The students, through the Manchester Leadership Programme (MLP), will take their wellies, spades and paint brushes to a range of volunteering projects in Withington, Moss Side, Rusholme and Fallowfield. 

Lindsay Gilbert, Head of Volunteering and Community Engagement at the University: “We hope this week will help to challenge or even change some of the negative perceptions of students as we forge positive new relationships between our students and the wider community. All of these projects will create lasting changes that impact people in our local community.”

The Projects:

Monday, November 8
50 students will renovate Depaul Safestop in Withington, a young people’s homeless hostel.   They will paint and spruce up all 12 bedrooms in the hostel as well as tidying the large overgrown garden, tidying up a herb garden and planting bulbs.  This will be a real challenge that Depaul UK would not be able to do without the students help. Depaul UK is the largest charity for young homeless people in the UK, helping more than 3,500 young people a year, as well as 2000 more through their Nightstop schemes.

Wednesday, November 10
60 student volunteers will create a new allotment for the local community on an overgrown plot on the corner of Bowes Street and Claythorpe Street in Moss Side, where they will also prepare the area for an orchard, a seating area and a BBQ area.

Thursday, November 11
60 student volunteers will visit Frank Hatton Court, sheltered accommodation for older people in Rusholme, to clean up the outdoor area that is currently unused, including painting, planting and weeding. The students will also join the residents for lunch to build lasting relationships

Friday, November 12
Students will clear and tidy the Fallowfield Loop cycle path to encourage more people to use the path, and help to create a mini allotment plot for use by homeless families.

The Manchester Leadership Programme (MLP) is a credit-rated unit that has been developed to help students from The University of Manchester to understand the challenges of leadership in the 21^st century that embraces social, economic and environmental sustainability, as well as providing them with a toolkit of transferable skills that will boost their employability. The MLP comprises two elements: credit rated Leadership in Action academic unit and up to 60 hours voluntary work within the community. This year, the University has 1,200 students from a wide range of disciplines undertaking the MLP.

I’m delighted to start work as your new Housing Officer.  I am particularly looking forward to the diversity of this role. I’ll be on hand to help landlords through the maze of legislation, regulation and ever changing policy at local and national levels. And I’ll be here to help students find their way through those first and sometimes tricky years of independent living.  It’s an exciting and challenging time to come onboard. Just as the sector has started to adapt to new regimes in standards and licensing, new pressures have emerged as political interest in the sector has grown with regard to topics such as community and anti-social behaviour.

I have three main aims as the Manchester Student Homes Housing Officer: to ensure that students have a good letting experience, that landlords have successful respected businesses and that all of us; students, landlords and the universities; take seriously our responsibility to our communities and our city.

I studied at the University of Manchester and loved every minute of it, leading me to make this city my home. Since then I’ve worked in the social housing and trade association sectors. I’ve had a very broad professional experience to date and know this role will broaden my experiences further still.

If you have any questions or need any help or advice please do not hesitate to get in touch.

James Wright – Housing Officer

When there is a drop in temperatures across the UK in August/September, then it is traditionally time to kick-start your boiler from out of its dusty hibernation. However, you need to check it out for carbon monoxide. This odourless silent killer is definitely nothing to sniff at! So, follow these life-saving guidelines for complete boiler safety and protect you and your housemates…

Basic Test

Check the colour of the boiler’s flame in your rented property;

Bright blue: Normal

Yellowy orange: Possible carbon monoxide presence.

Yearly checks

You need to make sure that your boiler has received a yearly service – so ask your landlord. If it needs to be checked, make sure these are only done by a registered technician.

The technician

Make sure your technician is registered with the following organisations depending on your type of boilers;

Gas Safe Register (Gas Safe Register is the official body for gas safety in United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Guernsey) for gas boilers.

Oftec  (the Oil Firing Technical Association for the Petroleum Industry) for Oil heating systems.

Health evidence of carbon monoxide

In adults;

• Headache
• Nausea
• Abdominal pain
• Dizziness
• Sore throat
• Dry cough

But, unlike a flu infection – which has similar symptoms, carbon monoxide poisoning doesn’t cause a high temperature.

