I like a house, how do I arrange a viewing?
Please call us on 01242 374376. Alternatively, click on the 'enquire about this property' tablet and fill in our contact form and we'll get back to you. Try to have all of your group present for a viewing as it is so much easier to make a decision either way if you are together. If you are not in a group please contact us anyway as we often have individual rooms available in shared houses. We also put students who are looking in touch with each other so they can form new groups.
I want to book a house, what do I have to do next?
Once you have chosen your property and decided you want to live there we need your groups full names, mobile numbers and email addresses. We will then email you copies of the short application form, Tenancy Agreement, Guarantor Agreement and details about how to pay the deposit. Take the time to read through the documents and come back to us if you have any questions. To secure the house we need your groups application forms returned and the initial deposit contribution paid. We will then send you the tenancy agreement for signing using Adobe Document Sign. This is an online digital signature service enabling you to attach a signature to the tenancy agreement online. Your house is now booked!
How much is the deposit, when do I have to pay it and when do I get it back?
The Deposit for each tenant is ?400. To secure the property, ?200 is initially due followed by a second instalment of ?200 later . Following the end of your tenancy, your deposit will be returned 2 to 4 weeks after any agreed deductions have been made (eg. excess utility usage and any damage to the property and its contents, allowing for fair wear and tear).
Is my Deposit protected?
Yes, we register your deposit with My Deposits, a Government approved deposit protection scheme.
How do I pay my rent and when is it due?
You will need to pay your rent by bank transfer on the due dates highlighted in the tenancy agreement.
What does the rent include?
- Gas & Electricity (up to a generous allowance)
- Water
- TV licence
- Freeview television
- broadband
- Buildings and Landlord's fixtures, fittings & furnishings insurance.
- Full time students are exempt from Council Tax.
When will I get my keys and when can I move in?
Keys will be handed over from the first day of the tenancy agreement at your check in with an independent inventory agent.
What happens if there's a problem with the house after we've moved in?
Just email us and our maintenance team is there to help - text or call with any emergencies. Feri will oversee any general maintenance and we also have general builders, electricians and plumbers available to resolve any other issues.
Can I stay on for another year?
Yes, provided your whole group wants to stay on or you put together a new group.
What happens if I change my mind?
If you decide you want to pull out of the contract before your tenancy starts or once it has started then you or the rest of your group need to find someone to take your place. Once they have signed a contract and a new deposit has been paid then you can be released from your contract.
What are your COVID-19 practices and procedures?
For more information on how we're keeping you safe from COVID-19, please see our dedicated page: https://www.studenthousescheltenham.co.uk/student-rental-property-faqs-covid-19
Why are the internet speeds we offer advertised as 'up to'?
We advertise our download as up to 350Mbps across the vast majority of our properties. Some properties will be marked with a specific maximum internet download speed that is lower than this.
If you do not or cannot get a download speed that is up to the theoretical maximum listed against your property, below are a number of factors that can affect your internet speed that may not be within our control. Please read through these before contacting us.
- Your use of WiFi and the particular WiFi network (SSID) you're connected to.
- In some of our properties, the SSID is split between 2.4GHz and 5Ghz networks. These will typically be listed as SSID_2 / SSID_2G and SSID_5 / SSID_5G. In the properties where this is not the case, the SSID's are bonded and your device will automatically pick the best network to connect to. Automatic band selection is out of our control.
- Connecting to the 2.4GHz network will offer you a longer range and stronger signal, however your download speed will be limited to 150Mbps (slower than the internet connection).
- 2.5Ghz networks are also prone to frequency interference and signal degredation by numerous mundane sources such as operating microwave ovens, using your device behind large bodies of water (including yourself), and routers being placed behind TV's.
- Connecting to the 5Ghz network will offer you a connection speed of up to 1Gbps (faster than the internet connection), however the signal and range will be weaker, meaning you'll need to be closer to the router to get the fastest and strongest speed possible.
- The device you are using & the position of the device in the household.
- Some older devices don't support 5Ghz WiFi and as such will only be able to get up to 150Mbps on the 2.4GHz connection.
- If the device you're using is obstructed by many physical objects (walls & people) and/or the device is far away from the router, the maximum speed you'll obtain will be significantly slower.
- The antenna in some devices (typically physically smaller devices) can be very small and therefore is less able to pick up & broadcast WiFi at the same distances as typically physically larger devices (such as laptops).
