the Tenancy Agreement, consult with parents and take advice from the contract checking services at the student unions. Once you are happy to sign, we will make an appointment for you to come to our office to sign the agreement, fill in the tenancy application forms and pay your deposits. You will need to discuss amongst yourselves who you want to nominate as "Lead Tenant". The Lead Tenant will be the person who will be the first named person on the Deposit Protection Certificate and we will liaise with this person to agree any deductions for the property at the end of the tenancy. You can change the Lead Tenant at any time, as long as you all agree to it and then let us know! To save time you could print off the tenancy application forms which are located in the Documents section of our website, fill them in and bring them along to the letting office when you come to sign the contract.

It is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement (AST) which has been prepared by the Leeds Property Association's specialist Solicitor. The contract runs from 1st July until 30th June. The contract checking services at Unipol, Leeds University Student Union, Leeds Metropolitan Students Union and Leeds Trinity University College are all familiar with this contract. A sample copy of the AST is available on our website in the Documents section. Contact details are as follows:

Unipol
Email: info@unipol.leeds.ac.uk
Tel: 0113 2430169
Main office located at 155 Woodhouse Lane and drop in centre located in the Leeds University Union Building

Leeds University Union Student Advice Centre
Email: advice@luu.leeds.ac.uk
Tel: 0113 3801290

Leeds Metropolitan Students Union Advice Centre
Email: su.studentadvice@leeds.met.ac.uk
Tel: 0113 2098446

Leeds Trinity University College
Email: trinitywelfare@hotmail.co.uk
Tel: 0113 2837100

Contracts are legally binding for the full duration of the tenancy. We will only release you from the contract if you can find a suitable replacement for yourself. The first step would be to consult with your housemates to see if they know anyone within their peer group who would fit into the house nicely. You could also place an advert on the student to student notice board on the Unipol website advertising your room. We would assist with any viewings and organise the paperwork necessary to release you from the contract.

The deposit is £200 per person. We accept payment by cash, cheque or bank transfer. If you pay by cash/cheque we will give you a receipt straightaway. If you pay by bank transfer, we will email you a receipt through. Deposits are normally paid at the time the Tenancy Agreement is signed. However, we will accept late payments as long as they are received within 14 days of the first deposit being paid. Otherwise, we will need to register the late payment separately and pass on a £50 for doing so.

Yes, your deposit will be held in a separate "ring fenced" account and will be registered with mydeposits.co.uk. Deposits must be registered within 14 days of receipt of the first deposit for the property. Please visit their website at www.mydeposits.co.uk for more information.

By law, we need to return all deposits within 10 days of agreeing any deductions to be made.

No.

We will write to you all individually late February/early March detailing rent amounts and payment options. You can either pay the rent monthly, quarterly or termly. You can pay by standing order or cheque. When you fill in your tenancy application form we will ask if the rent will be paid by yourselves or your parents. If your parents are paying, we will contact them directly.

If you are renting the flats at 44 Brudenell Road then the answer is yes (as detailed on the tenancy agreement). For all other properties then the answer is no. We recommend you each put aside £10 per person per week to cover the gas, electric, water and internet bills. It might be an idea to open a household bills account with your bank which you all pay £40 per month into by standing order and then if there is anything left at the end of the tenancy you can just share it out.

Unfortunately not. However, to help you with your finances, we do accept a smaller payment over the Summer period if you are paying your rent termly, i.e. if your rent was £75 per week you would pay £225 on the 1st July followed by three payments of £1225 in October, January and April to coincide with the receipt of your student loan.

If the property is completely occupied by full time students the property is exempt from Council Tax. Lingard Bell Ltd does inform Leeds City Council of your names and student numbers before you move in. However, it is your responsibility to provide them with your Student Council Tax Exemption Certificate if requested.

This is another instance where the Lead Tenant role comes in. We write to the Lead Tenant around May time asking them to ask around the rest of the group to ascertain their plans for moving in. You can either collect your keys from our letting office on the 1st July between 12 noon and 2pm, have them posted out to you by first class post on the 2nd July or arrange a slightly later time in July to collect them from us. Please note that keys will not be released until all deposits have been paid in full and arrangements have been made for paying at least the first month's rent.

The outgoing tenants may have only left the property a matter of hours from you moving in and should have left the property suitably clean and tidy as instructed. If you find this is not the case, please let us know and we will arrange for professional cleaners to come in at the earliest opportunity. Please bear in mind that we own a large number of houses and we always send the cleaners to the worst houses first.