Severe poisoning;

• Irregular heart rate
• Hyperventilation
• Confusion
• Drowsiness
• Difficulty breathing
• Seizures
• Loss of consciousness may also occur.

Some symptoms can occur a few days or even months after exposure to carbon monoxide. These may include confusion, loss of memory and problems with coordination.

Environment awareness

You can also prevent serious consequences by learning to spot the warning signs. Carbon monoxide poisoning may be a possibility if:

• Other people in your rented accommodation suffer similar symptoms
• Symptoms tend to disappear when you go away (for example, when you go back home)
• Symptoms tend to be seasonal (for example, headaches during the winter when indoor heating is used more often)

How is it prevented?

Make sure you landlord has carried out the following;

• Have chimneys and flues checked regularly
• Make sure gas appliances and heating systems are inspected every year

You can prevent any problems by;

• Fitting a carbon monoxide alarm – available from DIY stores to detect problems
• Never running cars, motorbikes or lawnmowers in a closed garage

This safety guide has been provided by FireAngel.

Resources

Visit http://www.nace.org.uk for the National Association Chimney Engineers for expert chimney advice.

Visit http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk  and get expert technical advice, help and information on gas boilers from the Gas Safe Register.

Visit http://www.oftec.org/index.htm for expert advice on oil heating systems from Oftec.

There are more than 70,000 students in and around Manchester, 1 in 10 of those students will become a victim of crime. For tips and advice on how to stay safe visit www.manchester.gov.uk/StudentSafety

We will be holding two more house-hunting events at the Manchester Student Homes office for full-time and Erasmus students looking for private housing. At each of the events a number of students will be visiting the MSH office to be assisted by us in terms of finding accommodation. We are opening these events up to any registered landlords who wish to attend free of charge to meet with students and show them around their available properties.

Please see dates and times below:

Wednesday 15^th September – 1.30 – 3.00pm

Approx. 120 MMU Erasmus students looking for single semester accommodation

Wednesday 15^th September – 3.00 – 5.00pm

Approx. 110 MMU full-time students looking for accommodation for the 2010-11 academic year

If you would like to attend any of these house-hunting events please let us know and we will add your name to the attendance list.

Furthermore, we are currently getting a large volume of enquiries from Erasmus and exchange students looking for private student accommodation that is available on a short-term or single semester basis. To help with this demand we have set up ‘Short-term/Summer Accommodation’ and ‘Single Semester Accommodation’ lists which we can send out to them.

The ‘Short-term/Summer Accommodation’ list provides details of properties which are available from now until the end of Sept for a minimum of 1 week. Landlords are able to charge a premium rent for the increased turn-around. The additional cost of advertising on this list is £20 and properties have to be already registered with MSH.

The ‘Single Semester Accommodation’ list provides details of properties which are available from mid-Sept to mid-Dec/Jan to cover the first semester of the 2010-11 academic year. The additional cost of advertising on this list is also £20 and once again properties have to be already registered with MSH.

Please let us know if you would like to be added to either of these lists.

MSH Team.

By law you must protect the deposit with a government-approved tenancy deposit protection scheme.

Join mydeposits for just £30 today

University of Manchester have teamed up with mydeposits to offer you a discounted registration fee of just £30 this summer. That’s a saving of over £27 to protect your student tenant’s deposits and comply with the law.

Five reasons to join mydeposits:

Over 60,000 landlords use mydeposits because we are the only deposit protection scheme designed for landlords who want to keep hold of the deposit:

1. You hold the deposit in your bank account for the duration of the tenancy agreement rather than having to hand it to a third party for safe keeping.
2. You have the freedom to discuss any necessary deposit deductions directly with your tenants at the end of the tenancy. We regularly find that landlord/tenant issues over the deposit are resolved simply by talking, giving you complete control without needing to involve mydeposits.
3. If you and your tenant can’t agree on deductions then our dispute resolution service is available to offer a free, professional and impartial conclusion to your dispute.
4. We are a leading government-approved tenancy deposit protection scheme.
5. 80% of our members use the mydeposits website to manage their account. It’s quick and easy to protect new deposits, manage your portfolio and respond to dispute cases including uploading dispute evidence such as photos and documents, saving you time and money.

Join for just £30 using UNI006 promoter code and save £27.

