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Student in halls, University of Hull
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Second Year Accomodation

Are there any companies I should/should not go for when looking for a house for second year?
Reply 1
Metrobeans
Are there any companies I should/should not go for when looking for a house for second year?


Hey Beans,

I would advise against Unicom at all costs because they are notoriously awful - high prices, bad quality homes, slow service, unreasonable demands.

Many would also advise against Club Easy for most of the same reasons, but their houses are a little nicer, but still quite expensive in comparison.

However, those two are the biggest companies with the most advertising so its easy to see why people get sucked into that.

I've been with Longman Jones for 2 years (final year and MA Year) and in my 2nd year had my bad experiences with UniCom.

Cannot rate Longman Jones highly enough. Steve, the main man, is straight talking, he wont give you a sales pitch, just say it how it is, and trust me after going around visiting with all other companies, its mighty refreshing. Whenever we've had problems with the houses theyve been sorted pretty much the same day. Last year, not our or his fault, we had a flood from a burst water main - he found us alternative accomodation the same day and gave us compensation. He also part paid our electricity bill for the massive dehumidifier we had in to dry out the house.

It seems to me that the smaller companies are the best, they want to look after their tenants so that theyll stay on, whereas Unicom and ClubEasy know that with their marketing budget, theyll always get students.

Others include - Accomodation Warehouse - mixed reviews but the houses are to a high standard (probably 3rd largest company for student letting), Kexgill, who offer crazy beer / food deals for signing up early, Rooms4U, Wardbright - i know nothing on these 2 I'm afraid.

You've also got to bear in mind...
1) How many people you want to live with. Choose carefully!
2) Whether you want to have an all-inclusive contract, or bills separate. Generally its cheaper to have bills separate but you have the faff of sorting out payment when the bills arrive. Personally I've always done bills separate and its been no bother. On average, companies will whack a tenner on top of basic rate, per week, to have bills in. I would say that this is far too much. If you calculate say, 5 of you in the house. thats 50quid a week to the company on bills. It does not cost 50quid a week to have gas, water and electric in your home!! Its probably about half that, if anything!
3) Think about also... TV Licence - 140quid ish for the house. Is this included in your contract, some are, if not, another extra cost. INTERNET - is this included. If not you've got set up fees if the wireless is not already installed - near on 50quid sometimes and your basic rate of about 14.99 a month plus line rental at about 9quid a month.

Sorry for such an essay but make sure you shop around, DONT be pressured into thinking - omfg i must getz a house asaplike! - thats not the case. there are NEVER any people without accomodation. make sure you get a house right for you, close to the uni if thats what you want - think about shops nearby for food shopping if you havent a car, etc etc.

Good luck!
Student in halls, University of Hull
University of Hull
Kingston-upon-Hull
Visit website
Pay attention to what sav has said, she knows her stuff!

I'm with Accommodation Warehouse this year. When we looked around the house last year it seemed like a great house, in good shape and didn't seem like there was anything wring with it. It IS a good house, by far the nicest one we saw, but when we moved in the boiler was broken, and we only just got this fixed a couple of weeks ago. There's also bad damp in a couple of bedrooms and we sometimes get slugs in the kitchen. What I'm trying to say is that things like that won't be obvious when you look around, so if you can talk to the current tenants out of earshot of the guide and get them to dish the dirt!
Reply 3
I was with Clubeasy last year, whatever you do... do not give your money to those thieving scoundrels.

When my room got broken into it took them 2-3 days to repair it and fix the lock, and even then it was a botch job. When we complained about the damp in our living room they did nothing all year to sort it out, when I complained about the mould on my window they did nothing about that either, at one point they drained every customers accounts when they took double rent off people and then took 1-2 weeks to repay it back leaving everyone up **** creek, they get really arsey whenever you make maintenance requests, and their prices are expensive for what you get (crap internet speed, poor service, and lack of care).

I'm with Wardbright this year who are ok, it's not all inclusive but it works out cheaper paying your own bills really since you can pick the cheapest energy supplier and take advantages of offers and discounts. We had damp in our bathroom and within 24 hours of complaining they had a guy round to fit a new extractor fan and scrub the bathroom down and whilst he was here he did loads of other odd jobs we requested too. The women in the office is a bit of a grump though.
Reply 4
fire2burn, I know SO many people who's rent was taken out twice this year by Club Easy, which is ridiculous.

Another thing that irritated me about unicom is that they'd send out these mass emails to all tenants. Except all email addresses were visible - so i pretty much had the names of everyone who was renting that year. Now i know you cant do much damage with just someones name and email address, but it was this kinda carelessness and nonchalant attitude that you really dont need from a landlord.
Reply 5
. sav
Hey Beans,

I would advise against Unicom at all costs because they are notoriously awful - high prices, bad quality homes, slow service, unreasonable demands.

Many would also advise against Club Easy for most of the same reasons, but their houses are a little nicer, but still quite expensive in comparison.

However, those two are the biggest companies with the most advertising so its easy to see why people get sucked into that.

