Terms and Conditions of Business

Please read the following important terms and conditions before you register to use our website or submit an order for our services, and check that they contain everything that you want and nothing that you are not willing to agree to.

1.            These terms

1.1          What these terms cover. These are the terms and conditions which will apply when you use our website or order any services from us.

1.2          Who these terms cover. In these terms ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’ means StudentTenant.com Limited, and ‘you’ or ‘your’ means the person using our website or purchasing our services.

1.3          Why you should read these terms. Please read these terms carefully before you use our website or submit your order to us. These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide services to you, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you do not understand any of these terms and want to contact us about them, please contact us in one of the ways set out in section 2.2 below.

1.4          Additional terms. When using our website and ordering services from us you will also be bound by our website terms and conditions and any documents referred to in them. Specific terms may also be agreed between you and us in writing from time to time. All of the above documents form part of this contract as though set out in full here.

1.5          Are you a business or a consumer? Our services may only be used by:

1.5.1            private landlords (or any third party listing agents acting on behalf of private landlords); and

1.5.2            students.

Any reference to ‘consumers’ in these terms means private landlords and students. 

References to ‘landlord’ in these terms means private landlords.

References to ‘tenant’ in these terms means students.

In respect of third party listing agents acting on behalf of private landlords, our services for posting such agents’ listings on to websites is limited to postings on to our own website. We will not post such agents’ listings on to third party websites, such as Rightmove.co.uk and Zoopla.co.uk, as part of our services.

Other than as set out above and to private hall providers (see business terms and conditions for private hall providers), we do not supply our services to businesses, that is, for use in connection with a trade, business or profession.

2.            Information about us and how to contact us

2.1          Who we are. We are StudentTenant.com Limited a company registered in England and Wales. Our company registration number is 09456136 and our registered office is at 467a Smithdown Road, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, L15 5AE. Our registered VAT number is 14025267.

We are members of The Property Ombudsman and adhere to its code of conduct for letting agents. For further details please visit www.tpos.co.uk.

2.2          How to contact us. You can contact us by telephoning our customer service team at 0333 772 0618 between 9 and 5.30 Monday to Friday, or 10-4 on Saturday, or by writing to us at [email protected] or 467a Smithdown Road, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, L15 5AE.

2.3          How we may contact you. If we have to contact you we will do so by telephone or by writing to you at the email address or postal address you provided to us in your registration.

2.4          "Writing" includes emails. When we use the words "writing" or "written" in these terms, this includes emails.

3.            Our contract with you

3.1          How we will accept your registration or order for our services.

3.1.1            Our acceptance of your registration to use our services will take place when we email you to confirm your registration, at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us

3.1.2            Our acceptance of your order for our services will take place when we email you to accept your property upload, at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us.

3.2          If we cannot accept your order. If we are unable to accept your order, we will inform you of this in writing and will not charge you for the services ordered. For example, this might be because we are unable to process your payment, or we are unable to verify any of the information that we need to check before agreeing to market your property, or because there is content in your advert that we are unable to approve, or because we have identified an error in the price or description of the services.

4.            Our services

4.1          Description of the services. We will supply the services to you in accordance with the description of the services on the relevant webpage of our website in all material respects. We and you may make changes to the services as explained in sections 5 and 6 below.

4.2          How we will provide the services. We will perform our services using reasonable skill and care.

4.3          Third party service or product providers. Please note that in some cases we may accept orders from you for services or products (or both) which will be supplied by a third party. For example, a third party may provide an energy performance certificate, or property inventory. We will provide you with details of the third party if this is the case. The contract for such services or products will be between you and that third party, and is subject to the third party’s own terms and conditions, which you should request from the relevant third party. We are not responsible for any loss or damage that you suffer through any act, default or negligence of any third party which arises other than through our negligence, omission or failure. We may receive a commission payment in respect of the referral to the third party if you use their services.

4.4          When we will provide the services. We will supply the services for the duration stated on our website and (where applicable) confirmed to you during the order process. We will supply the services to you until either the services are completed or your subscription expires (if applicable) or you end the contract as described in section 9 or we end the contract by written notice to you as described in section 10.

4.5          We are not responsible for delays outside our control. We will use our reasonable efforts to meet any performance dates specified by us. If our supply of the services is delayed by an event outside our control then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay and let you have a revised performance date. Provided we do this we will not be liable for delays caused by the event, but if there is a risk of substantial delay you may contact us to end the contract and receive a refund for any services you have paid for but not received (see section 9.2 below).

4.6          If you do not allow us access to provide services. If you do not allow us access to your property when required to perform the services as arranged (and you do not have a good reason for this), we may charge you additional costs incurred by us as a result. If, despite our reasonable efforts, we are unable to contact you or re-arrange access to your property we may end the contract and section 10.2 will apply.

