2013

Moving Out

If you are anything like me, packing is always done at the last minute and with a looming sense of dread! Either that or you often don’t really think about moving out, until you realise you’ve only got a few hours left!

I know these sorts of guides might seem a bit patronising, but the best way to deal with moving out of your property and making sure that everything is left properly is just to get on with it – and all this short guide is here to do, is to put all the information together in one place about reducing, reusing and recycling your stuff, being environmentally friendly, utilising local charities, and avoiding cleaning fines, and getting your deposits back.

This year, all our community strategy has come together under our ‘Love Community’ campaign, as we really want to try and make a positive impact in our local area. So please do have a quick read, and work out how you can leave your property and our local areas in a good condition.

Any questions? Just email welfare@warwicksu.com

Moving Out Guide

Ben (Welfare Officer, Warwick SU)

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This section contains lots of information on what you can recycle and where, what you can give away and how, and what you just need to chuck (surprisingly little!) The best advice I can give you is to check out your council websites which are listed below as they have the most comprehensive information on recycling. I’ve taken the liberty of updating our charity shop information – so you can find local shops near you to whom you can give your stuff and get some sweet, feel-good karma in return. Warwick District Council (if you live in Leamington or Kenilworth) Coventry City Council (if you live in Coventry or Canley)

STAGE ONE: REDUCE. RE-USE.

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If you want to get rid of your rubbish/general waste:

DO double check your collection days and put out your rubbish the night before

DO consider a trip to your local tip if you have a lot of waste

DON’T overfill your bin bags so they split – this will attract vermin

DON’T leave bags on the street on a non-collection day as you could be fined

DON’T overfill your bins on collection day as this is classed as excess waste and you could be fined

If you want to get rid of bulky items (eg. furniture)

DO contact your local council in advance to arrange a collection

DO call up your local charity shops to see if they want your items and if they can collect them (NB: not all will!)

DO organise a collection with Action 21 (Leamington postcodes only, more information on Pg. 7)

DO check out organisations like Freecycle

DON’T give away furniture that was in your house when you arrived as it doesn’t belong to you!

DON’T leave it in your front yard/street – this will be classed as fly-tipping and you could be fined.

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STAGE ONE: REDUCE. RE-USE.

If you want to get rid of your recyclable materials (card, glass, plastic etc):

DO double check your recycling collection days and put out your recycling in good time

DO find out your local recycling points in case you miss collection day

DO wash out bottles, jars etc as they are sorted by hand!

DON’T get your recycling bins mixed up with your general waste bins (it’s easily done!)

If you want to get rid of your re-usable items:

DO give as much as possible to local charity shops and organisations – see the table at

www.warwicksu.com/leaveleamtidy for more detail on shops in your area. Some shops will collect

– give them a call to see if they will (if they do it will generally only be if you have a lot of stuff to pick up!)

DO organise a collection with Action 21 (Leamington postcodes only, more information on Pg. 7)

DO check out organisations like Freecycle

DON’T just throw re-usable items away – they help charities raise millions of pounds for vital support and

research every year.

Action 21 are an amazing organisation based in Leamington who focus on sustainability, re-using and recycling.They have kindly agreed to do collections of items on the following dates:

Wednesday 26th June Monday 1st July Wednesday 3rd July

If you would like to arrange a collection, you need to do the following:

1) Check out their website, www.action21.co.uk to see what items they will and won’t accept2) Call them on 01926 886438 and quote reference KLT2012 to arrange a date for the collection3) Make sure you pack your items and have them ready for collection on the arranged day!

Action 21 will only be doing collections in Leamington Spa. If you would like to donate items there are other organisations in your local area listed at www.warwicksu.com/leaveleamtidy for both Leam and Cov students.

practical steps towards a greener future

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I hate to break it to you folks, but cleaning your house/flat in preparation for moving out doesn’t mean a quick once-over with a vacuum. It means getting stains out of the carpets, scraping mould off, getting rid of spider’s webs, getting hair out of plugholes, scrubbing the toilets…you get the idea. A good cleaning job cannot be done in a couple of hours, and it’s far easier to tackle it as a group – so schedule a day in which you’re all around, pull on those rubber gloves and get cracking!

Remember to: defrost your freezer and clean the oven!

Note to the people who are leaving early and so think they can get out of the cleaning: think again. It’s your responsibility to do your share as well – not least because you’re likely to be on a joint tenancy, so if one person’s bedroom is left in a state, the landlord could choose to fine all tenants in order to pay for repairs.This will be different if you’re on an individual tenancy (check your contract or ask your landlord if in doubt).

STAGE TWO: CLEAN ALL OF THE THINGS!!

NEW HOME

(imagery courtesy of Hyperbole and a Half)

Getting your deposit back

Students are most commonly charged for the following by their landlords:

Disposal of domestic waste left outside the property or tenant possessions

Replacing door locks where keys have not been returned or are unidentifiable

Unblocking of drains or plug holes where a build-up of hair, food, domestic waste etc is evident

Replacing tile grout or silicon stained or mouldy from the build-up of dirt or mildew

Replace smoke and heat detector units where pulled off ceilings

Replacing light bulbs, doorbell and smoke detector batteries that are not working

If you are charged for repairs, cleaning etc. it will come out of your deposit.

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Your deposit should be protected in a tenancy deposit protection scheme. If the landlord doesn’t want to deduct anything from your deposit, then you should get all of your money back.

If the landlord wants to deduct money from the deposit, then you have two choices: either you accept the deductions (so you will get refunded the remaining money, if there is money left) or you can dispute the deductions (the scheme should then explain how the dispute process works).

The landlord can’t charge for reasonable wear and tear, but can charge for cleaning or substantial damage. If they do choose to charge you, it will probably be at commercial rates which can go into the hundreds of pounds – so if your carpet is really stained and you know it’s likely that you’ll be charged for it, you might as well look around for a decent carpet shampoo and do the work yourself, rather than being fined in the long run.

If you can, call your landlord and arrange for them to come around a few days before you move out.You can take them round the house and get them to point out any potential problems which you then have some time to solve.

When you move out, take photographs of all the rooms in the house (with a current newspaper in if possible so you can prove the date). If you completed an inventory when you moved in, make sure you check all items and their state of (dis)repair against the recorded information.

If you want advice or help on getting your deposit back, or if you’re struggling to communicate with your landlord, please email advice@warwicksu.com or make an appointment with an advisor: 02476 572 824

www.warwicksu.com/advice

Getting your deposit back

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After you’ve made your house/flat all spick and span, there’s still a few things you’ll need to do to complete the moving out process (besides finish packing, obviously…)

CHECK

Your contract (you’d be surprised how many people think their contract ends at the end of August rather than at the end of July…) – make sure you move out before the end of your tenancy! Your meter readings – inform the utility companies and let them know what address to send the final invoice to. That all electrical and gas equipment is turned off before you leave the house (leave the mains on unless specified by your contract) and that all doors and windows are shut and locked.

CHANGE

Your postal address. Royal Mail do a forwarding service but it does cost money so you may prefer to change any subscriptions etc. yourself. Any light bulbs and batteries in household appliances that don’t work or at least tell your landlord.

STAGE THREE: CHECK, CHANGE, CANCEL

CANCEL

Your internet account and any other utility accounts that you set up. Inform them that you will no longer be living at that address and tell them to take your name off the account after your leaving date. Your TV license – depending on how much time you have left on your license you may even be able to geta cheeky refund.

Finally, hand in your keys to your landlord or estate agent and have an amazing summer!

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