Frequently Asked Questions for Students

Please refer to the ‘Renting Process,’ page within the ‘Students’ sections of the website

• Once you are certain you have found the right property you need to email [email protected] with everyone in the group full names, email addresses and phone numbers and the name of the property.
• The sign-up process with then take place on our digital Contact Management System.
• Initially you will fill out an application form online and send money for a deposit, which is typically £250 for every person in the group.
• We will then complete paperwork with any guarantors you have. They will get to see the tenancy agreement and properties certificates whilst doing that, so will be able to read everything and offer you advice is there’s anything you don’t understand.
• You will then all get the tenancy agreement to sign, which comes with safety certificates and more information about your deposit.
• We/landlords will finally sign your contract, at which point you will get a completed copy of it digitally.

• Once you have sent in your groups details we will everyone a digital application form and request deposit money. We expect to have the deposits and applications back from you within 48hrs and, when we do, we will stop viewings at the property for 7 days to allow you to complete the sign up process.
• From there we will do everything we can to help you get signed up for a property within 7 days of having your deposits and applications, which will mean you have time to read things and check over information with your parents/family and/or friends but will require you to get things done when asked and communicate with us.
• You will have formally entered into an agreement to rent the property as soon as all the group have signed the tenancy agreement, by which time we will have had any guarantors sign everything they need to and will have protected your initial security deposit.

• A guarantor is typically a family member or close friend who lives in the UK.
• They will be committing to paying the rent and/or cost of any damages to the property or other costs you specifically incur if you do not pay for any reason.
• As part of the online guarantor process we will run a 'soft' credit check on your guarantor and we ask that guarantors do not have any recent/unsettled Country Court Judgements, Bankruptcies or Individual Voluntary Arrangements.
• If you are from the UK and/or have family or close friends in the UK we will expect you to provide a UK based guarantor.

• A guarantor only guarantees the tenant they are signing for, not the full group.
• A guarantor is only required to pay things that you as a tenant are obliged to and don’t, such as:
• your rent.
• the cost of any damages that you are specifically responsible for (in your room, things you specifically do or a portion of things that you as a group have done).
• other costs you commit to as part of the tenancy, such as any over-usage of energy.

• All tenants are entitled to pay their rent monthly. The monthly payment schedule entails paying the first months rent up front, on the tenancy being signed, which for undergraduates is typically in October, November or December of the academic year before you move in. You would then pay monthly from the first day of your tenancy, which typically start in July or August.
• With a guarantor you would be able to opt for a 'voluntary payment schedule,' which would enable you to pay your rent at the start of each academic term, typically October, January and April, in line with when student finance is paid.
• This 'voluntary payment schedule' means that, for a large proportion of your tenancy, you will be paying your rent in arrears, which is why a guarantor is required.
• Without a guarantor you would only be able to pay monthly.

• Only international tenants or UK tenants with a very specific reason (being a care leaver for example) can sign up without a guarantor.
• If you don’t have a guarantor you typically wouldn't be able to pay using a 'voluntary payment schedule' which will mean that you would be required to pay one months rent up front, on entering into the contract, which is typically during the middle of the academic year before you move in, and then monthly payments from the start of your tenancy, which will typically require you to pay the first rent instalment in July or August.

• Deposits are typically £250 per tenant.
• If you are looking to agree to rent a property more than six months in advance of the tenancy agreement starting a sum of one weeks rent from that £250 will become a ‘Holding Deposit’ whilst the rest of the money will immediately be treated as a ‘Security Deposit.’ (See next question - What is a Security Deposit and what is a Holding Deposit?)
• Once the contract has been entered into by all parties the ‘Holding Deposit’ will be converted into ‘Security Deposit’ money.
• Where a prospective tenant to withdraw from the process of entering into the contract prior to the contract being executed the ‘Holding Deposit’ may be forfeit.
• Security Deposit money is protected by the Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS) in their Custodian Scheme, which means the DPS will hold your money in their bank account.
• You will get your full Security Deposit back at end of the tenancy IF:
  • your have followed the vacating procedure, so the house has been cleaned and emptied of your belonging
  • there isn’t any damage that goes beyond wear and tear
  • you haven’t overused energy
  • you have followed the rules within your tenancy agreement and all the rent has been paid.
• If your landlord wants to withhold some or all of your deposit and you don’t agree then ultimately the DPS will appoint an independent person to review the circumstances and they will make the final decision on who gets what.