4.7          What will happen if you do not give required information to us. We may need certain information from you so that we can supply the services to you. If so, this will have been stated in the description of the services on our website or we will contact you in writing to ask for this information. If you do not give us this information within a reasonable time of us asking for it, or if you give us incomplete or incorrect information, we may either end the contract (and section 10.2 will apply) or make an additional charge of a reasonable sum to compensate us for any extra work that is required as a result. We will not be responsible for supplying the services late or not supplying any part of them if this is caused by you not giving us the information we need within a reasonable time of us asking for it.

4.8          Reasons we may suspend the supply of services to you. We may have to suspend the supply of a service to:

4.8.1            deal with technical problems or make minor technical changes;

4.8.2            update the service to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements;

4.8.3            make changes to the service as requested by you (see section 5) or notified by us to you (see section 6);

4.8.4            Review your advert where new content has been added that we need to approve.

4.9          Your rights if we suspend the supply of services. We will contact you in advance to tell you we will be suspending supply of the services, unless the problem is urgent or an emergency. If we have to suspend the services for longer than 72 hours in any 1 week period we may adjust the price so that you do not pay for services while they are suspended. You may contact us to end the contract for a service if we suspend it, or tell you we are going to suspend it, in each case for a period of more than 7 days  and we will refund any sums you have paid in advance for the service in respect of the period after you end the contract.

4.10       We may also suspend supply of the services if you do not pay. If you do not pay us for the services when you are supposed to (see section 13.4) and you still do not make payment within 48 hours of us reminding you that payment is due, we may suspend supply of the services until you have paid us the outstanding amounts. We will contact you to tell you we are suspending supply of the services. We will not suspend the services where you dispute the unpaid invoice (see section 13.6). We will not charge you for the services during the period for which they are suspended. As well as suspending the services we can also charge you interest on your overdue payments (see section 13.5).

5.            Your rights to make changes to the services

5.1          If you wish to make a change to the service you have ordered please contact us. We will let you know if the change is possible. If it is possible we will let you know about any changes to the price of the service, the timing of supply or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change, and ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change.

6.            Our rights to make changes to the services

6.1          Minor changes to the services. We may change the service:

6.1.1            to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements; and

6.1.2            to implement minor technical adjustments and improvements, for example to address a security threat. These changes will not affect your use of the services.

6.2          More significant changes to the services and these terms. In addition, as we informed you in the description of the services on our website, we may make changes to the services. We may also make changes to these terms. If we do make any changes to the services or these terms we will notify you in writing and you may then contact us to end the contract before the changes take effect, and receive a refund for any services paid for but not supplied (see section 9.2).

7.            Specific terms for Landlords

7.1          Uploading property details. You will be given a login to access StudentTenant.com which will allow you to upload properties for potential tenants to view. You may only upload a property if:

7.1.1            you have all necessary permissions, licences and consents in place required to let the property (including from any mortgage or other charge holder with an interest in the property);

7.1.2            you have notified any building or contents insurer for the property of the intended letting of the property;

7.1.3            your property is safe and free from health hazards:

7.1.4            all gas and electrical equipment at the property is safely installed and maintained and you have in place all compulsory safety certification and agree to provide copies of the same to us on demand;

7.1.5            your property complies with all applicable fire safety regulations;

7.1.6            you have an up to date energy performance certificate for the property and agree to provide a copy of the same to us on demand;

7.1.7            you will protect any tenant deposit in a government-approved tenancy deposit scheme (see section 7.10 below);

7.1.8            you are a private landlord, and you are not uploading the property for or on behalf of a letting agent or estate agent, or otherwise using an uploaded property for the purposes of advertising, endorsing or otherwise promoting a letting agent or estate agent, or soliciting business for a letting agent or estate agent.

7.1.9            you are a fit and proper person for the purposes of the Housing Act 2004;

7.1.10         information about the property is up-to-date, accurate and complete and does not contain any misrepresentations or other potentially misleading information;

7.1.11         you are compliant with and will continue to comply with all applicable codes, standards or other requirements imposed by any university to whose students you wish your properties to be advertised and to which you subscribe (and if you do not subscribe to specific university codes, standards or requirements you will subscribe to and comply with an alternative code, standard or other requirement which offers tenants materially equivalent protections);

7.1.12         you comply and will continue to comply with any other codes or standards of which we notify you from time to time.

7.2          Our right to amend your property advert. Please note that your property advert will be vetted by our team before it is uploaded to any external portal. We reserve the right to make amendments to the property description before it is advertised on our website, or any additional portal, as may be reasonably necessary in order to ensure that the property description and information complies with our terms and conditions.

7.3          Where your property listing will be displayed. When you upload a property it will be displayed on the StudentTenant.com website and (subject to the property status) it may be uploaded to the Rightmove.co.uk and Zoopla.co.uk websites (subject to our arrangements from time to time with Rightmove and Zoopla).

If our services to you include featured and premium listings of your property, these are subject to availability, and we cannot guarantee where your listing will appear as allocation is on a random basis.