We do not provide bedding, waste bins, toilet brushes, toilet paper, towels, kitchen utensils, irons or ironing boards or cleaning equipment. We do provide a reliable vacuum cleaner though.

If you are responsible for the utility bills you need to take meter readings for gas, electric and sometimes water supplies. Please ring the readings through to the utility suppliers as soon as possible. It is a good idea to register the accounts in as many names as possible. Details of current suppliers and locations of meters are listed on the welcome letter which will have been handed to the first person who collects their keys for the house. This person should pin the welcome letter on the notice board so that everyone has access to it. If your meter is outside it will need a special key to open it. The key will be attached to the welcome letter.

If it is something that requires urgent attention, please contact Steve on 07957 644213. If it is something minor, we request that you make a note of it yourself and then once everyone has moved into the house, you all get together with your notes and compile a list of jobs needing doing and email it to us at info@lingardbell.co.uk. We have found this to be the most efficient way of dealing with repairs. More information is given on the welcome letter which will have been handed to the first person who collects their keys for the house. This person should pin the welcome letter on the notice board so that everyone has access to it.

We do try to attend to repairs as quickly as possible but first we have to prioritise them. To do this we use the following categories:

• EMERGENCY REPAIRS (i.e. boiler not working, toilet blocked, water leaks, lock faulty). We aim to resolve these matters within 24 hours.
  
• URGENT REPAIRS (i.e. toilet seat broken, fridge/washing machine not working). We aim to resolve these matters within 5 working days.
  
• NON URGENT REPAIRS (i.e. cupboard handle loose, shelf fallen down). We aim to resolve these matters within 28 days.
  
• SPECIAL REQUESTS (i.e. you want to redecorate your room, bring your own furniture into the house). We will consider your request and get back to you as soon as possible.
  

Please contact Steve on 07957 644213. Please ensure that it is a genuine emergency and not something that can wait until the morning!

We will contact you all individually about mid May letting you know the process for returning your deposits, asking for a forwarding address and who you want the deposit cheque making out to. We also let you know where to return your keys and also provide each of you with Unipol's leaflet about deposits which gives advice about deposits in general and possible deductions.

You must ensure that the property is clean and tidy throughout (both inside and outside). We will arrange an inspection of your property a couple of weeks before you move out so that any deductions for damage can be agreed. You also need to take final meter readings and phone them through to the suppliers, giving them a forwarding address to send the final bills to.

We always email our tenants around November to offer them first refusal on their current property. If you decide you do want to stay we would arrange for a new Tenancy Agreement to be drawn up and signed before the Christmas holidays. You would not have to pay another deposit if you were staying in the same property but a new Deposit Protection Certificate would be provided for the new fixed term. It could be that you wanted to stay with Lingard Bell Ltd but wanted to move to a smaller property. In this case, we would arrange any viewings required as soon as possible so that you could secure the property before the letting season starts in earnest in January.

Yes, all our properties have a current Gas Safety Certificate provided by a Gas Safe registered engineer. A copy of the Certificate should be pinned to the communal notice board. Please let us know if this is not the case and we will provide another copy immediately. For your additional safety we also install carbon monoxide detectors wherever there is an appliance which could give off poisonous fumes.

The Housing Act 2004 introduced the mandatory licensing of certain high risk houses in multiple occupation. The Act was implemented in April 2006 and meant that all properties inhabited by 5 or more unrelated occupants which had 3 or more storeys would have to be licenced with the local council (Leeds City Council in your case). We obtained HMO Licences for all our properties which fell into this bracket. There should be a copy of the Licence on the communal notice board in your property - please let us know if it is not there and we will replace it immediately.

Yes - new government legislation meant that as of October 2008 every rented property must have an EPC. The Lead Tenant will have been provided with a copy of the EPC. Full versions of the EPC's are also available to view on our website - just follow the link under your property.

Yes you will. However, if you have signed a joint contract with other people named on the agreement you will only need one tv licence between you. This applies even if you have a lock on your bedroom door. Licences can be purchased online at www.tvlicensing.co.uk. There is a student section on the website which gives you more information about this.

Yes you will need contents insurance for your possessions at the property. It is worth asking your parents to check their household insurance policy to see if your possessions when you are living away from home are covered on their policy first though.

Whilst we don't mind you personalising your rooms, we would have to charge you a reasonable cost for putting right any damage caused to wall coverings.