• More information visit http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/landlords/landlord.htm  
• Join now using the promoter code http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/jointds.htm
• Or call 0844 980 0290 to join over the phone.

 Manchester Student Homes is working in partnership with Manchester City Council to help update all Council Tax information. The City Council is currently undertaking a review of all student household Council Tax exemptions within its boundaries to ensure that they are still appropriate.

The Council Tax department have asked us to assist them in collecting information regarding student tenancies. Please see the information below and respond accordingly. We recommend that you process this information to ensure that the Council Tax department has the correct details for your property.
To ensure prompt and accurate processing of information relating to new student tenancies, please can we ask that you e-mail the following information relating to your properties to the City Council, as soon as they are re-let?

• Address:
• Postcode:
• Tenant(s) names:
• Tenancy start date:
• Tenancy end date:
• Landlord’s name:
• Landlord’s address:

Plus any other relevant information…for example if you know that the three joint tenants in your property are all second year students at MMU, then please tell us.

E-mails should be sent to “ctax.enquiries@manchester.gov.uk” with the address of the property in the subject header of the e-mail.

Any specific questions about the contents of this e-mail should be directed to “d.holden@manchester.gov.uk” the City Council’s Contracts and Compliance Manager.

Answering questions in the House of Commons this morning, Shapps said the current regulatory framework for the PRS already struck the right balance between landlords and tenants. He said: “We have no plans to move forward with the previous government’s ideas for further regulatory measures on the subject.”

Shapps also revealed that government would look again at rules governing so-called houses in multiple occupation in “more detail”, but had no plans to overturn them. Under HMO rules, landlords that want to rent a property to three or more unrelated tenants have to apply for planning permission.

The decision to abandon regulation of the PRS, against the recommendations of the Rugg Review into standards in the sector, drew criticism from trade bodies. Ian Potter, operations manager of the Association of Residential Lettings Agents, said: “This move risks seriously hampering the improvement of standards in the private rented sector, the sector’s reputation, and the fundamental role it plays in the wider housing market as well as failing to protect the consumer who has nowhere to go when there is service failure or fraud.

“Currently, any person or organisation can become a letting agent.  Until that is changed via national regulation, unprofessional, unqualified and unethical operators will continue to exist, to the detriment and expense of consumers and the market as a whole.”

Caroline Pickering, chair of the National Approved Letting Scheme, which provides benchmarks allowing landlords and tenants to compare the service they receive from letting agents, said: “There is plenty of evidence that tenants and landlords are at risk because there is no compulsory regulation of the sector.

“It is all too easy for a rogue agent to fleece landlords and tenants of their money, to oversee the letting of properties that are in poor condition, and to damage local communities by leaving a trail of unpaid bills amongst hard working local trades people.”

For many students tomorrow (11th June) will be the last day of term until mid September. Manchester Student Homes remains open throughout the summer between our usual opening hours of 9-5, Monday-Friday.

The end of June  means moving in and moving out time for many student tenants. Please contact MSH if you need advice on what needs to be done during this time, whether you’re a student or landlord.

Mid-summer onwards is a very busy time for us, with the release of exam results and late university applications. Around this time and through to the end of September we receive large numbers of enquiries from new students, many of them arriving in Manchester for the first time without a pre-formed group of potential housemates. Landlords may want to consider offering rooms on an individual basis at this time – there are some administrative differences  between joint and several and individual tenancies, so do get in touch with us if you would like advice.

We are running a list of short term summer vacancies. Students can request this list from our office. Landlords, please contact us for details if you are a registered MSH landlord and would like to appear on the list.

1. New gas safety website – Landlords’ legal obligations relating to gas safety are now set out on the Health & Safety Executive’s website. To view go to http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/

2. Student loan interest rates increase – From September 2010, some people currently being charged 0% interest will have to pay 4.4% interest. Detailed guidance is available here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

3. Assured shorthold tenancy threshold raised – The Assured Tenancies Order 2010 (SI 2010/908) will increase the rent limit for assured tenancies from £25,000 to £100,000 with effect from 1st October 2010. The Order will have an element of retrospective effect. You can read more about this and any other story on this post at http://hatchlegal.co.uk/