7.4          Access and use of StudentTenant.com. All access to and use of StudentTenant.com shall be subject to all of the terms referred to in section 1 above. You will be asked to accept the website terms by ticking an on-screen box when you register and at other times when you use the site.

7.5          The price of our services and payment terms

7.5.1            When you upload a property it will be displayed (subject to vetting - see section 7.2 above) on the StudentTenant.com website and may be displayed on the Rightmove and Zoopla websites (subject to vetting) for a maximum of 60 days for free (subject to our arrangements and license agreements with Rightmove and Zoopla) (see section 7.3 above). Extensions of partner portal advertising can be purchased if required.

7.5.2            The price and payment terms of the other services available to landlords is set out on the relevant webpages for the services on our website. Subscribed services are subject to annual review of fees.

7.5.3            For our Tenant find package landlords will be required to pay an up-front fee when we successfully find tenants prior to the completion of any administration by us on your behalf. This will be the difference between any holding deposit paid by the tenant and £149, where the holding deposit paid is less than this amount.

7.5.4            The payment for the Tenancy Setup package of services only applies to the completion of one set of legal documentation for the original tenants of the relevant property, and any changes to our template agreements, or any new agreements (with the original or new tenants), will incur an additional charge to be paid by the landlord. The amount of such additional charge will be agreed between the landlord and us in writing at the relevant time.

7.5.5            Landlords who opt for our Tenancy Setup package and who have tenants wishing to renew their tenancies for the following academic year, will be required to pay a renewal fee as specified on our website. This will cover the cost of new reference checks and administration required to secure the tenancies for the next academic year.

7.5.6            If you ask us to provide a gas safety certificate for your property you will be charged at a base rate as set out on our website to test only one gas appliance at the property, most often the gas boiler. Each additional gas appliance tested will be subject to an additional charge payable by you in the amount set out by the third party supplier at the time of the assessment.

7.6          Tenant Viewings. When a tenant contacts us directly we will liaise with you to arrange a mutually convenient time for you to conduct a viewing. We do not verify the information from potential tenants and cannot take responsibility for the accuracy of it.  We also do not take responsibility for the appointment nor do we guarantee that the tenant will attend. Students may also request a viewing time through the automated viewings system, which you are responsible for responding to directly. We may also contact you regarding students who are unable to view to get your authorisation to proceed with the booking should you agree we can do so.

Your direct contact details will not be displayed on the advert and all contact between you and the potential tenants will be facilitated through us.

7.7          Tenant Reference checks and fees.

7.7.1            If you wish to let your property to a tenant introduced by us you must refer them to us for the processing of their application, including the collection of a holding deposit, the conduct of guarantor credit checks for which we will charge you, as landlord, a fee as stated on our website.

7.7.2            Once we have conducted credit checks we will send a report to you detailing the results of those credit checks.

7.7.3            If you let your property to a tenant introduced by us but do not refer them to us for the processing of their application and the conduct of guarantor credit checks, we reserve the right to invoice you for the entire fee, with the addition of a £30 administration fee to cover our costs.

7.7.4            If you request that an alternative guarantor is put forward, a further reference check of the alternative guarantor will be required. You, as landlord, will be required to pay a further fee of £30 (Inc. VAT).

7.7.5            If you seek to end the contract after we have commenced the credit checking process for a tenant, we reserve the right to invoice you for the entire fee. Any refunds in respect of booking fees already paid by you shall be subject to you notifying us in accordance with these terms that the tenant no longer wishes to rent the property and at the time that you notify us we have not started the reference or guarantor checking process, which will commence once the tenant submits his or her application.

7.8          Tenancy Agreements and Guarantor Agreements.

7.8.1            Tenant Find Package. If you have subscribed to our Tenant Find package of services described on our website, you are solely responsible for agreeing the terms of any tenancy agreement you choose to enter into with the tenant, and the terms of any guarantor agreement you choose to enter into with a guarantor.

7.8.1.1           You must ensure that the tenancy agreement is signed within the time limits imposed by the Tenant Fees Act 2019, and you must also inform us when you have done so. You must also ensure that it complies with any other applicable laws.

7.8.1.2           Where you do not comply with 7.8.1.1 above, you agree to indemnify us for any losses we incur as a result of any non-conformity.

7.8.2            Tenancy Setup Package. If you have subscribed to our Tenancy Setup package of services described on our website, we will provide you with template tenancy and guarantor agreements and will facilitate the signing of these through our online platform. Using these services does not negate any of your obligations as a landlord in relation to the Housing Act 1988 amended by the Housing Act 1995 and the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

7.8.3            Instruction of Solicitors. Our tenancy agreement and guarantor agreement are standard legal documents. We are not solicitors and cannot advise you on legal technicalities. If you require further information about your rights and obligations as landlords, you should consult a solicitor.

