The ultimate student house viewing checklist

Every time you move house, you get wiser and wiser to potential pitfalls.

Maybe the boiler can’t handle more than two hot showers each morning and you live in a 6-person house. Or a room advertised with two shared single beds only has one power socket. Hmm.

Worst of all, there could be a serious health hazard you don’t spot before you sign your contract, like black mould. There’s a lot at stake if you don’t take your house viewing seriously–your health, your daily convenience and comfort level, and especially your finances.

Your finances can be impacted not just by paying more for substandard accommodation. Unscrupulous landlords have been known to take advantage of students, charging them a cleaning fee or deducting money from their deposit for house damage that existed before they moved in (but didn’t see).

Here’s what to look out for on your next viewing to avoid being blindsided by problems later.

1. Damp and mould

Damp makes a home smell musty and feel cold and sometimes sticky. Walls feel cold to the touch, even a little clammy. Plaster may feel spongy and damp, and the air often feels heavy or humid.

If you sense any of these things, especially accompanied by black spots or peeling paint, don’t just decline the offer; leave the premises as soon as possible. This is a serious health concern and the structure of the property could be compromised, as well.

1. Heating and hot water

You’ll want to be sure every room in the house (with a radiator) gets warm and that everyone living in the house has a chance of a hot shower in the morning.

Test run the boiler as one of your first checks. By the time you’ve finished your other checks, the house should have reached the temperature it’s set at.

Touch the radiators and sense the overall temperature in the room. Ask yourself, is it warm enough to live in, dry clothes over the radiator, and banish any cold or damp brought into the environment?

Touch the walls, too, to see if they’re cold. If the heating is on and the walls are still very cold, it might be that the property isn’t well-insulated.

Ask the landlord about the level of insulation, and for the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC rating)–they’re legally obliged to provide this. The EPC will provide details of the insulation levels of the property and any recommendations for further measures.

Check water from the taps is hot enough too (as dictated by the boiler settings) and the time it takes to flow through hot is no more than 30 seconds. You’ll run up a bigger water bill (and waste precious resources) if you’re waiting for water hot enough to bathe in.

1. Water pressure

Run the taps and the shower, and flush the toilet to make sure there’s adequate water pressure. Whether it’s a good shower or not spending ages filling up your kettle, good water pressure is essential.

You’ll also need the toilet to handle the occupant capacity and their, erm, needs.

1. Boiler certificate and electrical safety

Make sure you get eyes on the boiler certificate (the Landlord Gas Safety Record or CP12 certificate) to make sure it’s up to date, or ask your landlord for a copy. These are renewed annually, so check that the certificate was issued no more than 12 months before.

The electrics are a safety issue too. Look for loose wires, check smoke alarms are working and that there are enough power sockets, to avoid trailing wires.

1. Appliances

Take a look at all the white goods in the property: fridge, freezer, washing machine, tumble dryer.

Check that:

• Your appliances are “as advertised” (brand, capacity, years of use)
• They work (you can ask to check a short cycle on the washing machine)
• There are enough of them to service all occupants

A higher number of tenants will put greater strain on the functioning of your appliances. Appliances, like fridges and freezer will also need to be large enough to accommodate the food storage demands of a greater number of people.

Your landlord will receive more rental income the more tenants they have, and it's their duty to provide living conditions that meet their basic needs.

1. Storage

Each occupant should have enough storage space, whether it’s a kitchen cupboard, a shelf in the fridge or a wardrobe.

Check your landlord isn’t storing their personal stuff in the space you’re paying for. Communal cleaning tools in storage cupboards are there for you to use, and that’s fine.

But if they’re storing suitcases of clothes or their kids’ toys in your fitted wardrobes, which is space advertised for your use, then they need to be removed before you move in.

1. Window quality

If you put your face close to a window pane and look at the edge, you can usually pick out whether the window is made up of 2 or 3 panes of glass (double or triple glazing).

One pane of glass (single glazing) will offer a much lower level of insulation. Pop your hand next to the pane to feel the temperature and around the edges of the window to see if you feel a draught.

If you have sash windows, the type that lift vertically up and down, give them a little wiggle back and forth to see if there’s movement. If there’s considerable wobble, this is going to make a racket banging back and forth whenever there’s a strong wind. It’ll also make it harder to maintain the temperature you want in the room.

1. Locks

Test any locks on windows and doors work adequately and are fixed securely. Here’s what to look out for:

• If it has a key, can you insert and turn it without any stiffness and without it jamming?
• Are the key and lock sturdy enough? Flimsy fittings can easily snap or break off.
• Do any external doors with a Yale lock also have a deadbolt on them which you can engage from the inside?
• Does a door with a Yale lock also have a deadbolt lock or latch further down for added security?
• Is the door itself properly fitted and not rotting in places? A good quality lock is useless if the door can be booted off its hinges or kicked in without much effort.

Locks are the first barrier to your safety, the safety of others and your belongings.

1. Overall maintenance

A house in disrepair is a red flag. It shows that your landlord doesn’t keep the home adequately upgraded or might not bother to check unless asked.

Worse still, they might have received requests to fix broken fixtures and fittings, or even greater structural damage, and ignored them.

If you choose to move into a house with any level of disrepair, it’s essential to document every issue with a photo, description and timestamp, and have your landlord witness and agree on the described problems in writing before you move in.

That way, they can’t claim they occurred during your tenancy and make an attempt to keep a portion of your deposit to rectify these pre-existing issues.

1. Overall cleanliness

A lot of student accommodation contracts set out a cleaning fee, which you pay for. The contract will say how much this is, and when it occurs (either shortly before your tenancy or after).

The fee may be charged to you directly, deducted from your deposit or added to one of your rental payments.

This is a common area for dispute. If you’re viewing an empty property, take note of how clean it is in general and ask about the terms of the cleaning fee.

If the property was supposedly cleaned once the tenants leave, and it’s currently filthy, it’s reasonable to assume the landlord hasn’t followed the cleaning protocol they set out, and you should proceed with caution.

Document all damage, dirt and wear and tear to the property and request a change to any cleaning agreement if you’re not satisfied.

Kit out your new place for less with UNiDAYS

Head over to our household hub to find discounts on brands that supply furniture, appliances and electronics.