For the last week-by-week update on the Housing Campaign, our topic is What Is Landlord Accreditation? To be fair, we know this might not be top of your list of questions. But, maybe it should be…
That house you’re interested in – it must have been approved by someone, right? Or had an inspection, or something? Well, not necessarily. There are certain basic legal requirements for landlords – like, for example, having a Gas Safety Certificate for any gas appliances in the property – but not as many as you might imagine. That’s why we really encourage students to look for an accredited landlord – for example, one who’s signed up to the Unipol/AfS Code.
Accreditation provides loads of benefits for you (and your landlord) – ensuring the property is safe and well-maintained and that the standard of accommodation is appropriate, and helping address any problems.
The process goes into lots of detail – meaning that you can relax and just make decisions about whether you like the house, rather than having to ask about hard-to-see stuff like the wiring and the door locks and whether the bath might leak into the living room. We definitely recommend asking landlords whether they’re accredited – and if not, why not?
Don’t forget, the Housing Fair is on the 14th January, and it’s still (yes, really) too early to sort accommodation out now. And for this week’s extra bonus, check out this video from XTV and Theatre with Teeth to see just how wrong things can go with your housing…
Residence Life Helen