If we are providing our management service to you, we will inform you if any rent arrears or breaches come to our attention. Thereafter, if legal action should be necessary, you will be responsible for instructing your own solicitor and for any fees or charges applicable. We cannot take legal action on your behalf as the tenancy agreement is between you and the tenant.

7.9          Landlord’s responsibilities. It is your responsibility as the landlord to:

7.9.1            ensure that all parties are aware of their obligations contained within any of the legal documentation we provide. We are only responsible for providing the services and legal documentation as described on our website.

7.9.2            ensure all tenancy agreements and guarantor agreements have been signed correctly and the deposit paid before allowing a tenant to move into your property in line with all applicable laws;

7.9.3            where you are responsible for collecting the tenant’s rent, ensure that any holding deposits collected by us are deducted from the first month’s rent in full;

7.9.4            comply with all legal and contractual obligations that apply to your operations as a landlord, including those referred to in section 7.1 and Schedule 1;

7.9.5            comply with all the obligations and responsibilities set out in all of our terms referred to in section 1 above.

7.10       Security Deposits and the Deposit Schemes. All deposits taken by landlords for an Assured Shorthold Tenancy must be protected by a tenancy deposit protection scheme. The tenant must be notified with specific information about how and under which scheme the deposit is protected within 30 days of the commencement of the tenancy/deposit is paid, whichever is earlier.

If you have subscribed to our Tenancy Setup package of services described on our website we will register and lodge the deposit on your behalf with one of the approved schemes unless otherwise agreed. If you wish to register the deposit personally we will arrange for the tenant to pay you the deposit directly before they move in. You will be required by law to serve all the required legal documentation to the tenants within the required amount of time for this purpose and may have severe fines and difficulty regaining possession if this is not done correctly. If we are collecting the deposit on your behalf, it the Landlord's responsibility to ensure payment has been made to us and the deposit lodged prior to allowing the tenant to move in to the property.

We will accept no liability for any wrongdoing in respect of deposit protection when a landlord receives the deposit directly.

Where a deposit is paid or partially paid from a reservation fee, as set out below under section 8.4.3, the amount shall be treated as having been received by you on the date of the tenancy agreement, for the purposes of section 213 of the Housing Act 2004.

7.11       Deposit and rent collection. We will hold any funds received on your behalf in a client account.

7.12       Overseas Landlords. Where you reside overseas and we collect funds on your behalf you will provide us with your non-resident landlord scheme number and inform HMRC that we are instructed as your agents and request that they confirm to us in writing release of funds to you without tax deductions.

7.13       Inventories. If we are not providing this service to you we strongly advise all landlords to have a professional inventory compiled by an independent inventory company for checking by the inventory clerk at the commencement and termination of each tenancy. You acknowledge that the costs of an inventory check shall not be borne by the tenant.

7.14       Energy Performance Certificates. If our services to you include providing an energy performance certificate for your property, the property in question will be assessed as seen. We do not offer any additional assistance in the preparation of a property for an Energy Performance Certificate assessment, such as advising about, or implementing, any energy saving measures. We take no responsibility for any discrepancies in opinion of the ratings supplied by the assessor.

7.15       Professional photography. If our services to you include providing a professional photographer, we will provide an individual with sufficient photography skills who will attend the property and take photographs of each room. The photographs will be edited by the photographer, and the photographs selected by the photographer will be provided to the landlord in digital format within 14 days after the photographer visits the property.

7.16       No lettings guarantee. We do not guarantee the quality/quantity of any interest, viewing requests, or bookings to any landlord listing their property on our website.

7.17       Your responsibility for loss or damage suffered by us. You hereby indemnify us from and against all costs, expenses (including legal and other professional fees and expenses), losses, damages and other liabilities (of whatever nature, whether contractual, tortious or otherwise) suffered or incurred by us and arising out of or in, connection with any claim by a tenant or prospective tenant or any other third party as a result of any breach or alleged breach by you of these terms and conditions and any legal or contractual obligations that apply to your operations as a landlord.

7.18       Removing your property advert and ending the contract. You may choose to remove your property advert at any time through your account settings, but you will not be entitled to a refund of any charges you have paid simply because you decide you no longer want to advertise your property.

7.19       Your rights to end the contract and be paid a refund

Your rights to end the contract are set out in section 9.

Section 9.2 explains the circumstances in which you will be entitled to be paid a refund. The following table outlines the level of refund you will be entitled to in different circumstances:

Contracted ended within 14 days of initial property upload

100% refund

Contract ended after the initial 14 day cooling off period, but where no booking has taken place

50% refund

Contract ended after a booking has taken place

No refund due

 

8.            Specific terms for Tenants

PLEASE PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO SECTION 8.7 BELOW

8.1          You must use our reservation and reference process. If you wish to proceed with renting a property which is advertised on our website we will ask you to supply details for a UK based guarantor who we will conduct a credit check on. As a tenant, we will not charge you to obtain a reference or to undertake a third party credit check.

