Moving in

For many of you, this will be the first house ​‘of your own’ – chosen by you, and for you to run how you please. Congratulations!

This section should serve as a useful checklist to help you get started with the basics of running your house. More detailed information on various aspects will follow, and if there’s anything you’re unsure of, our team will be more than happy to help.

Summer works

Our team run a substantial operation over the summer months to ensure your house is perfect for you when you move in full-time. Whilst the majority of work will be carried out before you collect your keys, certain aspects will be taken care of at the start of the contract, prioritised according to our discussions with you in May.

The Maintenance Manager will advise you at the start of your contract as to the timescale for completing these, but typically any issues which will affect your use of the property will be completed at the start of July, and less urgent issues will be addressed before September. It is our intention to have all issues dealt with well in advance of the start of the first semester.

This includes:

Cleaning

Our professional cleaning programme includes an in-depth clean of all aspects of the house, followed by professional high-temperature cleaning and sterilisation of all carpets.

Cleaning will take place before the 3^rd July move‑in date. 

Decorating

All walls which are showing any significant marking/​wear and tear will be repainted back to their original colour. Houses receive a refresh of all glossed woodwork on a 3–4 year cycle.

Our team of professional decorators are scheduled to redecorate applicable houses during the summer period, with works taking place throughout July and August. Our team of decorators are highly-skilled and are accustomed to working around your belongings.

Repairs, renewals and upgrades

Each year, various aspects of almost all houses are upgraded or renewed to offset wear and tear and general dilapidation through use, and from time-to-time larger upgrades, such as new kitchens or bathroom suites, are carried out. Each house will also typically require a number of minor repairs and general maintenance works. The specific requirements of each house are logged in May for completion over the summer. Typically this includes such items as loosened hinges or handles, blown lightbulbs, any routine plumbing work, the renewal of bathroom/​shower sealant, and the replacement of any furniture items which are no longer in the best condition.

Fire Safety

Smoke alarms

All properties are fitted with interlinked smoke alarms throughout, with detectors on each floor in addition to heat detectors in separate kitchens.

Properties are also fitted with carbon monoxide alarms for peace of mind, and all detectors are tested regularly. If a detector is set off, please never assume it is a false alarm and let us know immediately.

Fire safety tips

Our properties are all inspected to ensure their fire safety, however it is important to ensure that you follow some important rules:

• Never leave candles unattended and if in use ensure they are in a suitable heat-proof container
• Familiarise yourselves with the main means of escape route, which is typically via the hall, stairs and landing
• All escape routes (including hallways, stairways and landings) must be kept clear and free of obstructions at all times. These communal areas must not be used for storing personal items such as coats, shoes, or shoe racks, to ensure safe and unobstructed evacuation in an emergency
• Please ensure that E‑bikes/​E‑scooters are stored outside due to their high risk of causing fires
• Check any furniture or furnishings brought into the property by yourselves comply with fire safety standards. Any soft furnishings provided by us have been checked for fire safety
• Fire doors must be kept shut at all times for everyone’s safety. Please do not prop or wedge these open at any time, or disconnect any door closing mechanism where present
• In the event of a fire, it’s vital to act quickly – please exit the property as soon as possible ensuring everybody has been accounted for, and call 999 to ask for the fire brigade

Please contact us if you have any further questions regarding safety within your home.

Emergencies

Thankfully, emergencies rarely happen — however, the main categories of domestic emergency should be dealt with as follows:

Gas

Leave the property immediately leaving any doors open where possible, and call the National Gas Emergency Service (formerly Transco) on 0800 111 999 as soon as you’re outside. They will attend to make the supply of gas to the property safe. If you believe the leak to be significant, dial 999.

The Maintenance Manager should then be informed as soon as is reasonably practicable to do so.

Flooding

The water stopcock is normally located beneath the kitchen sink. Turn it off and let us know straight away. It may also be on pipework leading into the property. 

Electricity

Shut off power using the red master switch next to the electricity meter, or using the main switch in the fuse box.

Out of hours lockouts

For all out of hours lockouts, please message your group chat, or alternatively contact our Maintenance Manager directly on 07885 500 830.

Important documents

We pride ourselves on maintaining our properties to the highest standards, and this includes gas and electrical testing for your safety. You will have access to digital copies of the following documents for your records upon moving in to your property in July:

• Gas safety certificate (GSC)
• Electrical safety certificate (EICR)
• Energy performance certificate (EPC)
• A property floorplan
• A copy of your occupation contract at the property
• A copy of the Rent Smart Wales tenant guide

Utilities and bills

Please remember that if doing your own bills you will need to set up your gas, electricity and water accounts upon moving in.

Gas and electricity

• We will take opening meter readings (with photographs) for both gas and electricity on 3^rd July and will pass these on to your group.
• You will need to call the supplier with these opening readings to set up new household gas and electricity accounts starting from this date. You will need to do this even if you are not planning on living at the property during the summer.
• If you’d like to check the current supplier for your property please give us a message. If you were thinking of changing suppliers please contact us before doing so.

