Addressing the issue of repairs in rented accommodation
October 12, 2007
It can be a frustrating business waiting for repairs to be carried out in rented accommodation. We know that. If you rent a flat from us we want everything to be working properly. However this summer we took a giant step towards relieving the pain of waiting for repairs when we increased the minimum amount which could be spent before we seek permission from the landlord.
This can cover all sort of items, including minor joinery or plumbing and electrical repairs. For example, if we need to replace an extractor fan, previously we might have despatched a trades-person to give us an estimate, then we would find the landlord to sanction the cost. Particularly during a holiday period this might be a lengthy process. Now, thanks to the raised payment threshold, we can get the job done quicker and everybody wins.
Finding rented accommodation for the Polish community
October 9, 2007
You may not have heard of it and, who knows, you probably don’t know to pronounce it, but Szkocja is one of Edinburgh most successful websites, You can probably guess by the way it is spelled that the site provides support, help and ideas for Scotland’s Polish community, greeting as many 650,000 unique visitors every month with news, listings and links.
Many of these Polish visitors are looking for accommodation in the UK and happily many end up at our Edinburgh office where Joanna and Gosia, our two Polish members of staff are able to find them flats or houses for rent and can provide support and help in the event of problems. Such is our commitment to our Polish tenants, several areas of our Grant Management website are translated into Polish.
The art of furnishing rented accommodation
October 4, 2007
Good taste: you’ve either got it or you haven’t. Fortunately Jolene has it in spades. She’s a member of the interiors team, possibly responsible for buying the very piece of furniture on which you are daintily perched reading this right now, and her day to day job mostly involves furnishing our new properties in Coventry, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol and Nottingham as well as a few more cities to come (more on that soon).
When I was chatting to her earlier she was planning a fairly radical change of direction for our rental properties, working towards a more sophisticated, cosmopolitan, urban style, which makes sense considering most of our rented flats are in city centres.
“Modular furniture is the way forward,” she said in her lilting Irish accent. Apparently she has found a really good modular sofa which will allow tenants much more flexible seating arrangements within their shared accommodation. Sounds great - unless, like some people, you revel in those moments when you find forgotten cash down the back of the couch. I don’t suppose that happens so much with modular furniture.
Fun at Scotcampus Freshers’ Festival
September 28, 2007
Coming to you live from Glasgow’s SECC! Well, almost.
Furrukh, Elizabeth and Laura have just spent the day on our stand at Scotcampus Freshers’ Festival in Glasgow.
Many of the people who stopped by to see us were new students and we expected them to be interested in sharing flats or houses with lots of their friends. Four or five in a flat at least. But, no. Interestingly most enquiries were about flats for rent in Glasgow for just two people. Quite unexpected, but we were still able to give them what they wanted.
For those, who didn’t want student accommodation - well, we were able to direct them to the Dominos Pizza stand further on, who seemed to be happy to meet their needs.
The most inciteful questions during the day were usually about the practicalities of how we ensure our properties are 100% carbon neutral - and that’s something we will cover in more detail here as this blog matures.
Our Busiest Time!
August 31, 2007
Early autumn tends to be one of our busiest times, with so many tenants moving in and moving out.
Naturally, this generates a huge volume of paperwork and a tremendous amount of activity for the team, working all hours to accommodate all our tenants. The team spirit is always high and attitude positive - helped along the way with vast amounts of chocolate!
This flurry of moving in and out is usually followed by an increase in repairs being reported. We want all our tenants to move into a clean, fully functional, comfortable and pleasant properties. Not all tenants leave their property in the same condition it was when they moved in. This is where the Tenant Help Desk and Repairs department come into play! These guys try their utmost to get repairs done as quickly as possible. Usually we have to get authourisation from Landlords, when they are required to cover the cost. This sometimes causes delays and which we always try to void but sometimes can’t help. Would be good to have a magic wand!
We have a new repairs manager who has made a number of changes, streamlining our team and processes for 2007..we are confident it will be a better year in this area!
‘Greenday’ event set tour the UK
August 29, 2007
In September, we will be touring all the major Universities and holding ‘Greenday’ events on campus. These events are all about teaching students how to reduce their Carbon Footprint and have some fun at the same time.
We have a state of the art Segway up for grabs (just arrived from America), and anyone that dares to have a go can enter our competition!
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