8.2          Holding deposit payment

8.2.1            Private residential property. In order to reserve a shared private residential property through us, you will be required to pay a holding deposit of an amount of £50 for the relevant property, unless the landlord has agreed with us to pay the booking fee.

8.2.2            Private hall booking. For private hall bookings the reservation fee will vary and reservations will be dependent on which residence you are reserving. 

8.2.3            Subject to section 8.5, we shall repay the holding deposit to the payor of such fee within 7 days of:

8.2.3.1           the start date of the tenancy agreement entered into by you and the landlord;

8.2.3.2           the date on which the landlord decides not to enter into the tenancy agreement with you, prior to the deadline; or

8.2.3.3           the deadline to enter into the tenancy agreement where the landlord and you fail to enter into the tenancy agreement.

8.2.4            For the purposes of the deadline referred to in section 8.2.3, this shall be the fifteenth day starting on the day the landlord or we receive the holding deposit from the payor, or such other day as agreed in writing by the landlord or us with you, as tenant, to be the deadline.

8.3          What the reservation fee covers. Any holding deposit payment made will hold the property until you have completed formal agreements with the landlord or private hall.

8.4          When will we not refund the reservation fee? We will not repay the reservation fee where we believe that a relevant exception applies under schedule 2 of the Tenants Fees Act 2019. If we will not be repaying the reservation fee, we may notify you in writing, with an explanation, within 7 days of:

8.4.1            the date on which the landlord decides not to enter into the tenancy agreement with you, prior to the deadline; or

8.4.2            the deadline to enter into the tenancy agreement where the landlord and you fail to enter into the tenancy agreement.

The relevant exceptions under the Tenants Fees Act 2019 should be reviewed by you in detail prior to accepting these terms and conditions. As a summary, such exceptions include and could be applied to any reservation:

8.4.3            where we have received the consent of the payor of the reservation fee to apply such amount towards the first payment of rent under the tenancy, or the deposit payable in respect of the tenancy. When we request a holding deposit, we will provide you with a consent form for the payor of the reservation fee to confirm whether this exception shall apply;

8.4.4            where the landlord is prohibited pursuant to section 22 of the Immigration Act 2014 from granting a tenancy of the housing to the tenant, and neither the landlord or we knew, or could reasonably have been expected to know, that such prohibition applied before the reservation fee was accepted;

8.4.5            where the tenant provides false or misleading information to the landlord or us, and the landlord is reasonably entitled to take:

8.4.5.1           the difference in information provided and that which is correct;

8.4.5.2          the tenant’s actions in providing such false or misleading information, into account in decided whether to grant the tenancy;

8.4.6            you, as tenant, notify the landlord or us before the deadline for the tenancy agreement that you have decided not to enter into the tenancy agreement;

8.4.7            where the landlord, and us (as applicable), have taken all reasonable steps for the landlord to enter into the tenancy agreement, but you, as tenant, fail to take all reasonable steps to enter into it before the deadline.

8.4.8       where the tenant has duly agreed to and completed the room reservation process, verifying their authorisation to reserve the room from the landlord or us. However, they have not obtained permission from the landlord or us, and the landlord has rejected the booking.

Such exceptions at sections 8.4.6 and 8.4.7 are subject to the landlord and us not breaching our respective prohibitions under the Tenants Fees Act 2019, or behaving towards you, as tenant, or any relevant person, in a way that would make it unreasonable to expect you to enter into the tenancy agreement.

We take no responsibility for the landlord’s compliance with the Tenants Fees Act 2019.

8.5          Payment of the Holding deposit.

8.5.1            The holding deposit must be paid by you within 48 working hours of agreeing to reserve the property. Before paying the holding deposit to reserve a property, you should be sure that you want to rent the property, and that you are prepared to enter into a legally binding tenancy agreement with the landlord. You may not be entitled to a refund if you change your mind (see section 8.4 above).

8.5.2            Please note that if you are required to pay a holding deposit to reserve the property and do not pay this fee per tenant required within the 48 working hour period, we will then request any outstanding payment is paid by the landlord. If the landlord specifies that they are not willing to pay the outstanding balance, you are aware that the property will then be re-advertised, and you may risk losing any partial fee which you have paid, subject to section 8.4 above.

8.5.3            Please note that on the basis of the information provided within the guarantor credit check report (please see section 8.6 below), the landlord may request that an alternative guarantor is put forward.

8.5.4            Payment of the holding deposit does not a guarantee the tenancy. Grant of the tenancy is subject to acceptable guarantor checks, and you entering into a tenancy agreement with the landlord.