- The number of users or devices online in the household
- If there are many devices from different users trying to use the internet at the same time, you'll find that the maximum speed you'll obtain will be proportional to the number of users or devices actively using the internet.
- If there are 10 devices online over 5 people, each device will share 1/10th of the total bandwidth available. Assuming the current bandwidth available is 350Mbps you'll each be able to get at least 35Mbps depending on the usage of other users / devices at any one time.
- The activity of the users online in the household
- If a single user / device is attempting to use as much bandwidth as possible (sytem software updates, game downloads / updates, large file downloads, high quality video streaming etc.) other devices on the network will only be able to download at very slow speeds.
- There are measures in place by the broadband operator to throttle the internet speed if services such as torrenting, usenet or other file distribution services are continually used during peak hours.
- The number of users globally accessing a particular website.
- At peak times, high usage to particular websites from global sources may cause congestion and lower the overall speed you'll receive to that site.
- Not all websites are capable of keeping up with the broadband we provide. Over half the internet's servers are still limited to 100Mbps upload which is typically 3.5 times slower than the download speed we offer. Connecting to, and trying to download from these sites will be limted to their connection speed.
- Use of a VPN from a 3rd party provider or using the UoG intranet.
- Many users are turning to using VPN's (Virtual Private Networks) either independently or whilst connected to the UoG intranet. Using these services for full network traffic will drop the maximum internet connection you'll receive to typically a maximum of 20Mbps.
- Noisy neighbours
- In denser urban areas, it's not uncommon to see 15+ different network SSID's when you're trying to connect to your own network. There are a finite number of 'bands' that your and other networks can broadcast on. When there are many networks in the same area trying to broadcast their signals on a finite number of bands, you'll inevitably end up with some networks broadcasting partially or entirely on your own band. This can cause the overall connection speed you'll receive to drop significantly whilst the network has to do more error correction & packet filtering.
- It's worth noting that all our routers are designed and set-up to 'hop' to a different less noisy frequency if another network enters ours. This check will usually happen every night and a 'hop' will usually occur between 1/2 times a month. You shouldn't notice anything when this happens apart from the internet appearing more stable. This method is usually used by other providers also & can end up with other networks following ours to try and do the same thing.
- Speed testing
- In your persuit to try and diagnose a slow internet connection, you may try to use services such as speedtest, which or fast. These tools are not entirely indicitive of your actuall internet connection speed. Many of these tools will artificially inflate or deflate the figures you receive depending on wich server you're connecting to (especially speedtest). Utilsing a Virgin Media server (the default chosen for Virgin Media customers) will inevitably show a very positive result, whilst using a Vodafone server will inevitably show a much slower than maximum result for marketing purposes. If you do use these tools, please select a server that is independent of any broandband or mobile network provider. These will give you a much more un-biased set of results.
- If you'd like to try and test the maximum network speed outside of the internet, try to share a file between two computers on the local network. This will give you an accurate maximum speed that the network is able to download & upload at.
- Mobile internet connected devices
- Some devices that have a mobile internet connection built in can take some time to hop from mobile to WiFi Connections. Please ensure that your device is actually connected to the WiFi and not still trying to get a mobile signal.
Each of our listed broadband speeds are capable of getting the following:
- 350Mbps *:
- Actual advertised download speed: 362Mbps**
- Average expected download speed: 345-380Mbps***
- Minumum guaranteed download speed: 181Mbps
- Actual advertised upload speed: 36Mbps**
- Average expected upload speed: 34-37Mbps***
- 100Mbps ***:
- Actual advertised download speed: 108Mbps**
- Average expected download speed: 107-111Mbps***
- Minumum guaranteed download speed: 54Mbps
- Actual advertised upload speed: 10Mbps**
- Average expected upload speed: 10Mbps***
- Lower than 100Mbps***:
- These networks are not run by Virgin Media and are able to get the maximum Mbps that's listed against the property.
* - All speeds are listed as to the router. For any of the reasons listed above, the speed you get to your device could be slower.
** - The advertised download and upload speeds for our Virgin Fibre packages are calculated by taking the median average, or the mid-point between the fastest and slowest speeds for each package at peak times (8-10pm), each month.
*** - The expected speed range is the normal download and upload speed that you could expect at peak times (8-10pm, Monday-Sunday)
