1. SUE MANNION
Good evening, my name is Sue Mannion and I am the Manager of the Student Hub and I would like to welcome you all to our private housing evening. Myself and my team are here this evening to guide you through the steps you will need to rent accommodation in the private sector.
Few housekeeping point, if the Fire Alarm goes off, please make your way to the fire exits which are located (point these out)
Can you please ensure that you switch your mobile onto silent, we will be tweeting as we go along.
And finally we do have an online survey relating to our event, if you can complete this over the course of the next week. The feedback that you give, will ensure that we continue to deliver events that match your needs. The survey will remain open for the next week after which all entries received will automatically be entered into our prize draw, where one lucky winner will have a chance to win some Dr Dre Headphones.
Now let’s move onto why we are here:
The majority of you probably live in halls so moving into private accommodation will be new to most. As well as being the next exciting stage of student life we are aware that moving from halls into the private sector can be somewhat daunting. We hope this talk will provide some answers to questions you may have, eliminate anxieties and guide you through the housing journey you will most likely be taking.

2. Types of accommodation
YOUR HOUSING JOURNEY
Step 1
Step 3
Step 5
Finding a flatmate
Types of accommodation
When and where to look
END
START
Setting a budget
Choosing an area
SUE MANNION
This presentation will take 45 minutes and we will cover the key areas of your house hunting journey, starting from Step 1, finding a flatmate to Step 7 moving in to your new home and then what to do when your tenancy has come to an end.
So lets look at the first important step you will need to take
Step 2
Step 4

3. STEP 1: Finding a flatmate
Consider these factors:
Tidiness
Noise
Sleeping patterns
Friends/partners
Comparable budgets
Diets
Length of stay
Top tips for a
happy shared home
Respect the sanctity of
communal areas
Clean up after yourself
Be prepared to compromise
Deal with problems early on
Be considerate and tolerant
Pay your way
DANNY
Finding a Flatmate
The first thing you need to do is to decide if you want to live with others, or by yourself?
If you would like to live with other people you will need to decide who you want to live with. With this being one of the most important decisions you will need to make, there are some key things you need to consider when deciding upon your house/flatmates:
Tidiness
Noise
Sleeping Patterns
Friends/Partners
Comparable budgets
Diets
Length of stay

4. STEP 2: SETTING A BUDGET Rent Travel Utility bills Socialising Food
Typically between £140 - £210 per person, per week
Travel
Variable – apply for a Student Oyster card to get the best rates
Utility bills
Typically between £25 - £30 per person, per week
Socialising
Save some money for socialising whether an evening out or trip to the cinema
Food
Depends on you! consider creating a kitty for essential items to keep costs down
DANNY
Okay so you have decided who you would like to live with, now it is time to think about your budget…..
Rent - £140-£150 per person per week. Other costs to consider
Bills – Water, Gas, Electricity, Landline or Mobile, broadband. Approximately £25-£30 per person per week
Food – up to you this one. But you may want to share essential items with flatmates such as toilet roll, washing up liquid, washing powder. May be useful to have a kitty.
Travel 30% discount
Socialising – Don’t forget to factor this one in!
Budget approximation - £300-£350 per week!
Weekly budget
£300 – £350 (approx.)

5. FEES AND DEPOSITS Holding Deposit Rent Admin fees Security Deposit
To reserve the property whilst your references are checked
You will lose this money if you change your mind about living there
Rent
1 calendar month’s rent or up to 6 months’ rent if you don’t have a UK based guarantor
Admin fees
Required for drawing up contracts, checking references and other administrative tasks
Security Deposit
Includes holding deposit
Is usually 6 week’s rent held until the end of the tenancy. The landlord or agent is obliged to protect this
Additional charges
Penalties for the late payment of rent inventory checks
SUE MANNION
If you do decide to rent your accommodation through an Estate Agent, you will find yourself paying various fees….
In addition to the rent you will be paying, most Estate Agents also have fees so what will these be and for what
A Holding deposit this is an amount of money that you pay to an Agent to hold the property for you and for them not to rent the property to anyone else whilst your references are being checked. Most Agents will charge you a Holding Deposit, which is usually a weeks rent but could be anything up to a months rent, if you then go on to rent the property this money will then become part of the security deposit . But please be aware, if you pay a Holding Deposit and then change your mind, you will lose the money you have paid. So only pay the Holding Deposit once you are sure that you want to take the property.
Security Deposit Once you have agreed to take the property, the Agent will want you to pay the Security Deposit, which in most cases would be six weeks rent. This is money that the landlord or agent will hold until the end of the tenancy.
Rent – 1 Calendar Months Rents - However if you do not have a UK based guarantor then the agent could ask you to pay up to six months rent in advance,  
Admin Fees And lastly, you will have to pay the Agents Fees and this can be anything from £100 to £500, this money is for drawing up the contract, taking up references and any other administrative processes required - NEW LEGISLATION
You may also have additional charges whilst you are living in the property, such as late payment charges if pay your rent late or charges if you want to replace one of your group midway through the tenancy, so make sure you check your Tenancy Agreement as these charges are usually listed. In addition you will also have to pay for the Inventory check out and this can cost between £100 to £200 depending on the size of the property. However, this money is usually deducted at the end of the tenancy from your deposit.
So you need to be prepared to pay in the region of £1,600/£2000 per person
Total upfront costs
£1,600 - £2,000

