Frequently Asked Questions

Renting with us

When are the houses available?

We list our houses for the next academic year in late October, and viewings start straight away. Most of our houses are let within about three weeks, so it’s worth having your group sorted before they go live.

Join our mailing list and we’ll email you as soon as they’re listed.

Where are your houses?

Our houses are in Cathays and Roath, Cardiff’s main student area, within walking distance of Cardiff University and the Students’ Union.

Most are in the ‘Golden Triangle’, the streets between Woodville Road, Senghennydd Road and Rhymney Street.

Are you a letting agent?

No. We’re a family business, and we own every house we let.

John Winter let his first house to Cardiff students in 1972, and our own small team still looks after everything, from viewings and contracts to repairs.

How many people live in each house?

Our houses are for groups of 3 to 7 students. Your group signs one contract for the whole house, and everyone has their own double bedroom.

Can I rent a single room?

We let whole houses to groups of friends, so we don’t let rooms individually.

Now and then a group needs someone to take a housemate’s place, so it’s worth keeping an eye on student housing groups on Facebook.

How do we secure a house for next year?

Choose a house you like on our Houses page and book a viewing using the online form. We’ll meet your group at our office on Woodville Road, talk through what you’re looking for and your budget, and show you the houses that suit you.

Once you’ve chosen, we’ll send you an electronic contract. You can sign it at our office or on your phone, so it doesn’t matter if someone in the group is away.

How long is the contract for?

Our contracts run for 12 months, from 3 July to 27 June the following year.

That means you can stay in Cardiff over the summer for work, placements or resits without moving your things out. If you stay on with us, your next contract runs straight on from the last one.

Do we need a deposit or a guarantor?

None.

We don’t take deposits, charge fees or ask for guarantors.

Your first rent payment isn’t due until July.

What type of tenancy are the houses let on?

We let our houses to groups of between 3 and 7 friends on a 12-month fixed-term standard occupation contract, the standard contract for renting in Wales. Your group signs one contract for the whole house.

When are the rent payments due?

Rent is paid in four quarterly instalments by direct debit: 1 July, 1 October, 1 January and 1 April. We usually move the January and April payments to just after your student loan arrives, and we’ll let you know the dates in advance.

If you’re on our bills-included package, your bills are added to the same payment, so there’s only one thing to pay each quarter.

If it helps, the July instalment can be split into monthly payments for July, August and September. Just ask us.

What if I want / need to leave?

Your contract runs for the full 12 months, so you can’t simply give notice. If you need to leave, you’ll need to find someone to take your place, and the rest of your group needs to be happy living with them. We’ll help where we can, and changing the contract costs nothing.

If you’re struggling for personal or financial reasons, talk to us first. A quick chat often helps, and we’d much rather keep you in a house you love.

Can I stay for more than one year?

Yes, and most of our groups do.

Some have stayed with us for four or five years on longer courses.

If your group stays on in the same house for a second year, our rent guarantee means your rent stays the same. We’ll be in touch in October to check your plans. Your new contract runs straight on from the old one. If you move to another of our houses, we overlap the contracts so you don’t need to move your things home or into storage.

Do you offer ‘bills included’?

Yes, as an option.

Our rents don’t include bills, but you can add our bills-included package: one fixed price per person per week for uncapped gas, electricity and water, plus 350Mbps WiFi, paid with your rent in one quarterly payment. We set up and manage all the accounts, so there’s no splitting bills or chasing housemates.

See our bills page for current prices.

Your house

Are the houses safe and secure?

Safety is our top priority:

Front doors have high-security locks, with restricted keys that can’t be copied and are numbered to each person.
Our houses are on well-lit residential streets, close to the university, town and local shops
Rear gardens are enclosed, and very few houses have rear lane access. Those that back onto gated lanes have extra security
Windows are double glazed, with locks and restrictors where needed
Every house has hard-wired, interlinked smoke and heat alarms, plus carbon monoxide alarms, all tested regularly
Gas safety checks every year by our Gas Safe registered engineer, and electrical testing by our long-serving NICEIC registered contractor
Houses are licensed with Cardiff Council where HMO licensing applies, and our team is trained and registered with Rent Smart Wales

Many of our houses sit next to each other, so your neighbours could well be John Winter tenants too.

Do bedrooms have locks?

Bedroom doors have a privacy bolt on the inside, but no keyed locks. This is for fire safety, so everyone can get out quickly and safely. Your front door has high-security locks with restricted keys that can’t be copied.

Are the houses modern?

Yes.

Our houses are designed by our own architectural team, with modern kitchens and bathrooms and good-quality furniture. Many tenants tell us their house is nicer than home (sorry, Mum and Dad).

Before every new group moves in, we redecorate the whole house, and we have a rolling programme of new carpets, furniture, kitchens and bathrooms. If your group stays on, we touch up anything that needs it over the summer.

Are the houses well-maintained?

Yes.

Report anything in your house group chat and Ollie, our Maintenance Manager, will usually have it looked at within 24 hours. Most small jobs are sorted quickly, and for bigger ones we use our own, long-serving, trusted contractors. We keep spare appliances in stock, so a broken fridge or washing machine can be swapped quickly.

