Frequently Asked Questions

Once you have had a look through our available properties either pop us an email or give us a call. We need to give our current tenants 24 hours’ notice of a planned viewing. A member of our staff will take you around the accommodation and answer any questions you may have. Whenever possible we do like to take your whole group around the property in one visit, this causes less disruption to our current tenants.

From your first point of contact with Strawberry Student Homes you will realise you are dealing with a very professional landlord. You will receive personal, friendly service at all times from all members of the Strawberry Student Homes team. The properties speak for themselves – they are well maintained and comply with all current fire and safety regulations.  All properties have smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.  Where legislation dictates, they are all licensed. They all have an annual Gas Safe certificate, Electrical certificate and an Energy Performance Certificate too. They are all in prime locations, close to both Sheffield University and local shops, bars and cafes. Strawberry Student Homes also provide a unique new home induction service with a trained member of staff to help you get the most from your property when you move in.  In the unlikely event that you need the services of one of our in house fully qualified tradesmen you will find them all very friendly, helpful and trustworthy.  With the Strawberry Student Homes Maintenance team, you will never be letting a stranger into your home as they are our long term, in house staff employed by us, to look after our own properties. We are not agents like many other student letting companies, we started building our housing portfolio 30 years ago and as a result we uniquely own every single house in our portfolio.

You can come into our office and have a look through the tenancy agreement and ask any questions you may have. When you are happy you can sign up on the spot, or make an appointment to suit you. Until we have a signed tenancy agreement we will continue with viewings at the property and treat the property as still available to let.

Please bring along your id, we can take passport, driving licence or student id card.

It is an Assured Periodic Tenancy, this is a joint and several agreement, which means you are all jointly responsible for the rent of the property.

Please note we will be serving a Section 8 ground 4a notice in line with the academic year to gain back possession of the property, so we can let the property to students for the following academic year.

You are required to pay a deposit of £200 per person by either card or bank transfer which will be registered with the TDS deposit protection scheme administered by the Residential Landlords Association and you will receive the necessary signed certificate from us at the office when all the deposits for the property have been paid. This is a requirement by law which is why we prefer the deposit at the time of signing. We can have a small amount of flexibility in this so talk to us about it if you have any problem.

A Gas Safe Certificate (certified annually)

A NICEIC Electric Certificate

Conformity to the requirements of the Furniture & Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988

HMO Licence if the property falls into the HMO legislation of the 2004 Housing Act fully protected deposit scheme covered by Tenancy Deposit Solutions

Energy Performance Certificate

Most of the areas in Sheffield where student properties are do require a Council permit for on street parking. If you would like to check the requirements for your property please see full details:

https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/parking/apply-parking-permit.html

 Some of our properties do have parking facilities; enquire at the office.

The fixtures and fittings for each property may vary, but in general, a typical house will include;

Bedroom:

Double or 3/4 Bed

Wardrobe

Chest of Drawers

Desk

Chair

Internet and T.V aerial points

Lounge:

Sofas

Coffee table

40″ HD T.V

T.V Table

Internet and T.V aerial points

Kitchen:

Electric Oven &  Gas Hob

Fridge/Freezer

Washer/Dryer

Microwave Oven

Table and Chairs

Please Note:

Tenants own fridges or fridge freezers cannot be brought in to the property

Cooking utensils, cutlery, crockery, toaster, kettle, waste bins, mops, buckets, cleaning materials, iron/ironing board, and bedding are not provided.

Please refer to the relevant property for details of contents

We value your safety and security and ensure everything possible is done to make your stay in Sheffield a safe one.  We use specialised handmade locks and unique keys so we can guarantee only the present tenants have a key for your property. If any keys are lost for whatever reason, the locks are changed, and we know that keys cannot be copied. Our plumber & electrician carry out gas and electrical certification checks when required. 

Each property has its own manual with useful information on fire safety etc. During office hours you can call us or email us with your problem and we will arrange for the relevant tradesman to call at your property. If you have an immediate emergency out of office hours you should ring the emergency number that is on your house notice board.

As a student, you are exempt from council tax, and Strawberry will inform the council and register your exemption. However, the council may also contact you and request proof of your student status.

Please note that if you were to cease to become a student during your tenancy, you may then be liable to pay council tax.

We write to all our current tenants in early October giving you first option of staying – and many do!