6. STEP 3:TYPES OF ACCOMMODATION
Room in a shared house or flat
Living with a resident landlord
Bedsit/studio
Private halls
Evelyn Gardens (Imperial owned halls)
The next step is to decide what type of accommodation you want –
This is directly influenced by the number of people you want to live with and your budget, so it is important that you take care of steps one and 2 of your house hunting journey first!
For example if there is a group of 4 or more of you then the chances are you will be looking for a house share. This can also be the cheaper way to rent accommodation as you can spread the cost of bills between you. Alternatively you may wish to live alone, in which case you would be looking at a studio or bedsit, however remember that you will be the only one paying the bills so ensure you factor this into your budget!
Other options are to look at living with a resident landlord, so essentially lodging or to return to purpose built student halls – there are a number of private halls providers in London, you may have met some of them already at the exhibition.
When deciding on the different types of accommodation with your flatmates, you have to be realistic and may have to compromise. Unless you have a massive budget you may not find the perfect property.
You need to decide what is more important for you and remember that you will not be living in the property forever so you can be flexible.
If there are a group of you renting together some landlords will allow you to use the living room as a bedroom which will cut down on costs as there are more of you sharing, but remember that you still need a space to be able to hang out in such as a suitable size kitchen or even a small garden.
Check out our helpful ‘find the right property’ flow chart from todays Exhibition Guide to help you decide which property is best for you.
Finally, some of you may have enjoyed staying with us in halls and would like to return for the next academic year. You can do this, by applying to stay in Evelyn Gardens.

7. EVELYN GARDENS Alternative to private halls or flatshares
250 recently refurbished modern rooms
Near South Kensington and Gloucester Road stations
24hr concierge and residents’ assistants
Prices from £169 a week including utilities, College network internet and contents insurance
51 week contract
Applications open later this month. Offers made on a first come first served basis
DANNY
Evelyn Gardens is our recently refurbished halls in Chelsea which are exclusively for containing student who are not in their final year.
All rooms are single
Mostly standard with shared facilities with a few en-suite rooms
51 week contract
24hr concierge and there are also Residents assistants
But if this does not appeal to you and you want to move into the private sector it’s a good idea to know where you want to live -

8. STEP 4: CHOOSE AN AREA DANNY
The map shows where most of our students live and this map is in the Area Guide we have produced.
We would all like to live locally to the College but you may have to live further out due to your budget, once again this is all about having to compromise to get the property you want and can afford.
Travel connection
Amenities
Check out the area during the day and evening
In addition to the area guide we have also produced a number of 60 second video clips of some of the more popular areas for our students. The one we are about to look at is for Hammersmith.

9. STEP 5: where to look? DANNY
You can watch more videos like this on our accommodation website.
So now it’s time to start looking - There are many options out there, including:
Estate Agents
Private Hall Providers
Various Student Website and notice boards.
But here, we have our own website called Imperial Home Solutions

10. Imperial HOME SOLUTIONS
DANNY
All students have access to the site, you just need your College password.
All the landlords and agents who advertise on the site are required to give contact information and copies of safety documentation that they are required to have such as Gas Safety Certificates.
400 landlords
23 Estate Agents
12 Private hall providers 
There is also a Student Message Board where you can place an advert, for example if you are looking for a flat mate and you would like a fellow imperial student.
Our top tips:
Keep your search broad. Don’t limit yourself to a specific area, keep it broad - there are some brilliant houses outside of the ‘traditional’ Hammersmith and Fulham areas for Imperial students, which sometimes offer larger houses for slightly cheaper