Water

• Your water account is provided by Welsh Water / Dŵr Cymru who are the singular provider of water services in Wales.
• We will send through the Welsh Water move in form which you will need to complete as of the 3^rd July.
• We strongly recommend paying by monthly Direct Debit to avoid billing issues later on in your contract.

Council Tax

You are exempt from paying Council Tax if all members of your household are full‑time students. There is no need for you to contact the Council with any further details – we have already passed these on to organise any exemptions.

Certain vocational or in-job training courses may not be exempt however – please check with your course coordinator and let us know if your student status changes at any point.

TV licensing

For a shared house on a joint contract, you will require one television licence per household if you intend to watch or record live television; on any device. This also includes ​‘catch-up’ services such as BBC Iplayer.

Licences are currently £180 for 12 months, with options for quarterly, direct debit and monthly payment by debit card.

Internet / WiFi

Your John Winter house comes installed with ultra-fast fibre optic broadband.

If you have opted to take this up with us, our agreement with Virgin Media business gives you speeds of up to 350Mb/​s without any limits or throttling at peak times (unlike other internet providers).

Additionally, to ensure you get the best internet coverage throughout your house we have installed a series of commercial-grade WiFi ​‘access points’. You may notice these as white discs mounted on the wall or ceiling.

Once a device is connected to your home WiFi it will automatically use the nearest ​‘access point’, ensuring that poor connections are a thing of the past. 
Our team has tested the connection in every room to ensure coverage 
throughout the property.

Your network name will be your property name, and your password will be printed on your key slip which is provided to you when you move in.

Please contact the John Winter team via your Facebook Messenger group chat if you are having any problems and we will be more than happy to help.

Bills-Inclusive Package

If you have signed up for our Bills-Inclusive package you can enjoy unlimited bills and utilities for the duration of your contract at a fixed rate.

This is a convenient and hassle-free way for sorting out household bills as we will take care of all your utility accounts for you.

Payments are made directly to us as a single quarterly amount that includes both rent and bills. This makes budgeting easier, eliminates the hassle of chasing housemates for their share, and helps avoid any end of month surprises. Unless otherwise agreed, payments will be taken automatically via the Direct Debit you’ve set up with us.

Apportioning bills

Bills for the house should be split equally across all housemates in all cases.

The vast majority of your household costs are ​‘unavoidable’ — heating to a comfortable level is necessary for avoiding mould and condensation, lighting is essential for your comfort and security, and in reality the costs of running appliances are negligible compared to all of your other routine expenditure. Differences in lifestyle rarely give rise to any significant increase or decrease in utility cost and will balance out over the course of a year. Water is, for almost all houses, on a fixed rate, and for electricity and gas a proportion of the cost is comprised of a daily fixed ​‘standing charge’. There should not be any worthwhile reason to dispute an equal split of household bills.

Apportioning bills over the summer

As there are standing charges or fixed costs for all utilities, there is rarely any real benefit to splitting bills unequally or for one or two people to be responsible for the bills if they are the only people living in the house over the summer. However, in the rare event that you need to come to an alternative arrangement, our Lettings Team can assist in calculating how to apportion costs over such periods.

Managing your household bills

You and your housemates will be jointly responsible for all utilities at your property, and the payment of these for the duration of your contract.

We recommend the use of a joint ​‘household’ account to facilitate bill‑splitting and help manage household finances.

We particularly recommend banks such as Monzo, Revolut and Starling which are all free to use and offer handy bill-splitting features to organise shared finances.

Alternatively there are apps such as ​‘Splitwise’ available, which are useful to keep on top of shared expenses without the need of setting up a new joint bank account. split​wise​.com

We strongly advise to pay all bills by monthly direct debit, as this offers the best tariffs and also helps with monthly budgeting. It will also save complications on your water billing which runs according to the financial year and can be difficult to reconcile otherwise.

Please get in touch if you have any further questions on how best to manage household bills or budgeting as a house, and we would be happy to advise as best we can.

Parking permits

Cardiff is a very walkable city and we strongly discourage you from bringing cars with you during term time. There are also currently plans to prevent students from applying for permits in the future.

If however you decide to bring a car, please first check with us that your property is eligible for one, as not all are. If your property is eligible you would currently qualify for a maximum of two Residents’ Permits and one Visitor Permit if required.

Current pricing for 12 months is as follows:

Permits are arranged digitally through the MiPermit website: secure​.miper​mit​.com/​c​a​rdiff

Temporary visitor parking can also be bought through MiPermit with a maximum of 6 bundles of 850 hours each for £35 per bundle.

You will not be able to apply for a permit until you have moved into your property as you will need your council tax number — please contact us if you require this.

Please note that your car must be insured to your term time address if you wish to apply for a Residents Permit. This may affect your cars insurance premium.

Insurance

The majority of students are covered on their parent’s home contents insurance policies for a limited value of possessions away from home. Please check with them as to whether you are covered. If not, you will need your own policy for home contents cover only, and it is recommended that you shop around, as quotes vary considerably.

Please be sure to purchase the correct type of insurance — there is no need to insure our contents or the building, and some student ​‘room insurance’ policies can be invalid in a shared house. Please contact us for advice if you are finding it difficult to find a suitable policy.