Security Deposit

• A security deposit is a returnable sum of money paid by a tenant to a landlord/letting agency before moving into a property that serves as a financial security for the landlord to cover specific costs if the tenant breaches the tenancy agreement
• Security deposit money is heavily regulated, which initially involves it being protected by a government approved scheme
• With Escape Campus your security deposit will be held by the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) in their Custodian Scheme, which means the DPS will hold your money in their bank account

Holding Deposits

• A holding deposit is a payment made by a prospective tenant to a landlord or letting agent to "reserve" a property while tenancy paperwork is completed
• It indicates a serious intent to rent and, in return, the landlord typically agrees to stop marketing the property to other people
• Holding deposits can be withheld in certain circumstances. When applying through Escape Campus these would focus on the period between signing a commitment to rent the property and the tenancy being finalised, which is typically within 6 months of its start date. By this point you'll have had the opportunity to read the tenancy, along with your UK-based guarantor (if you have one - most do), and ask questions so you feel confident about what you are entering into

• If you are staying in exactly the same house with exactly the same people and are looking to agree to rent a property more than six months in advance of the tenancy agreement starting you will only need to pay a ‘Holding Deposit,’ which is one weeks rent per person, while you are working through the signing up process. This will be returned to you once everyone has entered into the new contract.
• Where a prospective tenant to withdraw from the process of entering into the contract prior to the contract being executed the ‘Holding Deposit’ may be forfeit.
• If you are staying in exactly the same house with exactly the same people for another year and are looking to agree to rent a property less than six months in advance of the tenancy agreement starting you will not need to pay anymore deposit money
• If you are moving to a different house you will have to pay another deposit.
• If you are staying in the same house but the make-up of your group is changing you will have to pay another deposit.

• The package of things that are included within your rent will be detailed on each individual property advert.
• All properties rented through Escape Campus come with; an energy allowance, water, TV licence and broadband.
• Some properties also come with tenants contents insurance.

• Each house gets an energy allowance which is expressed in pounds per person per week (£pppw).
• This amount of energy is included within your rent, so if your rent is £130 per week and you get a £15pppw energy allowance your total weekly rent is £130 including your energy.
• Your energy allowance will be averaged out during your whole tenancy which mean that, if you stay for a full academic year, you may use slightly more than average in the winter but slightly less than average in Spring and early Summer, but it will average out over time.
• For example, a five bedroom house with an allowance of £15pppw who stay at the property for 48 weeks will have a total allowance of £3600 (15 x 48 x 5) to be used at any point during those 48 weeks.
• The energy allowance differs between properties depending on what previous tenants have used, how many people live there (bigger houses tend to use less energy per person and can split daily standing charges between more) and how energy efficient the house is.
• The amount is to cover gas and electricity only. Water, TV licence and internet are also included in the total rent and are not part of this figure.
• We’ll monitor usage through meter readings we get during inspections and ask you for during the tenancy and keep you informed of any overuse issues.

• We require all landlords to have a Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC) internet connection to properties wherever possible, which is now basically every where
• In Lancaster in 2026 a typical internet connection for a house with FTTC is between 50-75mbps download speed.
• Many of our properties have Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) connections now which typically have between 400-800mbps download speeds. Where this is the case it will say so on the property advert.
• The internet connections provided are set up for standard domestic use. Escape Campus and our landlords are not attempting to and will not provide upgraded systems or provide equipment for the kind of use typically seen by ‘gamers.’
• The internet connections provided are all done so by third party companies (like BT, Virgin, Sky etc) who tenants will have to report issues to and work with if there are problems with the internet connection.
• Escape Campus and our landlords are not ourselves Internet Service Providers (ISP) and cannot be held accountable if there are issues that are caused by anything outside our control with the internet connection, such as network problems, issues caused by the weather or equipment provided by the ISP.

• There are no rules that require locks to be on bedroom doors, so no, not necessarily.
•  The choice as to whether rooms within a house or a specific room has a lock is typically the landlords.
• If it is something that is especially important to you then be sure to check when on viewings or ask after a viewing if you haven’t noticed.
• Don’t expect whatever is there at the time of your viewing to change before you move in, so if you view a house without bedroom door locks then expect them not to be there when you move in.
• Neither Lancaster University Homes or Lancaster City Council have rules that either insist or, in all circumstances, prevents locks from being fitted on bedroom doors.
• There are occasions where it isn’t possible for a bedroom to have a lock, for example if part of the escape route is through that specific bedroom.
• If a lock on your bedroom door is specifically important to you please be sure to check before you sign the contract. Landlords will not pay to fit a lock to a door just because you want one and some may refuse to allow one to be fitted at all.

