1. How does the tenancy agreement work?
Each room has its own Tenancy Agreement which is independent to the other residents in the apartment. Your Tenancy Agreement is not affected by the tenancies of other residents in the apartment.
2. How are rooms allocated?
When deciding who is allocated a property, the priorities of different staff under the allocation policy also applies to the shared units. Allocations will be made in priority order as follows:
1) Hard to fill post – Awarded only by HR
2a) New staff, new to Cambridge, coming from overseas
2b) New staff, new to Cambridge, coming from the UK (outside Cambridge area)
3) New staff, prior knowledge of Cambridge, coming from overseas
4a) New staff, prior knowledge of Cambridge, coming from UK (outside Cambridge area)
4b) New staff, coming from the Cambridge area
5) University staff (not new starter)
6) Applicant working for an affiliated organisation
The room allocations within apartments are done by a random ballot and you are not able to choose a specific room or location.
3. Can I join a single-gender apartment, or live with someone I know?
We normally randomly allocate a mix of male and female residents to each flat. If you have specific requirements for a male or female only flat we are unable to guarantee this. We are unable to hold rooms empty if we have applicants awaiting a property.
4. Can I pick which room I get?
Room allocations within apartments are done by a random ballot and it is not possible to choose which room is allocated to you. Some rooms have a bath with an over-bath shower, but the majority solely have a shower. We do not differentiate between these rooms in terms of allocation.
5. I have a smaller bedroom/bathroom – do I pay less rent?
All four-bedroom Apartment rooms have a standardised current rent, regardless of any variations between rooms.
6. What happens if I need to move out before my tenancy ends?
All tenancies are offered for 12 months. You may indicate your intention to leave your tenancy early, but will remain liable to pay the monthly rent until a new tenant is found or until your tenancy ends, whichever occurs first. A non-refundable fee will be charged if you choose to request an Early Leaver arrangement..
7. How are bills divided?
The rents for 4-bedroom sharer apartments include bills (Council Tax, electricity, heating/hot water, WiFi and water). If you agree individually or collectively to buy any other service - for example, contract cleaning, or an online home-entertainment package, this will be negotiated and paid for by residents. We cannot increase the current BT Broadband package, which has been assessed as sufficient for reasonable general use by four people..
8. Do I have to buy a TV licence? Does my flatmate’s TV licence cover my viewing?
Residents who have a TV in their room and/or who use a computer, games console, digital box or any other device to watch live TV on any channe,l or BBC programmes on iPlayer must, under UK law, obtain their own TV Licence. It is up to residents to arrange and pay for this and cost of a TV licence is NOT included in the rent.
However if residents wish to have a communal TV for all residents to watch, they can obtain and share the cost of a single TV Licence to cover this.
Residents who do not watch or record television programmes as they are being shown on TV can register this with the TV Licensing Enforcement Division on the website: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/noTV.
9. Can I move to a different apartment?
It is not possible to move residents from one apartment to another during their tenancy. If you wish to move apartments to share with others at the end of your 12 month tenancy, you must reapply to join the waiting list, subject to your continuing eligibilty, but there is no guarantee that you will receive an offer as the waiting list will have new applicants who will have a higher priority than existing tenants.
10. I don’t like my flatmate / they are messy/ noisy/ don’t clean – what can you do to help?
The Accommodation Service is not able to intervene in disputes between flatmates, and rely on all residents to coexist respectfully. We would recommend that all residents discuss and agree "house rules" regarding noise, cleaning, food storage and food preparation in order to minimise the potential for disputes. If you wish to move out because you don’t like your flatmates, you must request an Early Leaver procedure, as described elsewhere.
11. Can I have people to stay?
Four-bedroom sharer accommodation is intended for single occupancy of roms. It is recognised that a resident may wish to have an occasional guest to stay overnight. Y,ou should not have an overnight guest to stay for more than two nights in any week, and this should not be a regulartly occurring arrangement
If you wish to have guests for more than two nights, you must first discuss this with your flatmates and should then request permission from the University Accommodation Service. You may not do this until these steps have been taken. Residents must accept full responsibility for their guests during their stay. No permission is given in any circumstances to sublet your room to any other person if/while you are away.
12. There is damage to the property. Who pays for the cost of repairs?
Each resident is personally and wholly responsible for the cost of any cleaning or repairs required within their individual rooms. If anything is damaged or broken in either the individual room or in a communal area, the person responsible should report and arrange to pay for the damage caused. Guidelines for replacement costs are included within the tenancy agreement. If there is damage and it is not reported, the cost of repairs within any communal areas will be automatically divided equally between all occupants.
13. Does anyone check the communal areas?
At the conclusion of a tenancy, or if issues are raised by any resident, or for any other reason considered appropriate by the University Accommodation Service, a full inspection of all communal areas will take place. The cost of any cleaning or repairs to damage within communal areas will be divided equally between all occupants of each apartment. Residents will have collective responsibility for general cleaning and upkeep of communal areas. This includes regular lime-scale removal, changing cooker hood filters extractor, regular general household cleaning, including oven cleaning.
