Direct Properties Tenant handbook 2022

Introduction Welcome to Direct Properties. We hope that you will enjoy your stay with us and have a wonderful time. This is your Tenant Handbook. It’s a good idea to have a thorough read through it because it contains some important information. After you have read it, place it somewhere safe because it will come in handy when you have questions in future. In this handbook we have covered the basics about the property, paying your rent, what your responsibilities are as a Tenant and how to report things like maintenance issues. Hopefully we have covered most of what you will need to know, but if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0113 345 3031. 2

Contents Introduction ...................................................................... 2 Rent Payment .................................................................... 4 How to contact Direct Properties ........................................ 5 Tenancy Agreement ........................................................... 6 Utility Bills ......................................................................... 7 Useful Contacts .................................................................. 8 Maintenance ................................................................... 10 Lost or stolen Keys ........................................................... 11 Referral Program and feedback ........................................ 12 The Moving Out Process ................................................... 13 Your Responsibilities as a tenant ...................................... 14 3

Rent Payment Your rent is typically due Monthly, and typically due on st the 1 of every month unless specified otherwise in your Tenancy Agreement. It is required for the rent Speaking of references, its to be paid in a timely also quite important that fashion in accordance with you attach a reference your tenancy agreement. with your payment. This This is important because way we can know that the if you were to miss a payment was sent from payment, then you may be you, and for a certain liable for a late fee on that property. For example. payment. If your name is John smith The easiest way to ensure and your property is 22 that the issue of forgetting Kings Lane. Your reference to pay on time/late would be 22KLJS. payments, is to set up a 22KL would refer to the direct debit standing door number and the first order, this can be done letter of each word and JS easily via online banking. would be your initial For reference. Our payment details are as Central Leeds Properties follows. Account Name: Direct Property sales South Leeds Properties and lettings limited Account Name: Direct Properties South Account Number: 54986680 Account Number: 32016344 Sort Code: 60-60-05 Sort Code: 52-30-11 4

How to contact Direct Properties Our team is composed of friendly and helpful experts in the property field and in customer service. They look forward to helping you resolve any enquiries you may have. You can get to know them for maintenance issues, by heading over to our simply report the issue to websites, meet the team the following link. page. https://www.direct- https://www.direct- properties.co.uk/report- properties.co.uk/meet- a-repair/ the-team/ Direct Properties Central To keep updated on the Leeds property market in the 0113 345 3031 area and for handy money [email protected] saving tips as well as a vast Direct Properties South array of other useful Leeds material, check out the 0113 345 3031 news section of our [email protected] website. https://www.direct- Currently, we share the properties.co.uk/news/ same number + email for both branches, but this is due to change in late 2022. Keep an eye out on the news page. 5

Tenancy Agreement Your tenancy agreement is a legally binding contract, it is paramount that you read through it thoroughly as deviation from the legal stipulations set out in the agreement may cause you to incur fees. To be concise, the contract means that you agree to the following - • Pay rent to Direct Properties, on time, for the agreed length of your Tenancy. • Never withhold your rent, even if you have a maintenance problem. It could cause more problems and possibly lead to an eviction. • Keep the property in the same condition it was in when you arrived (apart from reasonable wear and tear). • Share joint responsibility with your housemates for any obligations, rents, and repairs. • Not smoke in the property at any time. • Report all maintenance issues through our website. • Report any problems or queries to Direct Properties. • Let us know if your property is going to be vacant for more than 20 days (e.g. over summer). • Move out at the end of the Tenancy unless a renewal is agreed. An up-to-date list of charges can be found in your Tenancy Agreement. 6

Utility Bills At Direct Properties, we offer all our tenants the option to have a bill included package, to save you the stress of having to deal with multiple bills. Many of our tenants have You will also need to get in opted to take our bills touch with Leeds city included package to not council and update them have to deal with multiple that you will be paying utility bills. However, if council tax at the you feel that it would be property, students are better to deal with the exempt from council tax, bills yourself then that’s but you will still need to also fine. You would contact Leeds city council. become obligated to sort You can contact Yorkshire out the Gas, Electricity, Water on 0845 124 2424. Water, council tax, Tv license, phone and You can find out who internet bills. supplies your gas by When you begin moving calling 0870 608 1524. into the property, the first You can find out who thing you should do is get supplies your electricity by the meter reads. Then calling 0845 330 0889. contact the relevant suppliers to inform them that you have moved into the property, make sure that you mention it is the start of your tenancy. 7

