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Parents’ guide to student accommodation

So your son or daughter’s coming to Reading university? Congratulations! It’s a brilliant achievement and an exciting step, but like any big life event, university often whips up plenty of uncertainty for all involved. Turner can put you at ease when it comes to your accommodation options.

Reading University try to accommodate all first-year students in halls on campus but with rising student numbers in the past few years this has not always been the case.

Second and third-year students usually live in private accommodation and this is either shared houses (known as HMOs) or purpose-built student housing. It is also common, depending on availability, for third year students to return to halls for their final year. Whichever category your son or daughter fall into, we are here to help.

Do not be surprised if your son or daughter start talking to you about a house for their second year as early as October. This may seem ridiculously early having only started at university in September but it is fact that the majority of students secure their accommodation between October and the Christmas break. We do not encourage them to look too early as they could be forced to make a choice about who they want to share a house with before their friendships are established. However, the better houses in better locations go first and once students start talking about houses and deciding who they want to live with, this often starts a frenzy!

The strength of their friendships is important as our tenancies on whole houses are joint and several and this means that the students are jointly responsible for the property and the rent. We do also offer tenancies on single rooms for those that are not part of a group. We ask for guarantors for all student tenants to cover the rent and this is usually a parent. This is normal practice in the student accommodation industry. For further information on how the student letting process works please see our separate guidance tab: ‘student lettings process’.

For most students living in a shared house with friends is a wonderful experience but it can also be challenging. Our properties are well designed to try and alleviate the possible issues arising from living in a shared house. Even with the right housemates there may be occasions where they cannot agree on who does the washing up, how long the heating is on for, how noisy they are etc. We recognize that students are often not experienced in running a home and we are here to help as much as we can.

This can be a stressful time for parents who are often paying for the accommodation and taking on the responsibility. We are here to help and answer your questions and concerns. Our tenants have the benefit of our friendly staff in the office, a dedicated maintenance team for any problems that arise and an out of hours service for emergencies.

Additional benefits when choosing to live in a Turner student home:

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Frequently Asked Questions

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We would be very happy to send you a sample contract and answer any questions that you may have.

Joint and several liability means that both individually and jointly, all the tenants are responsible for paying the rent and for all other tenants’ responsibilities during the tenancy.

Do not sign the tenancy agreement if you do not understand it. Please email or telephone us with any questions that you may have or your guarantor may have.

Student accommodation will be made available from the 1st October, though we are happy to take enquiries from students earlier.

A guarantor is a person who agrees to pay the student rent if the student is unable to do so. A guarantor is usually the students’ parents or guardians.

A student guarantor is a person who vouches to pay the students rent in a case where the student fails to do so. Unlike professional lettings where tenants are paid a salary and provide an employer reference or credit check, many student are reliant on their student loan. For this reason, students will need to be guaranteed by their parents or guardians. We request that guarantors indicated be UK residents, UK homeowners, and over the age of 25. For the tenancy agreement, guarantors are supposed to provide their copies of original identification documents and sign the required paperwork.

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Tenant Fees

Fee Type

Cost £ including VAT*

Explanation

Holding Deposit

One week’s rent

A Holding Deposit is required to reserve a property.
Please note: In the event of the tenant withdrawing within 15 days of paying the Holding Deposit or failing to take up the tenancy within 15 days of paying the Holding Deposit or not complying with point 5 of the reservation receipt the tenant will forfeit their Holding Deposit.

Deposit

Five weeks’ rent

The Deposit covers damages or defaults on the part of the tenant during the tenancy

Late Rent Payment – more than 14 days

Interest at 3% above the base rate of Bank of England per annum, calculated daily.

Interest will be applied from the Rent Due Date.

Lost Key(s)

See explanation

Any cost for the replacement of keys, fobs, security devices or associated items which have been lost, damaged or broken. If the loss results in locks needing to be changed, the actual costs of a locksmith, new lock and replacement keys for the tenant, landlord and any other persons requiring keys will be charged to the tenant. If extra costs are incurred there will be a charge of £15 per hour (inc. VAT) for the time taken replacing lost key(s).

Variation of Contract (Tenant’s request and agreed by the Landlord)

£50 per agreed variation

To cover the costs of the preparation and execution of new legal documents.

Change of Sharer (Requested and replacement found by the tenant)

£50 per replacement tenant

To cover the costs of new tenant / guarantor referencing, right to rent checks, deposit registration and the preparation and execution of new legal documents.

Early Termination (Tenant’s request and agreed by the Landlord).

See explanation

Should the tenant wish to leave their tenancy agreement early, the tenant shall be liable for the costs in re-letting the property and all rent due under the tenancy until the start date of the replacement tenant. These costs will be no more than the maximum amount of rent outstanding on the tenancy.
Note: The Landlord is not legally required to agree to this request.

Company Let Application Fee

£300 per company

To cover the costs of processing a company application, includes references checks.

*VAT charged at prevailing rate
Tenant Fees

Fee Type

Cost £ including VAT*

Explanation

Holding Deposit

One week’s rent

A Holding Deposit is required to reserve a property.
Please note: In the event of the tenant withdrawing within 15 days of paying the Holding Deposit or failing to take up the tenancy within 15 days of paying the Holding Deposit or not complying with point 5 of the reservation receipt the tenant will forfeit their Holding Deposit.

Deposit

Five weeks’ rent

The Deposit covers damages or defaults on the part of the tenant during the tenancy

Late Rent Payment – more than 14 days

Interest at 3% above the base rate of Bank of England per annum, calculated daily.

Interest will be applied from the Rent Due Date.

Lost Key(s)

See explanation

Any cost for the replacement of keys, fobs, security devices or associated items which have been lost, damaged or broken. If the loss results in locks needing to be changed, the actual costs of a locksmith, new lock and replacement keys for the tenant, landlord and any other persons requiring keys will be charged to the tenant. If extra costs are incurred there will be a charge of £15 per hour (inc. VAT) for the time taken replacing lost key(s).

Variation of Contract (Tenant’s request and agreed by the Landlord)

£50 per agreed variation

To cover the costs of the preparation and execution of new legal documents.

Change of Sharer (Requested and replacement found by the tenant)

£50 per replacement tenant

To cover the costs of new tenant / guarantor referencing, right to rent checks, deposit registration and the preparation and execution of new legal documents.

Early Termination (Tenant’s request and agreed by the Landlord).

See explanation

Should the tenant wish to leave their tenancy agreement early, the tenant shall be liable for the costs in re-letting the property and all rent due under the tenancy until the start date of the replacement tenant. These costs will be no more than the maximum amount of rent outstanding on the tenancy.
Note: The Landlord is not legally required to agree to this request.

Company Let Application Fee

£300 per company

To cover the costs of processing a company application, includes references checks.

*VAT charged at prevailing rate

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Fill in your personal details. We will be in touch to discuss your professional property needs.

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Before After Erleigh Road before refurbishment82 Erleigh Road Kitchen
  • 82-Erleigh-Road-lounge-2

    Lounge

  • 82-Erleigh-Road-kitchen

    Kitchen

  • 4 Bedroom Student Home – Erleigh Road

    Lounge 2

  • 82-Erleigh-Road-bedroom4

    Bedroom 1

  • 82-Erleigh-Road-bedroom3

    Bedroom 2

  • 82-Erleigh-Road bedroom2

    Bedroom 3

  • 82-Erleigh-Road bedroom1

    Bedroom 4

  • 82-Erleigh-Road-bathroom

    Bathroom

  • 82-Erleigh-Road-garden

    Garden 2

  • 82-Erleigh-Road-garden-3

    Garden 3