8.6          Your obligations to provide information to us.

8.6.1            You agree:

8.6.1.1           to fill out and return our application forms online, specifying information about yourself and your proposed guarantor. You agree to return completed application forms to us within 48 working hours from the point you started your booking;

8.6.1.2           if you do not have a UK based guarantor in place, to notify us of this when returning your application forms. Please note that this may have an impact on your contractual agreements with the landlord;

8.6.1.3           to contact your proposed guarantor to make them aware that they will be required to submit information to ascertain their ability to be your guarantor within 48 working hours;

8.6.1.4           to take all necessary actions to ensure your guarantor submits the required information for reference checking within 7 calendar days of this information being requested by us;

8.6.1.5           where we have provided you with a tenancy agreement or a guarantor agreement (or both) you will complete and sign all of the necessary legal documentation within 7 working  days and must also advise your guarantor they must do the same.

8.6.2            You understand that:

8.6.2.1            the information specified within the reference report may have an impact upon your contractual agreements with the landlord;

8.6.2.2           we solely provide the reference reports to the landlord and do not have any say in the impact the information of the report has on the landlord and his or her contractual agreements with you;

8.6.2.3           payment of your holding deposit does not guarantee you will enter a tenancy for any particular property. It is the first stage of the reservation process. You are aware that you have not completed the reservation process until you have entered into a legally binding contractual agreement with the landlord.

8.7          Additional fees.

8.7.1            We may at our discretion require you to pay an additional fee to cover our reasonable costs of varying, assigning or novating the tenancy where:

8.7.1.1           you and we agree to make changes to these terms (see section 5), at your request; or

8.7.1.2           we have prepared the tenancy agreement on the landlord’s behalf and you and the landlord agree to make changes to the tenancy agreement, at your request, either before or after your signature the tenancy agreement.

Such additional fee shall be capped at £50 (Inc. VAT).

8.8.2         We may also require you to pay reasonably incurred costs of either the landlord or us following an event of default by you, if the tenancy agreement requires such costs to be borne by you in respect of:

8.8.2.1             the loss of a key to, or other security device giving access to, the housing to which the tenancy relates; or

8.8.2.2             a failure by you to make payment of rent in full before the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the date when the payment was required to be made under your tenancy agreement.             

Your rights to end the contract

8.8          When you can end your contract with us.  Your rights when you end the contract will depend on how we are performing, and when you decide to end the contract:

8.8.1            If we have not properly performed the services or they were misdescribed you may have a legal right to end the contract (or to get the service re-performed or to get some or all of your money back), see section 9;

8.8.2            If you want to end the contract because of something we have done or have told you we are going to do, see section 8.9;

8.8.3            If you have changed your mind during the 14 day cooling-off period , see section 8.10 You may be able to get a refund if you are within the cooling-off period, but this may be subject to deductions (landlords: see section 7, tenants see section 8);

8.8.4            In all other cases (if we are not at fault and you are not exercising your right to change your mind during the cooling off period), see section 8.11.

8.9          Ending the contract because of something we have done or have told you we are going to do. If you are ending a contract for a reason set out at sections 8.9.1 to 8.9.5 the contract will end immediately and we will refund you in full for any services which have not been provided and you may also be entitled to compensation. The reasons are:

8.9.1            we have told you about an upcoming change to the service or these terms which you do not agree to (see section 6.2);

8.9.2            we have told you about an error in the price or description of the services you have ordered and you do not wish to proceed;

8.9.3            there is a risk that supply of the services may be significantly delayed because of events outside our control;

8.9.4            we have suspended supply of the services for technical reasons, or notify you we are going to suspend them for technical reasons, in each case for a period of more than 72 hours in any 1 week period or

8.9.5            you have a legal right to end the contract because of something we have done wrong.

8.10       Exercising your right to change your mind as a consumer (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013). For services ordered online, as a consumer, you have a legal right to change your mind and request a refund within 14 days after the day we email you to confirm we accept your order if you are a private landlord, or within 14 days after the day we email you to confirm we have received your offer to rent a property if you are a tenant.

Please note that your refund may be subject to deductions - landlords: see section 7, tenants: see section 8.

Please note also that once we have completed the services you cannot change your mind, even if the 14 day period is still running.

8.11       Ending the contract where we are not at fault and there is no right to change your mind. Even if we are not at fault and you are not a consumer who has a right to change their mind (see section 8.8), you can still end the contract before it is completed, but you may have to pay us compensation. A contract for services is completed when we have finished providing the services and you have paid for them. If you want to end the contract let us know in writing in one of the ways set out in section 9 below We may require you to give us a certain period of advance notice before you end the contract, please see the relevant webpages for the services we are providing to you for further details. The contract will end either immediately after we receive your written notification if no notice period is required from you, or at the end of the notice period that we require to end the contract after we receive your written notification. We will refund any sums paid by you for services not provided but we may deduct from that refund (or, if you have not made an advance payment, charge you) reasonable compensation for the net costs we will incur as a result of your ending the contract. For details of the sums that may be deducted or charged to you please see the relevant webpages for the services we are providing to you for further details and section 7 (if you are a landlord) and see section 8 (if you are a tenant).

