Moving out...the smart way
we're sad to see you go!
How do I need to leave my room?
Most importantly leave your room clean and don’t leave anything behind! We recommend you take photographs of your room before you leave and send them to [email protected], so we all have a record of how you left your room, and make sure you lock your bedroom door.
Here are a few tips:
- Hoover everywhere – including under your bed and under the desk
- Wipe everything down – including the insides of your drawers and inside your wardrobe
- Don’t forget your windowsil and the skirting boards
- Report all repairs, even if you think we already know about it or think we will find it anyway
If a professional cleaner is needed to clean your room after you have handed your keys in the costs will be charged back to you, so double check everywhere.
How do we need to leave communal areas?
The answer is the same here as for your room – clean! Make sure you don’t leave anything behind and again take photographs of how all the communal areas (including the front and back yards) were when you left, again sending them to [email protected], so we all have a record of how the house was when you personally left.
Here are a few tips:
- Even if you aren’t planning on moving out until the end of July, start thinking about if you still need everything you have? Can you start to thin things out now and utilise the council waste collection and save a trip to the tip?
- When you move out leave everywhere clean, the inside of your kitchen cupboard and drawer, the shower, the living room – don’t leave your mess for the last person to organise. That way as more and more people leave the easier it is for the last person to keep on top of and finish off before they go.
- Hoover the skirting boards – you would be shocked at how different the room looks just for being hoovered.
- Report all repairs, even if you think we already know about it or think we will find it anyway.
What does "one black bag worth of waste" mean?
As a house you can only leave behind a maximum of one black bag worth of waste per tenant.
This means when your house is being cleaned, once the cleaners are finished if there are more than 6 black bin bags which need to be collected for a 6 bedroom house then you have exceeded your allowance of “waste”.
That includes:
- any rubbish already bagged and left behind
- any recycling left behind
- any loose waste outside
- mattress protectors being thrown away
- abandoned belongings (including clothes airers and coat hangers)
- traffic cones and street signs
- food
- broken furniture
- appliances/ furniture/ bins which don’t belong to the landlord
- disposable cleaning items used by the cleaners – e.g. the more bleach and cloths needed the more of your allowance it takes up
What do we do about the extra rubbish when we can only leave one black bag worth of waste each?
You really need to plan ahead and start thinking about how much stuff you won’t be taking with you.
- Can you donate anything?
- Can you recycle it?
- Can you get to the tip? Even if you don’t have a car can a friend take you?
- Are the University providing any donation bins this year?
- How many council collections are left before you leave?
- Can you ask someone else to continue putting your rubbish out if you’re leaving early?
I'm staying in the same house but I'm changing rooms, what do I do?
Follow the same instructions as “How do I need to leave my room?”.
The person who’s room you are moving into should have left their room clean for you to move into and you should leave your room clean for the next person to move into.
If the person moving into your room doesn’t already live in your house you will need to return your keys to CSL, see below “I’m all sorted – what do I do with my keys?”.
There is time between my current contract ending and my new contract starting, what can I do?
Unfortunately your current contract end date and time cannot be extended, you need to be ready to leave and have your keys handed in by 9:30am on the last day of your contract.
Depending who your landlord is you might be able to move in early to your next house, though it is unlikely, you could always ask them.
If you can’t get your things back home, or keep them with a friend, for the time between your contracts Big Yellow Storage on Sealand Road offer student discounts and reasonable rates. If you know someone else in the same situation as you, or a couple of people, you could split the costs and make it even cheaper to hire some safe, secure space for a short term to store your belongings until moving day.
Here is the link to their website: Big Yellow storage Chester
I'm all sorted - what do I do with my keys?
You just have to get them back to us at CSL no later than 9:30am on the day your tenancy ends. You have options:
In person
- During working hours: 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday, you can hand your keys in to someone in the office
- Out of working hours, you can pop them in an envelope WITH YOUR NAME ON (we aren’t psychic – nor do we know the shape of every key) and put it through the letter box
- Our office is the one with the yellow door
By post
- Secure your keys inside a food bag or using an elastic band before putting them in an envelope – this should stop them cutting through the paper during processing and transit
- Put your secured keys in an envelope with a note which HAS YOUR NAME ON (still not Derren Brown)
- Send your keys to: Chester Student Lets, 89 Garden Lane, Chester, CH1 4EW by recorded delivery so you can track them
KEYS NOT RECEIVED BY 9:30AM ON THE DAY YOUR CONTRACT ENDS WILL DEEM TO BE “NOT RETURNED” AND YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THEIR REPLACEMENT.
I have a question about moving out which hasn't been answered, how is best to ask it?
No problem, just send an email to [email protected] and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!
“David and Emma are a great landlord and landlady. If we had any trouble with the house they were there to help straight away. Nothing was ever a trouble to them and the house was a brilliant student Home. Highly recommend”
“Great service, Jess was really enthusiastic and helpful with the house viewing!”
Siphume Msimang
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