Top 10 Tips For Moving Into The Community
Moving from Halls or another area to a house in the community can be a daunting time and comes with it, certain responsibilities. Your Community Reps have come up with a top ten list to living in the community.
For more information on the Community Rep scheme at LiverpoolSU, please visit www.liverpoolsu.com/communityreps or via email at CommunityReps@ljmu.ac.uk.
1 – Introduce yourself to your neighbours
Knock for your neighbours and introduce yourselves, you could invite them around for a hot drink and get to know them. Make sure your swap contact numbers too, so you can both get in contact with each other if there’s any problems. That way they can help you out if you ever get locked out of your home or you desperately need to borrow something.
2 – Get to know your Community Reps
LiverpoolSU employs 12 student Community Reps, who work in four areas of the city to ensure students are getting the best possible experience living in a community and that they are settled within their new homes. They’re also on hand to develop campaigns and projects that engage the whole community, ensuring that you get the most from you time living in the community.
To find out who your Community Reps are click here and familiarise yourself with your Community Rep team.
3 – Don’t make too much noise
If you have a party, make sure it’s at the weekend. Remember that your neighbours may not be students and you could be the new neighbour of an elderly person, a young family or someone who is disabled.
So have your neighbours in mind if you have a party and let them know when you will be having a party, you could even invite them!
4 – Make sure your deposit is protected
Ask your landlord if your deposit is in a government-approved tenancy deposit protection scheme, this is for your as students in a short tenancy who pay a deposit to a private landlord or letting agent. This scheme ensures that at the end of your tenancy you will get your deposit back, as long as you are entitled to it.
If you have caused any damages throughout your stay then this cost will be deducted from your deposit, however to make sure that you don’t receive any blame for damages to the property ask your landlord to do an inventory of your property and be there when it’s taking place to ensure they note any damages already present in the house.
5 – Know the contact details of your landlord
Make sure that you always have the contact details of your landlord handy, if anything goes wrong or breaks then you can contact them right away and get it repaired as soon as possible.
To find out the best quality landlords in Liverpool, we conduct our annual Rate Your Landlord survey asking students to rate the properties they are living in and their landlords. To find out the most recent winners click here.
6 – Log your bills and keep them low
If you have a capped bills allowance set up by your landlord, ensure that you know how much gas and electricity you have used per week/month if your bills are capped. Write it down and leave it on the fridge for everyone to see.
To keep your bills low, when using the oven ask if anyone else would like to make their food at the same time as you to avoid putting the oven on more than it needs too. Always take a shower instead of a bath, showers use a lot less water than it takes to fill a bath. And an obvious one, wrap up in layers when it’s cold, heating is costly.
7 – Know your bin collection dates
To make sure that you know your bin collection dates, type in your postcode into the Liverpool City Council website, you can also request a bin replacement here too. These bins include recycling ones too, make sure you know exactly what can go into these so the bin collectors don’t leave them.
Big Tip: Contrary to popular belief no plastic bags can be recycled (apart from being used again for shopping or to line bins) so don’t put any in your recycling bins only in your general waste bin.
8 – Know what type of contract you’re in
Read all of your documents that your landlord has given you, ensure that all date of the tenancy are okay for you to move in and out and coincide with your university timetable. If you are unsure about anything don’t hesitate to contact your landlord.
Alternatively Liverpool Student Homes is the official University private accommodation service and is there to help you with any problems you have regarding your property, whether that’s a unresponsive landlord or you would like to leave a contract but don’t know how to. Visit their website at www.liverpoolstudenthomes.org for more info!
9 – Make sure your house is secure
If you have a security alarm, make sure you know how to use it. If you don’t have one, request one from your landlord. Also ensure that when you’re leaving your house that all windows and door are shut and locked. Also if you and your housemates are all getting taxis do it quietly and don’t leave at the same time, this could possibly alert burglars that the house is empty.
10 – Check out your moving to the community guide!
Although our top ten list is brief, Liverpool Student Homes have created a complete guide to living in the community. You can view it here.
Alternatively check and see if your landlord or accommodation provider has a hard copy you can stick to your fridge! You can always get one from LSH on Mount Pleasant.