You will be required to pay to us immediately all fees outstanding from you for services provided. For payments due from you for services delivered for which no invoice has been submitted, we will send you an invoice which will be payable by you within 7 days following your receipt of the invoice.

9.            How to end the contract with us

9.1          Tell us you want to end the contract. To end the contract with us, please let us know by doing one of the following:

9.1.1            Phone or email. Call customer services on 0333 772 0618 Between Monday to Friday: 9am to 5.30pm and 10am – 4pm on Saturdays or email us at [email protected]. Please provide your name, home address, details of the order, or the property you offered to rent, and, where available, your phone number and email address.

9.1.2            By post. Print off the and post it to us at the address on the form.  Or simply write to us at that address, including details of the services you ordered, or the property you offered to rent, and when you ordered the services, or made the offer, and your name and address. Download it here.

9.2          How we will refund you.  If you are entitled to a refund under these terms we will refund you the price you paid for the services, by the method you used for payment. However, we may make deductions from any refund of an amount for the supply of the service for the period for which it was supplied, ending with the time when you told us you had changed your mind. The amount will be in proportion to what has been supplied, in comparison with the full coverage of the contract. Please see the relevant webpages of our website for the services we are providing to you for further details of when charges may be deducted from refunds, and the circumstances when charges are non-refundable. Landlords should see also Section 7, and tenants should see also section 8 of these terms. We advise that you visit the relevant webpage(s) and read these sections before you use or order our services.

9.3          When your refund will be made. We will make any refunds due to you as soon as possible.  If you are exercising your right to change your mind during the cooling off period, your refund will be made within 14 days of your telling us you have changed your mind.

10.          Our rights to end the contract

10.1       We may end the contract if you break it. We may end the contract for a service at any time by writing to you if:

10.1.1         you do not make any payment to us when it is due and you still do not make payment within 7 days of us reminding you that payment is due;

10.1.2         you do not, within a reasonable time of us asking for it, provide us with information that is necessary for us to provide the services;

10.1.3         you do not, within a reasonable time, allow us to perform the services;

10.1.4         you do not, within a reasonable time, allow us access to your premises (if necessary) to supply the services; or

10.1.5         you do not comply with your material obligations and responsibilities as set out:

10.1.5.1        on the relevant webpages for the services you are using;

10.1.5.2        in section 7 (if you are a landlord) and section 8 (if you are a tenant) of these terms; or

10.1.5.3        in our website terms and conditions.

10.2       You must compensate us if you break the contract. If we end the contract in the situations set out in section 10.1 we will refund any money you have paid in advance for services we have not provided but we may deduct or charge you reasonable compensation for the net costs we will incur as a result of your breaking the contract.

11.          If there is a problem with the services

11.1       How to tell us about problems. If you have any questions or complaints about our services, please contact us. You can telephone our customer service team at 0333 772 0618 Monday to Friday between 9am to 5.30pm and 10am – 4pm on Saturday, or write to us at [email protected] or 467a Smithdown Road, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, L15 5AE.

12.          Your rights in respect of defective services if you are a consumer

12.1       As you are a consumer, we are under a legal duty to supply services to you with reasonable skill and care. If we fail to do so:

12.1.1         You can ask us to repeat or fix a service, or get some money back if we can't fix it.

12.1.2         If you have not agreed a price beforehand, what you are asked to pay must be reasonable.

12.1.3         If you have not agreed a time beforehand, it must be carried out within a reasonable time.

12.1.4         You may be able to end the contract. See section 8.9.

13.          Price and payment

13.1       Where to find the price for the services. The price of the services (which includes VAT) will be the price indicated on the order pages of our website when you placed your order or on the reservation page when you made your booking reservation for a property. We take all reasonable care to ensure that the price of the services advised to you is correct. However please see section 13.3 for what happens if we discover an error in the price of the product you order.

13.2       We will pass on changes in the rate of VAT. If the rate of VAT changes between your order date and the date we supply the product, we will adjust the rate of VAT that you pay, unless you have already paid for the product in full before the change in the rate of VAT takes effect.

13.3       What happens if we get the price wrong. It is always possible that, despite our best efforts, some of the services we provide may be incorrectly priced. We will normally check prices before accepting your order so that, where the service’s correct price at your order date is less than our stated price at your order date, we will charge the lower amount. If the service’s correct price at your order date is higher than the price stated to you, we will contact you for your instructions before we accept your order.

13.4       When you must pay and how you must pay. We accept payment with Visa, Mastercard, Maestro and JCB. When you must pay depends on the services we are providing. Please see the relevant webpages for the services we are providing for details. If you are a landlord see also section 7 above. If you are a tenant see also section 8 above.

13.5       We can charge interest if you pay late. If you do not make any payment to us by the due date we may charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 4% a year above the base lending rate of the Bank of England from time to time. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. You must pay us interest together with any overdue amount.