• All tenants are entitled to pay their rent monthly.
• Tenants paying monthly will need to pay one months rent up front, when the contract is signed, and then will pay in monthly amounts from when they move in, so typically the first payment would be in July or August.
• Monthly rent is calculated by multiplying the weekly rent by 52 and dividing it by 12.
• If you have a UK based guarantor then you will be able to request to pay in line with our 'voluntary pay schedule.' This payment option allows you to pay at the start of each academic term, so typically in October, January and April.
• The three 'voluntary payment schedule' amounts will be calculated by using your tenancy start date and the 'expected end date,' of your tenancy, which is the date the landlord expects to end your tenancy, once the academic year has finished.
• As the 'voluntary payment schedule' mainly involves paying rent in arrears it typically won't be possible to opt for that unless you have a UK based guarantor.

• If Escape Campus are managing your property we will collect rent, take maintenance reports, administer your deposit at the end of your tenancy and everything else a landlord would typically do.
• If your property is either being managed by another company, such as IPM or the landlord themselves, once you have signed for the property then everything will be handed over to the them and they will manage things once your contract is signed, such as:

• • Moving you in and ultimately out of the property
  • Collecting rent
  • Taking reports of maintenance

• Everyone Escape Campus works with are also accredited by Lancaster University Homes

• LU Homes is the Accreditation Scheme endorsed by Lancaster University , the University of Cumbria University of Cumbria and Lancaster City Council (LCC) for off campus student accommodation in Lancaster.
• LU Homes is administered by Lancaster University as part of the Accommodation Office.
• The Accreditation Scheme lays out rules and standards that are expected of the properties and property managers that are members of LU Homes.
• All properties that are part of the scheme have been visited by a trained and experienced member of the LU Homes team regardless of the number of tenants they house (LCC are only obliged to inspect houses with an HMO licence away from the scheme, which are properties of 5 or more tenants).
• Properties are regularly revisited by LU Homes.
• LU Homes staff will have checked that all accredited properties have the relevant safety certificates each year (gas safety certificate, electrical safety certificate and energy performance certificate).
• You can complain about the property you are in or the way it is being managed to LU Homes, which may be a lot quicker and more effective than trying to use a property ombudsman.

• The Contact Management System we use to help you sign up for your house will then help you with everything once you have moved in.
• You can report maintenance through the App that we will get you to download.
• When reporting things to us you have the ability to send photos and/or videos of the issue.
• We and all our clients work to the LU Homes scheme rules in terms of the speed of response to reported maintenance issues:

24 Hours 

• Emergency repairs
• Which is serious damage, risk to health and safety or damage to possessions.

5 working days  

• These are things which affect the comfort of the tenants, semi-serious.

28 days, none-urgent 

Or by arrangement, reactive to repairs not in that category.

• There are three types of parking for properties in Lancaster:

• • Private parking – on a drive, allocated parking space or in a garage
  • Free ‘on street’ parking
  • Residents Parking Permit ‘on street’ parking

• The category of parking for a property is detailed on the property page alongside details of the number of bedrooms, bathrooms etc.
• Lancaster City Council (LCC) administer all on street parking throughout the city and they may decide to change the parking arrangements outside a particular property at any time, which is out of the control of Escape Campus or any of the other agents or landlords we work with.
• Please do not assume that if a property appears to come with private parking that it does, always check the specific property page and contact us directly if you are unsure.
• Residents Parking Permits:

• • LCC administer the Residents Parking Permits scheme in Lancaster
  • Areas are allocated a letter that denotes the rules for the houses that are designated with it, e.g. Zone A, Zone B etc.
  • Not all properties within an area are designated as being entitled to parking permits. It is important that you make your own checks if parking is crucial to you renting a property and would recommend that you check the eligibility webpage.
  • The cost of permits, number of permits that are allowed and rules associated with them are all subject to change by LCC and can also be found online by following this link.
  • In 2023 the cost of a permit for a year was £25. Eligible properties in Zones A, B, H and I are entitled to two permits whilst Zones C, D, E, F, G and J are entitled to unlimited permits. Zones A and B are also eligible to one guest permit whereas all other zones are eligible for two visitors permits.

• Escape Campus and the agents and landlords we work with are not responsible for any changes made to parking arrangement and we encourage all tenants/future tenants to make their own enquiries and do their own research regarding parking with LCC