I've been with Longman Jones for 2 years (final year and MA Year) and in my 2nd year had my bad experiences with UniCom.

Cannot rate Longman Jones highly enough. Steve, the main man, is straight talking, he wont give you a sales pitch, just say it how it is, and trust me after going around visiting with all other companies, its mighty refreshing. Whenever we've had problems with the houses theyve been sorted pretty much the same day. Last year, not our or his fault, we had a flood from a burst water main - he found us alternative accomodation the same day and gave us compensation. He also part paid our electricity bill for the massive dehumidifier we had in to dry out the house.

It seems to me that the smaller companies are the best, they want to look after their tenants so that theyll stay on, whereas Unicom and ClubEasy know that with their marketing budget, theyll always get students.

Others include - Accomodation Warehouse - mixed reviews but the houses are to a high standard (probably 3rd largest company for student letting), Kexgill, who offer crazy beer / food deals for signing up early, Rooms4U, Wardbright - i know nothing on these 2 I'm afraid.

You've also got to bear in mind...
1) How many people you want to live with. Choose carefully!
2) Whether you want to have an all-inclusive contract, or bills separate. Generally its cheaper to have bills separate but you have the faff of sorting out payment when the bills arrive. Personally I've always done bills separate and its been no bother. On average, companies will whack a tenner on top of basic rate, per week, to have bills in. I would say that this is far too much. If you calculate say, 5 of you in the house. thats 50quid a week to the company on bills. It does not cost 50quid a week to have gas, water and electric in your home!! Its probably about half that, if anything!
3) Think about also... TV Licence - 140quid ish for the house. Is this included in your contract, some are, if not, another extra cost. INTERNET - is this included. If not you've got set up fees if the wireless is not already installed - near on 50quid sometimes and your basic rate of about 14.99 a month plus line rental at about 9quid a month.

Sorry for such an essay but make sure you shop around, DONT be pressured into thinking - omfg i must getz a house asaplike! - thats not the case. there are NEVER any people without accomodation. make sure you get a house right for you, close to the uni if thats what you want - think about shops nearby for food shopping if you havent a car, etc etc.

Good luck!


Cheers for this (+rep tomorrow)

By what date should you get it sorted though if you want a decent house, reasonably close to Uni( 10/20 minutes walking distance). Alot of people I know have already started sorting it but because I dunno who I'm living with, I can't really start looking!

Cheers
zKlown
Cheers for this (+rep tomorrow)

By what date should you get it sorted though if you want a decent house, reasonably close to Uni( 10/20 minutes walking distance). Alot of people I know have already started sorting it but because I dunno who I'm living with, I can't really start looking!

Cheers


Do not panic! I didn't get my house sorted until end of jan/start of feb. Besides some companies won't let you start looking until the accommodation fair in feb. My friends and I ignored this though and some companies break the rules so they can start signing people up early. In short, you don't have to start NOW, but you should probably be thinking about it when you come back in semester 2. Right now maybe talk to your friends and sort out who you will live with, but you don't really need to do any more than that for the time being.
Reply 7
catoutofthebag
Do not panic! I didn't get my house sorted until end of jan/start of feb. Besides some companies won't let you start looking until the accommodation fair in feb. My friends and I ignored this though and some companies break the rules so they can start signing people up early. In short, you don't have to start NOW, but you should probably be thinking about it when you come back in semester 2. Right now maybe talk to your friends and sort out who you will live with, but you don't really need to do any more than that for the time being.


Thanks very much, I still have no idea who I'm staying with.

I don't want Uni accomadation, I want to do what everyone else is doing like and I don't care if I get randomers, can you sign up for like a nice nearby house by yourself?
Reply 8
University approved landlords are covered by what is called THE SCHEME. This is a set of rules and regulations that landlords have to abide by to have this certificate of approval. It might interest some of you, so here is what the landlords have to do to be Scheme-Approved... http://www.studentpad.co.uk/hull/The-Scheme-Hand-book.asp#intro

Back in the day, all student landlords in Hull were pretty much covered by this, and some started to take the mick a little bit, not taking this seriously. Over the last few years since I've been here, this is tightening up, big time. Some landlords have been REMOVED from the scheme as the university deem them NOT to the standard reqquired. Rumour has it Unicom is one of these, though The Scheme website still lists it as approved... but the Unicom website itself does NOT display the Scheme-Approved Tick logo. (( See for example http://www.longmanjones.co.uk/ where it is clearly displayed at the top))

One of the scheme agreements is that landlords CANNOT and WILL NOT show prospective tenants around properties, or even release details of properties until a certain date at a University Run Accomodation Fair - usually in the first couple of weeks of February. This is to prevent other landlords using scare tactics, pressuring you into signing early, making you worry that you wont get a house etc etc, and artificically driving prices up because you feel you have no alternative. IF landlords show you round properties BEFORE then, this is a violation of sceme rules and landlords can be reported and removed from this approved system.
The Fair is there to make sure everyone has an equal chance of getting a house that suits them. It is well advertised before the date, usually is listed in your university diary and means that everyone can be at the starting post at the same time!!!