13.6       What to do if you think an invoice is wrong. If you think an invoice is wrong please contact us promptly to let us know. You will not have to pay any interest until the dispute is resolved. Once the dispute is resolved we will charge you interest on correctly invoiced sums from the original due date.

14.          Our responsibility for loss or damage suffered by you if you are a consumer

14.1       We are responsible to you for foreseeable loss and damage caused by us. If we fail to comply with these terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both we and you knew it might happen, for example, if you discussed it with us during the order process.

14.2       We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the services including the right to receive services which are as described and match information we provided to you by you; supplied with reasonable skill and care; and for defective services under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

14.3       Our total liabilityOur total liability in respect of any loss or damage arising under the contract, other than as referred to in section 14.2, shall in no circumstances exceed the value of the contract being the fees paid by you to us under the contract.

15.          How we may use your personal information

15.1       How we will use your personal information. We will only use your personal information as set out in our privacy policy.

16.          Intellectual property rights

16.1       All intellectual property rights in or arising out of or in connection with the services shall be owned by us.

16.2       You do not have any right to copy or reproduce any material for uses outside of this agreement without written agreement from us.

17.          Other important terms

17.1       We may transfer this Agreement to someone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will always tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under the contract. If you are unhappy with the transfer you may contact us to end the contract within 14 days of us telling you about it and we will refund you any payments you have made in advance for services not provided.

17.2       You need our consent to transfer your rights to someone else (except that you can always transfer our guarantee). You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms to another person if we agree to this in writing.

17.3       Nobody else has any rights under this contract.  This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.

17.4       If a court finds part of this contract illegal, the rest will continue in force. Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.

17.5       Even if we delay in enforcing this contract, we can still enforce it later. If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you but we continue to provide the services, we can still require you to make the payment at a later date.

17.6       Which laws apply to this contract and where you may bring legal proceedings. These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in the English courts. If you live in Scotland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the services in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the services in either the Northern Irish or the English courts.

17.7       Alternative dispute resolution. Alternative dispute resolution is a process where an independent body considers the facts of a dispute and seeks to resolve it, without you having to go to court. If you are not happy with how we have handled any complaint, you may want to contact the alternative dispute resolution provider we use. You can submit a complaint to The Property Ombudsman via their website at www.tpos.co.uk. The Property Ombudsman will not charge you for making a complaint and if you are not satisfied with the outcome you can still bring legal proceedings. In addition, please note that disputes may be submitted for online resolution to the European Commission Online Dispute Resolution platform at www.ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/.


Schedule 1 – Landlords’ legal obligations

 

Safety Regulations

Landlords must comply with the following regulations when letting a property.

The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994. All electrical items supplied for the intended use by the Tenant including portable appliances, cabling, fuses, plugs and fixed items such as cookers, showers and heaters must be safe. The only way to ensure that these items comply with the regulations is to have them tested by a qualified electrical engineer.

Smoke Alarms and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Landlords must fit a smoke alarm on every storey/floor as well as fitting a Carbon Monoxide (CO) alarm in every room with a solid fuel burning appliance.

Alarms must be tested and working on the start of each tenancy and penalties are up to £5,000 for those that fail to comply.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 as amended.

 It is the Landlords responsibility that all gas appliances and gas installation pipe work are checked for safety once a year by a registered Gas Safe engineer. Accurate records must be kept of the safety inspections and any work carried out and they should be made available for the Tenant to view. These regulations came into effect to ensure that gas appliances are properly maintained in a safe condition to avoid the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1998 as amended

These regulations set levels of fire resistance for domestic upholstered furniture and furnishings. It is an offence to supply any furniture, which does not comply with the regulations. This includes supplying furniture as part of a let residential property. The regulations apply to sofas, beds, bedheads, children's furniture, garden furniture suitable for use in a dwelling, scatter cushions and pillows, furniture covers and other similar items.

All Let property must contain furniture that complies with the new regulations. Any furniture manufactured after March 1990 is likely to comply but if the appropriate labels are not fixed to the furniture, compliance is in doubt and checks should be made with the manufacturer. Failure to comply with any of the above safety regulations may jeopardize the life of your tenant and lead to prosecution with fines of up to £5,000 and/or imprisonment.

Energy Performance Certificate

Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2010. This requires that all buildings constructed, sold or rented must have an EPC detailing its energy performance. In the UK this has been implemented so that all landlords are required to provide an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) to prospective tenants when the tenancy changes or a new tenancy is started.

The landlord does not need to provide an EPC for existing Tenants. Once an EPC is produced it will be valid for 10 years.

Schedule 2 - Model Cancellation Form for consumer customers

 

(Complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract)

Student Tenant Lettings Limited, 467a Smithdown Road, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, L15 5AE.

Telephone: 0333 772 0618 Email: [email protected]

I/We hereby give notice that I/We cancel my/our contract of sale of the following service(s):

 

Ordered on:

Name of consumer(s),

Address of consumer(s),

Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper),

Date

Delete as appropriate