Student Guide

We provide you with high quality student accommodation with great facilities on the doorstep of The University of Essex – Southend Campus.

We offer you an alternative choice to the University Halls and can save you money

We know there are two sides to every Let and we want to ensure this happens as quickly and as stress free as possible. When you very first register your details with us we will immediately search our database of properties that match your requirements and you will be able to view these straight away without leaving the comfort of your own home.

Peak Property believe in listening to your requirements, and unlike some agents will not force on you unwanted viewings taking up your valuable time looking at property which is not right for you.

When to start looking and forming a group

Students who occupy the halls for their first year normally begin searching for their second year accommodation based outside the halls in December. This provides you with a couple of months from course commencement to make friends and form a group of 5-6 people which is the optimum size to rent a complete house together.

The best houses go early so it is important not to delay so that you have plenty of choice and can stay as a group.

Savvy first year students can choose to take a room in a house share instead of occupying the halls and thereby save money from the beginning of their course. Due to late acceptance on courses, we often have individual rooms remaining within house shares where you can join a group even during the Summer.

Choosing your property

All our Student House Shares are within a 15 Minute Walk to the University and some of them are located even closer to the University than the Halls. You will not require a car.

Rents vary depending on room sizes, facilities offered, and location. You can decide whether you wish to be on the doorstep of the University and pay slightly higher rent or a 15 minute walk away and pay lower rent. The minimum tenancy length is 11 months. All our available properties are listed on our website. Most of our properties have a virtual tour, so you can take a look around the property without leaving home!

Your Guarantor

All students require a working UK based guarantor earning a minimum of £12,000pa and with no County Court Judgements, debt management plans or Bankruptcy. This is normally a parent.

All rents include Electric and Gas with a very generous fair usage clause of £50 per person per room, Internet (Wi-Fi), Water and a Communal TV Licence*.

Decided you want to rent through Peak Property? – Here’s what you need to know.

Timeframes

Once you have chosen a room, we will send you an email with a few questions about yourself and your guarantor. Just return this to us, with a photo of your passport, and then we will ask you to pay a holding deposit.

An initial payment of a holding deposit of £100 will reserve your room and the final payment of £300 damage deposit plus your first month’s rent is due within 15 days of us receiving your holding deposit. (If you choose to renew your tenancy agreement for another year you will also need to make these payments but the deposit which you paid will be rolled across to your new tenancy)

Stages

Once you have paid your initial holding deposit, the process is really straight forward. All communication and signing is done electronically, including the signing of your tenancy agreement. This means your guarantor does not need to visit our offices as we appreciate they may not live nearby.

Your guarantor will be required to provide proof of income, proof of address and proof of identification (passport). All of this can be sent to us electronically by email. A scanner is not necessary – just a simple photo taken with a mobile device is acceptable

Legislation requires all tenants to provide proof of identification and confirm their 'Right to Rent in the UK’. This means that we will require sight of your original passport before you can move into the property. If you do not hold a passport then other forms of ID are accepted, (please, click on link below)

The government also requires all tenants to read their HOW TO RENT GIUDE below

There is a timeframe and deadline of 15 days from start to finish – that’s from the date that you pay your holding deposit to the date you sign your tenancy and pay the balance. This strict deadline is a result of legislation imposed by the Government so all information needs to be provided swiftly by you and your guarantor. All deadlines within the letting process are set out within our terms and conditions - please click here to read out terms and conditions and to ensure you can comply with the referencing process.

Ending Your Tenancy

All our student tenancies are on an 11 month fixed term basis. Your tenancy cannot be ended earlier than the fixed term.

All keys should be returned to us. If you wish to return your keys out of office hours, please pop them into an envelope, with your name and the address on, and post them through our letterbox.

It is advisable to thoroughly clean the property. We recommend that you consult your original inventory if there is any doubt as to what may require your special cleaning attention. If you are part of a group who are moving out on the same date, we recommend that you arrange a meeting with housemates and allocate certain tasks to be carried out between you. For example, one person could clean the oven/hob whilst another person could be allocated a bathroom to clean etc.

The condition you should leave your own room is also very important. It needs to be clean and tidy and respectfully left (as you would have wished to have been given it) with the furniture returned to the same position it was in when you moved in. Please do your best to remove marks and stains from carpets and wipe down any marks on walls. It is important to make good any damage caused in your property.

As part of the process involving the release of your security deposit, we require you to provide us with a forwarding address for future correspondence. Please email this to us prior to moving out.

As you know, all tenancy deposits are required to be protected within a government scheme. This will be released within 14 days of your checkout being carried out. Details on how to claim your deposit will be on the checkout report we send to you.

After you have moved out of the property, we will ask your fellow and remaining housemates for their confirmation of the condition of the communal areas and to report any existing damage as obviously they do not wish their liability to be increased should any damage be missed by us at check out.

During Your Tenancy

Maintenance Issues

Please ensure all problems are reported to us via email as we cannot accept notifications verbally. You can arrange for any repairs to be carried out by clicking on the link below:

Inspections

We will visit your home to carry out a property condition and inspection report on behalf of your landlord. These take place every month and we inform you in advance of the date we will be coming.

Paying rent

You are required to set up your own standing order to leave your account 3 days prior to the rent due date. The standing order is on the back of the electronic contract signed. If you wish to set up a standing order online, our bank details are;

Account Name : Peak Property
Sort Code : 20 79 73
Account Number: 53572420