Useful Contacts ubundle (For Bills-Inclusive 0191 691 2033 Tenancies) Virgin Media Business (For 0800 052 0800 Bills-Inclusive Tenancies) TV Licensing https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/ National grid 0870 608 1524 MPAS 0845 601 3268 Yorkshire water 0345 124 2424 Leeds City Council (Council 0113 222 4404 Tax) Listed Above are some useful contact numbers in case you find yourself in a bit of a bind, of course the most useful number will be our number being 0113 345 3031. 8

Maintenance If you come across an issue with maintenance, use our simple to use automated maintenance reporting service via PropertyFile. We want to make things repairs@direct- as easy as possible for you, properties.co.uk along so we have a few methods with a picture of the issue. to submit maintenance We will aim to respond to issues to us. The absolute each issue as fast as we fastest way is via can, we’ve included a PropertyFile. table below to give you an You can also submit idea of what kind of maintenance directly from timeframe you can expect our website via Report a with regards to repair or you can simply maintenance. email into us directly at Example Contact Visit Emergency Gas Leak/flood Immediately Immediately Urgent- broken boiler same day same day priority Priority leaky tap 1-2 days within 7 days Standard broken table leg 2-3 days within 28 days 10

Lost or stolen Keys If your keys are lost or Changing Locks is not stolen then this is a permitted, internal or security issue, we must get external. This is because it the keys replaced and you may cause you to break may be charged for the fire safety regulation. cost of replacing them. If locks have been added, Always keep your keys in a then we will have to have safe place. them removed. If your keys are lost The cost of removing the during office hours then locks will be the we can arrange for them responsibility of the to be replaced, simply tenants. bring in a form of ID such as a student ID, driving license or passport to our office and request a new key. If your keys are lost out of office hours, then please contact the emergency phone number on 07394433907. We always have spare keys available. 11

Referral Program and feedback If you think we do a solid job and would like to refer us to your friends and family, we will give you a cash reward. If You’re a Tenant, then you can earn 5% of whatever we make from the tenancy along with a chance to win £100 cash via entry into our quarterly draw. The full post is on the news section of our website. If you’re a landlord, then you can make 5% of whatever we make from your referral alongside a reduction in the rate that we charge you for your own properties. In theory, with multiple referrals, you can be earning extra income alongside FREE full management of your properties. Our generous referral program aims to display the desire we have to give back to our customers and to demonstrate that our success is also your success. Giving us Feedback is straightforward, if you think there’s an area we need to improve on, give us your feedback on our website. If you’d like to give us a positive review due to the good experience you’ve had with us, leave us a google review. Either for our central Leeds office or our south Leeds office. 12

The Moving Out Process Our aim is to make both the moving in and moving out process as simple and easy as possible. We’ve prepared an easy-to-follow checklist for you to follow below. 1. Redirect post to your new address 2. Notify all relevant parties of your new address such as your bank, Leeds city council and your suppliers. 3. Make sure that you have fulfilled your responsibilities as a tenant. 4. We make sure that every property is cleaned by professionals at the beginning of your tenancy, please make sure that the property is cleaned up to the same standard it was in which you received it. 5. Leave the property and its contents in the same condition it was when you first moved in. 6. Cancel your standing order with us after your final rent payment. 7. Notify us of any maintenance that is required at least 1 week prior to moving out. 8. Ensure that all internal and external doors are locked 9. Ensure that the property is free of all your belongings and any rubbish/waste is disposed of. 10. Hand in your keys to us by 11am at our office and fill out our key surrender form. Ideally bring a copy of the final payment to the utility companies as well. 13

Your Responsibilities as a tenant As a tenant, you have certain responsibilities when staying at a property. We have outlined most of them below, we will be checking on most of these articles when doing our check-out inspection. • Change the • Keeping the boiler lightbulbs pressure between • Bleed the 1 and 1.3 radiators • Ensure that • Unblock sinks and external drains, keep them drains/gutters are clear and free of kept clear of debris. debris. • Test smoke alarms • Maintain and replace ventilation, batteries especially in the • Re-set any tripped bathroom and switches/fuses kitchen to avoid • Read appliance damp + mould. manuals (these • Unblock vacuums can be found and change/clean online by googling filters. the appliance model number) • Relighting the pilot light on the boiler 14