Contracts

We always use a 12 month, Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) Contract. This is a ‘joint and several’ agreement between us and you, the group of students who together are ‘the Tenant’. 

A sample contract can be download below for your inspection.

Before you move in, we supply two copies of the contract with your names, addresses, etc. on them. You keep one copy and we keep one copy.

At the point of moving in, we will ask you to check and sign the printed inventory with an independent person.

This is where you confirm that the furniture and equipment is all as it should be and where you can record any items that are missing, dirty, marked or damaged before you start your tenancy. You can also request any additional furniture, shelving, mirrors, notice boards etc. if you require them.

If the house is not perfectly clean and in good decorative order (we aim to hand it over to you in ‘hotel clean’ standard), it is very important that you report this immediately and our repair and cleaning team will be in to rectify matters.

BEFORE MOVING IN:

• You will have all returned an application form and paid your deposits
• Your guarantor (usually a parent) will each have returned their guarantee form (without this, you will not be permitted to move in to the house and your key will not be present at the check-in
• You will have each filled out & returned your standing order mandate so your rent is paid by your bank on the 1^st of each month
• We will have checked all your references

AFTER MIDDAY ON THE DAY YOU MOVE IN:

• We all meet at the house and your keys are waiting in your bedroom doors
• If you can’t all come to the house, it is your responsibility to check the bedrooms for those who are not present
• You will check the Inventory and Schedule of Condition and report any repairs, errors, etc.
• We advise utilities and other providers of your tenancy dates and meter readings
• We carry out any further cleaning, repairs, etc. as needed

NB: Please check the actual contract before you sign it as there may be particulars which are different for your house.

You can download a sample contract below:

UWE Houses Sample Contract 2021-22.pdf

General Data Protection & Privacy Policy

Summary

Information provided will be treated confidentially and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) 25th May 2018.

Personal information will be used solely for the purpose of discharging our duties as landlords and/or keeping you informed about the property you have enquired about or ones that are similar and close by.

Our privacy policy, which explains how we will process your personal information, how long we will retain it and your rights as a data subject, can be found in this section.

Privacy Policy Notice

UWE Houses’ General Manager can always provide the name of the current data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998 and other relevant regulations. The purpose of this privacy policy is to tell you about the information we collect about you when you use our services, how we use that information and who we may share it with. The contact details of the data controller are: UWE Houses LLP, 5b Staplehill Road, Bristol, BS16 5AA.

What data we need to collect and the legal basis for processing it:

Tenants:

We will process name, address, organisation name, phone number(s) and email address information in order to contact you.

We also collect photo(s), DOB, gender, course of study, student ID and national ID, visas (where appropriate), proof of student finance, occupation (if relevant) and your UK ‘Right to Rent’ status; and your declared associations with your guarantors/guarantees and potential ‘Joint Tenants’ (house-sharers) together with enough financial data to prove ability to pay rent and charges as planned and account data to make such payments.

Such data is kept for employees, key contractors (e.g. for maintenance) and for local authorities (e.g. Bristol City Council and South Glos Council).  Such data is also kept together with H & S data we deem to be relevant to discharging our responsibilities.

With your consent, we will process your contact data during the ‘pre-commitment’ period when you are an expressing interest in UWE Houses but have not yet applied to join us.

With your consent, we may share your contact details with potential or actual joint tenants.

Guarantors:

As part of the application process, the tenant will provide us with details for a guarantor.  This includes name, address, phone number, and email address.

If you are nominated to act as a guarantor, we will hold and process your personal data for the purposes of completing your guarantor application. Your personal data will be shared with our designated credit referencing agency to process the guarantor application.  We are currently using a referencing agency called Vouch.  The results of any subsequent credit score/report will be used in the decision-making process. We will also hold and process your personal data for any lawful reason required such as law enforcement.

When contacted by the referencing agency, you will be asked to complete a declaration whereby you can decide whether you want the designated 3^rd party referencing agency to hold your personal data.

UWE Houses may also contact a guarantor if serious concerns are raised about the tenant’s behaviour.