Through the year we also check boilers, roofs, gutters and drains, so problems are caught early.

Do the houses include a garden, and who is responsible for its upkeep?

All our houses have outdoor space, either a garden or a courtyard, and our gardening team looks after it twice a month at no extra cost.

Am I allowed to stick things on my walls?

Yes, we want you to make your house feel like home.

You’re welcome to put things up, as long as they don’t damage the walls. In our experience, Blu-Tack and adhesive strips often pull the paint off, so please take care. Any damage will need putting right at the end of your contract.

If you’d like one of our pieces of furniture taken out to make room for your own, just ask.

What comes with the house and what will I need to buy?

Every house comes furnished with:

All large appliances: fridge freezer (typically American-style), electric oven, gas hob, dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer
Comfortable sofas to seat everyone
A dining table and chairs, or a breakfast bar and stools
A 4′ double bed with a memory foam mattress in every bedroom
A desk and chair, wardrobe and shelving
Blackout blinds and curtain poles
A microwave (provided in 6 and 7 bedroom houses)

You’ll need to bring bedding and towels, crockery, cutlery and kitchenware, a kettle, toaster, vacuum and iron, a microwave (3 to 5 bedroom houses), and curtains if you want them. Most groups split the cost of shared items. There’s a full list in our tenant handbook.

Living with us

Moving in

Contracts start on 3 July, and you collect your keys from our office. Your house will have had a full professional clean, including the carpets.

If you’d like to, we’ll meet your group at the house in May, so you can plan your move and talk through any work we’re doing over the summer. Most groups take us up on it.

Who will we deal with during our tenancy?

A small team, most of whom have been with us for years:

Ellie, our Office Manager, looks after contracts, rent and day-to-day questions
Ollie, our Maintenance Manager, looks after repairs and our maintenance contractors
Richard, our Business Manager, runs the business day-to-day

Find out more about our team here.

How do we get in contact with them?

Every house has a group chat with our team. It’s the quickest way to reach us, whether it’s a question, a repair or something urgent.

Our office is at 120 Woodville Road, Cathays, open Monday to Friday, 10am-5pm.

Call us on 02920 228 777, email lettings@johnwinterhouses.co.uk, or drop in.

What happens if something goes wrong out of hours?

Message your house group chat, which our team keeps an eye on.

For a gas leak, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 first, then let us know. Our tenant handbook explains what to do in an emergency.

Do I have to pay Council Tax?

No, as long as everyone in the house is a full-time student.

We register your exemption with Cardiff Council for you. Some vocational courses involving paid work may not count, so check with your course if you’re unsure, and let us know if your student status changes.

How do the bills work? How much are they?

Our rents don’t include bills. If you manage them yourselves, we’d suggest budgeting about £20–30 per person per week for gas, electricity, water and WiFi. You’ll set up the gas, electricity and water accounts using the meter readings we take on 3 July.

Alternatively, for the simplest experience, we recommend choosing our bills-included package, and we’ll handle all of it for one fixed price per person per week, paid with your rent. See our bills page for current prices.

How does the internet work?

Every house has 350Mbps fibre broadband, with access points fitted throughout so the signal reaches every room. There are no download limits, and plenty of capacity for everyone to stream at once.

WiFi is included in our bills-included package. Otherwise we can supply by itself without our bills package — please enquire for current pricing.

Do we need a TV licence?

Only if you watch live TV or BBC iPlayer on any device. A shared house on one contract needs one licence between you. Please ask about adding it to your bills package as it can easily be included.

Do I need contents insurance?

We insure the building and our furniture, but not your belongings.

Many students are covered by their parents’ home insurance, so check that first. If not, a contents-only policy is usually inexpensive.

Can I bring a pet?

We’re happy to consider small pets that live in an enclosure, such as fish, hamsters, gerbils and reptiles, as long as everyone in the house agrees and the pet is well looked after. Cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs and birds aren’t suitable for our houses. Over the years we’ve had lizards, snakes and even a tarantula (called Kevin!).

Please ask us before bringing a pet. Our pet policy has the details.

Do we need to clean the house when I leave?

No.

We arrange a professional clean before the next group moves in. We just ask that you:

Remove all your belongings and anything that isn’t ours
Take out all rubbish, recycling and food waste
Clean the oven
Empty, switch off and defrost the fridge freezer
Empty the cupboards

Then return your keys to our office by 9am on 27 June. We only charge if the house isn’t left to this standard, if rubbish or belongings are left behind, or if there’s damage that wasn’t reported.

Can I keep a car in Cardiff?

Most of our houses are within a 20-minute walk of everything you’ll need, so you probably won’t need a car.

If you do bring one, check with us first, as not every house is eligible for parking permits. Eligible houses can apply to Cardiff Council for up to two residents’ permits and visitor parking.

Any other questions?

Call us on 02920 228 777, email lettings@johnwinterhouses.co.uk, or drop into our office at 120 Woodville Road, Monday to Friday, 10am-5pm.