There are houses of all sizes, shapes, distances in Hull and like I said before, make sure you take in the surroundings when you visit and DONT be swayed by sales pitches or the like. People will try and throw anything in - Unicom are offering a bottle of wine with every visit you go on - this is just cheap, shameless marketing.

I should also note that there is a get-around clause for this non-release-non-showing of houses before the date rule. If you are a CURRENT tenant with a landlord, they can show you any property in their range and they can also give you first pick of whether you want to resign for the same house. So if you were in a student house in your first year - go out there now and see what your landlord can offer you. Some do discounts if you stay on another year and obviously things like admin fees, deposits etc will be carried over and you will not have to pay this again.

Therefore, in answer (finally) to zKlowns question - you cannot, if you live in Halls, look at houses until the accomodation fair, so dont sweat it until then. If you live in a Student house, you have a bit more of a free reign.
Equally, if you dont know who you want to live with - go to the landlords and see what they can do for you. There are loads of people in this situation, dont panic at all.

My one piece of advice would be... be sensible. Dont get giddy. This is for a whole year and you want to be comfortable both in your house and financially. Keep a level head. Sad as it sounds, I found that discussing what I'd seen with my Dad was really very helpful.
Reply 9
I'll echo what fire2burn said about clubeasy (since we lived in the same house!) - they're awful awful awful.

+ don't overlook Head Leasing - these are properties managed by the University (they act as your landlord), but actually owned by someone else. I'm in one now and it's pretty damn good. They're not out to make massive profits so the rent's reasonable, water's included but not gas/elec. Should be information on this at the accommodation fair.

Reminds me I need to find somewhere to live next year...
Reply 10
Thanks for all of the advice.

How much deposit did you guys have to pay. How much is normal?
Reply 11
As far as I knw, some companies have scrapped deposits and just take an admin fee - sometimes upto 200quid. Scandalous, but sadly theres nothing you can do.
Reply 12
Cheers. One of the guys I'll be living with next year has booked a viewing with Unicom. I'll try and convince them to go with someone else! I quite like the look of Keghill atm.
Reply 13
Hi I've been with Unicom 3 years now just about to do my masters, they have been nothing but brilliant! Their services have improved year by year, their maintenance team respond within 24 hours....couldn't ask for much more would highly recommend them!
It also might be worth looking up any houses you're interested in on Hull STARS which is basically a site where students review the houses and landlords they've been with. I've personally been with private landlords (scheme approved) for 3 years who have been great though like with companies private landlords can vary.
Reply 15
Yeah good point Midnight star Hull Stars is definitely a good shout as for me I can only speak for my personal experience with Unicom :smile:
Reply 16
Original post by Metrobeans
Are there any companies I should/should not go for when looking for a house for second year?


PLEASE DONT COME to The Portland, 65 paragon street!

It is a poorly managed accommodation, no wifi ( wifi breaks down instantly and not all the room has wifi). It's scary! no lights everywhere, even fire exit, stairs, common room, 2 lights working out of 20.

The staff is rude, always. Told them there is no wifi but they said they can't do anything and they never promise there is wifi in every room. Well, people stepped into your room at 1:30am ( student ambassador lending their key card to friends so they can find an empty room to have sex?). There is no one at the reception, lazy and don't care about anything. Investors who owned some of the rooms did not get their rental fees paid for 3 years and more as the company scammed them.

Curtain rack fell down after you bathed and the manager said it is no urgent. Flooding occured at midnight and people smoke all the time and trigger the fire alarm! Extremely horrible experience. No cleaner and maintenance team, self-service. 99 pounds a week with dirty sofa, kitchen, no lights, no wifi, water with sendiments ewwwww
Reply 17
Hey Unicom propaganda team,what a joke. when i first came , emailed them and said they have en-suite room. When we made an appointment for viewing, the guy said no en-suite room actually, only one room left.

Rejected them in email and still spamming for like ' we have new rooms!'

hmmm?
Original post by Joe118
Hi I've been with Unicom 3 years now just about to do my masters, they have been nothing but brilliant! Their services have improved year by year, their maintenance team respond within 24 hours....couldn't ask for much more would highly recommend them!
Original post by Quiton
Hey Unicom propaganda team,what a joke. when i first came , emailed them and said they have en-suite room. When we made an appointment for viewing, the guy said no en-suite room actually, only one room left.

Rejected them in email and still spamming for like ' we have new rooms!'

hmmm?


I heard that a common tactic of theirs is to show you three or four houses where the first two are really bad but then the third one is much better in comparison (but probably still mediocre at best) but as it's much better than the others you get a false impression of what is available and think that house is amazing. They then tell you if you don't sign up straight away, the house is likely going to be taken by somebody else so you get a contract before you have a chance to realise the standard available is much better. They tend to do this with people who sign up really early. I mean this was 3 years ago so I don't know if they still do that but I wouldn't be surprised.
Original post by Metrobeans
Are there any companies I should/should not go for when looking for a house for second year?


Where would you recommend staying in the first year?

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