Former Landlords and Employers:

To check the suitability of new tenants, we will contact a tenant’s current or most recent landlord, if they have provided us with their information.  This is the same for employers if they are working.  The personal information we use includes the landlord or employer’s name, phone number, and email address.

Emergency Contact:

As part of our duty of care, the tenant will provide us with details for an emergency contact.  This includes their name, phone number, and email address. They will be contacted in the event of an emergency. 

How long we will keep your data for:

Where we are using your data because you have consented to use of your contact details (name, address, organisation name, phone number and email address information), these will be deleted in the second year after you provided the data unless you formally ‘engage’ with us – in which case, all information we hold about you will be deleted in the seventh year after you have ceased to be engaged with us.

If you never engage with us and we are processing your data on the basis of your ‘consent’ (typically prior to any engagement with us), you are freely able to withdraw your consent for us to process your information at any given time. 

Cloud-based Data:

Some data is held using cloud-based services that are themselves GDPR compliant. These currently include DocuSign, GoTenant, Vouch and Google. Such data is protected by the relevant company’s own procedures.

Your rights as a data subject:

You have the right to request access to your data and wherever data is found to be inaccurate to have that data corrected.  In certain circumstances, you have the right to have data held about you erased; you may be able to object to our processing or transferring your data to another data controller. You also have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk if you think we have dealt with your information in an inappropriate manner.

View our ICO registration certificate here

Insurance

For peace of mind, contents insurance with Ensleigh, the number 1 provider of student insurance, is included free of charge. 

This covers your contents in the house only, but you can top up the insurance if you wish so that your possessions are covered outside the house as well as topping up your insurance to include additional items which may not be covered by our policy.

Click below for more information so you can see what is covered:

UWE Houses Insurance Certificate

How to Complain

We very much hope that all will go well for you; however, from time to time things can go wrong.  If you have a complaint the first thing you need to do is to ring or email us:

Click Here for contact information

Repairs / Replacements:

Trevor, our maintenance manager, will see to any faults as soon as he can. Priority will be given to urgent matters like water leaks & heating breakdowns, less urgent matters may take longer to be resolved.  They will have been noted and if you are concerned that the matter has not been dealt with in a reasonable time please contact us again and we will ask Trevor to treat it as a priority if we think this is reasonable.

Disputes Between Yourself and Other Tenants:

Before you talk to us, you need to talk amongst yourselves and try to resolve things.

If you are unable to sort things out between yourselves, you can email us and we can write to the whole household: if this is the case you need to clearly outline your complaint so everyone can read it and understand what the issues are.

We will then either suggest that:

• We meet with all of you as a household to discuss your complaint
• You go to any of the following services at the University of The West of England Frenchay Campus, who are professionally qualified to help you:
  • Student Support Services: Click here to book an appointment with a Student Support Adviser or call 0117 32 85678.  Email the Information Point Team at: .
  • Students' Union: Click here or call 0117 32 82577.  Email: 
  • Advice Centre: Click here or call 0117 32 82676.  Email:
  • Wellbeing Services: Click here or call 0117 32 86268.  Email:  

Complaints About the UWE Houses Team

If you are unhappy with the way you have been treated by any of our team we want to know: please tell us who you are complaining about and exactly what the problem is.  We will talk to the person concerned and address any issues raised.

Once the matter has been dealt with, we will give you feedback.  If you feel that UWE houses has not resolved the matter properly, tell us.  We are a member of the Property Redress Scheme, who can deal with any issues you have tried to resolve with us, and this has not been successful.

Information on the PRS can be found here.

Property Redress Scheme Certificate

Accreditation – Designed to Protect You!

UWE houses are fully accredited and have agreed to accreditation standards.  If you feel that these have not been complied with, talk to us.

If you are still unhappy, you can contact the National Landlord’s Association:

http://www.landlords.org.uk/accreditation/tenants

or Bristol City Council:

https://www.bristol.gov.uk/private-landlords/private-housing-policies-and-performance