11. WHEN TO LOOK? Come along to a Housing Roadshow in a
hall near you in May
Top Tip!
Some landlords begin to advertise properties and take advanced bookings in April/May.
SUE MANNION
Ok, Just to recap we have covered the following:
Who to live with
What is your budget
What type of accommodation you want to live in
Where to look and when to look.
Give a quick run through about when to look - Some landlord will let you look now, but not move in until September/October - Agents will want you to move in within a couple of weeks of viewing the property.
Introduce video
Before we move on to fees, deposits and contracts I want to show you a short video from our Safety Shaun range on viewing properties. This video covers key elements to consider such as budget, location, interior and exterior condition of the property and safety and security. 

12. RIGHT TO RENT 1 February 2016 Right to Rent scheme came into force
Landlords will have to check their tenants have the right to live in the UK before renting a property
Tenants who sublet a room will also need to do a Right to Rent check
The full list of documents you can use for right to rent checks is available at:
SUE MANNION
One thing to consider when you go to visit an agent or a landlord, is that they will ask you whether you haver the Right to Rent in the UK.
From the 1 February last year new legislation came into force, which states, once you have found your property and have agreed with the Agent or Landlord the terms and conditions, the Agent or Landlord will then require you to prove that you have a Right to Rent the accommodation.
They will ask you for a copy of your passport and Visa, if you check the website shown, this will give you a full list of documentation that can be used.
However, we would state, do not send copies of your documentation via and do not allow Agents/Landlords to take your documentation away. If your landlord wishes to do this, we suggest that you copy the documents yourself, show him the originals and then give him the copies. Again on the website, it gives you lots of information.
I am now going to introduce Nas and James….

13. OUR RENT GUARANTOR SCHEME
Brand new pilot scheme launching today!
You can use the College as your rental guarantor
Open to all returning UG students
Rent a property up to the value of £250 per person, per week
Managed by the Student Hub
Find out more online:
NAS
NEW GUARANTOR SCHEME

14. RECAP Flatmates Budgets Areas Rent Guarantee Other Costs
Check out the Private Housing Guide in your bags for everything you need to know in full
Flatmates
Budgets
Areas
Rent Guarantee
Other Costs

15. WHAT TO THINK ABOUT WHEN…
YOU FIND THE PERFECT PLACE TO LIVE
Contracts
Deposits
Inventories
Moving in and out
What to do when things go wrong

16. MAY HOUSING ROADSHOWS HALL LOCATION DATE COMPANIES ATTENDING Beit
South Kensington
Tuesday 1 May
RR Properties Dexters (Estate Agent)
Optivo (Private Hall)
Urbanest UK (Private Hall)
Pure Hammersmith (Private Hall)
Wilson House
Paddington
Tuesday 8 May
RR Properties (Estate Agent)
Plaza Estates (Estate Agent)
Woodward
North Acton
Tuesday 15 May
Downing Students (Private Hall)
Ravens Court House (Private Hall)
Eastside / Southside
Tuesday 22 May
RR Properties Ltd (Estate Agent)
Dexters (Estate Agent)
The Nido Collection (Private Hall)
Pure Hammersmith Ltd (Private Hall)
Campus Living Villages (Private Hall)
Xenia
Waterloo
Tuesday 29 May
Savills (Estate Agent)

17. HAVE WE WOWED YOU? www.imperial.ac.uk/student-hub
The Student Hub and Residential Services have teamed up with The WOW! Awards to give you the opportunity to recognise and reward excellent service when you receive it.
If you’ve been impressed by the service you’ve received at the Hub or in Halls, you can nominate the staff member you dealt with for a WOW! Award.
To find out more or to make a nomination visit the Student Hub website:

18. Thank you Feedback Thank you for attending this evening.
Get in touch with the Student Hub if you have any queries or concerns
Please fill in our feedback form online at before Monday 12 March for a chance to win shopping vouchers.
Feedback
SUE MANNION
How to feedback
That just leaves me to say a huge thank you to Lucinda and Jennie from the Union and a very big thank you to you all for attending and REMEMBER WE WILL BE AROUND IN THE QTR after if you have any questions and of course you also have a chance of winning our prize draw prize of an Ipod and Dr Dre Headphones if you complete our online feedback form. Good night.