Renting Process

WE RENT TO TENANTS WHO PASS THE 'STUDENT TEST,' WHICH IS LIKELY TO MEAN YOU WILL NEED TO BE A FULL TIME STUDENT AT UNIVERSITY WHEN SIGNING YOUR TENANCY. PLEASE READ THE STUDENTS FAQS PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION OR CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS.

Please start by going to our property pages, search through the available properties:

https://escapecampus.co.uk/all-listings/

1 - Read through the information on each property. Pay particular attention to the; start date of the contract (once a contract has been signed this can't be changed), the facilities that come with the property and inclusions that come with your rent.

2 - Wherever they are available watch the short 'walk-through' video, which is towards the bottom of each property page. This should help you get a really good feel for the layout of each property.

3 - Book viewings by clicking on ‘make enquiry’ on the property pages. Viewing appointments are for half an hour however if you want to see more than one property with us we will be able to block book you some time and, depending on travel time between viewings, we should be able to get through 3 or 4 viewings with you during an hour long appointment. We won't spend more than an hour with you initially, so please don't try and book to see more than 4 properties; if these don't work for you then we can always book another appointment to see some other options.

We never put pressure on people to sign contracts at viewings. The right time to sign is when you are sure you’ve made your mind up as a group; because of this we don’t offer a first come first serve system as we feel it promotes rush decisions. Just let us know when you have decided and we will arrange to take you through our process to the point where we sign a contract with you.

To secure a property once you have viewed it, everyone in your group will need to:

  • Provide us with a full name, phone number and email address for everyone in your group by emailing that information over the [email protected].
  • We will then send everyone in your group a digital application pack to complete which will provide details of where to transfer the deposit to (typically £250 per tenant).
  • 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, who guarantees the individual tenant's rent and cost of any damages. Providing a guarantor means you'll be able to pay rent at the start of each academic term (typically October, January and April) by opting for a 'voluntary payment schedule.'
  • If you have provided a guarantor we will take them through our online guarantor process, which will mean running a 'soft' credit check on your guarantor. We ask that guarantors do not have any recent/unsettled County Court Judgements, Bankruptcies or Individual Voluntary Arrangements.
  • For international tenants or UK tenants with a very specific reason (being a care leaver for example) if you aren’t providing a guarantor, you will be required to pay monthly, with the first months rent being taken in advance at the point of signing the contract.
  • Finally we’ll take information from you to complete ‘right to rent’ checks and 'sanctions list' checks on behalf of the government.
  • We will then send you a copy of all the paperwork to sign online.

We will stop other viewings at the property once everyone in your group has returned their application form and everyone's deposits have been received. As a group you will then get 7 days to work through things and sign the tenancy agreement, at which point you’ll have secured the property.

All of the processes we have can be completed on a smart phone, tablet or computer, and are really straightforward, with no reliance on the postal system, so 7 days is more than enough time. There’s no need to panic, just make sure you communicate with us when prompted, and with your guarantor; it’s going to be your house or flat after all so nobody will be more motivated than you to make sure everything happens quickly.

Deposits

  • When applying for a property through us we will ask for a deposit from you, which is typically £250 per tenant.
  • That deposit is typically initially made up of two parts, for tenants signing up to 'Student Tenancies' earlier than six months in advance of the tenancy start date, a holding deposit and a security deposit (Please see our Student FAQs and Renters Rights Act 2025 - Students FAQs).
  • If your tenancy is either not a 'Student Tenancy' or is being entered into closer than 6 months before the tenancy start date then the whole deposit will be treated as a 'Security Deposit' from the outset. 

    Holding deposit
    • The holding deposit is the lowest of either one weeks rent or £250.
    • We will keep this amount, on behalf of our clients, in our client money account whilst the signup process takes place.
    • Once the contract has been entered into by all parties (tenants and landlord) then the holding deposit will change into 'Security Deposit' (see below).
    • If a tenant decides to withdraw from the tenancy having it signed but before it has been commenced then the holding deposit may be forfeited to the landlord.

Security deposit

    • The remaining balance of the £250 per tenant is the 'Initial Security Deposit.'
    • This will be protected with a government-authorised Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS) within 30 days of us receiving it.
    • Once the contract has been entered into the Holding Deposit will convert into 'Security Deposit' and will, as soon as practicable, be added the the 'Initial Security Deposit' with the DPS.

Rent payments

  • Within your application pack we will ask you how you would like to pay your rent.
  • All tenants will be given the option to pay their rent in monthly amounts (rent periods). That payment schedule will look like this:
    • One months rent upon the tenancy agreement being entered into
    • Your regular monthly rent is due each month from the tenancy start date (for example, if its starts on 1st July, your first regular payment is 1st August)
  • Tenants who have a UK based guarantor will also be given the option to pay via a 'voluntary payment schedule,' in line with student loan payments. That rent schedule will look like this:
    • No upfront payment on signing the tenancy agreement.
    • The first rent payment is typically paid in early October, at the start of the academic year, and will be for a third of the expected rent, allowing for the date the landlord is expecting you to move out at the end of the academic year.
    • The second payment will be in mid-January, when University resumes after the Christmas break.
    • The third payment will be due in April, when University resumes after the Easter break.
  • You can elect to switch and pay monthly payments at any point
  • Where a tenancy to end prior to the expected move out date any overpaid rent would be refunded

Contracts

The contracts you will sign with us are Assured Periodic Tenancies which detail, when you are part of a group, that you are ‘jointly and severally liable’ for all the rent. This type of contract will protect the interests of all parties and are the most commonly used by landlords and letting agents, but there are a few features of the contract you need to be aware of before you get to the stage of thinking about signing it:

  • It is a joint contract with your whole group. This means that you are liable for the whole of the rent, so you’re not just signing for your part of the rent, you’re signing for all of it which means if someone drops out of the contract, you could be asked to pay their part of the rent.
  • We ask for a guarantor but they will only be guaranteeing your portion of the rent, which is the money that your are assigned to on the tenancy, however if there is any damage that exceeds the value of the deposit your guarantor may be liable for it.
  • Your contract will have a start date, which is the date that you can move in from.
  • Living in a property that houses 3 or more tenants
    • The property is intended by the landlord to be let exclusively to student tenants, therefore prior to signing the tenancy we will issue you with a Ground 4A intentions notification. Where a landlord knows what date they expect that notice to be used (when they will look to end your tenancy in the summer at the end of the academic year), we will let you know, so it's clear when you are booking viewings and going through the sign-up process (this does not affect your Assured Tenancy rights under the Renters Rights Act or prevent you from giving notice).
    • We will remind you about this date once you have signed the contract and again once your tenancy begins.
    • If you have a guarantor and have chosen to pay your rent on a 'voluntary payment schedule' then those rent amounts will be calculated from the date proposed by the landlord, that they would intend to end the tenancy using Ground 4A in the summer at the end of the academic year.
  • Living in a property that houses 1 or 2 tenants
    • As your tenancy will not be a 'Student Tenancy' (Please see our Student FAQs and Renters Rights Act 2025 - Students FAQs) it is important that you understand that you will need to end your tenancy by giving notice. The landlord/Escape Campus can not do that for you.
    • During your tenancy we will ask you what your intentions are likely to be at the end of the academic year and, if you know what your plans are and when you will want your tenancy to end, guide you through giving notice so you don't end up owing rent beyond when you had intended (this does not affect your Assured Tenancy rights).

What if you drop out of your contract?

  • We understand things happen and circumstances change.
  • We make a commitment not to react with anger or to be unreasonable.
  • We can't help if we don't know there is an issue.
  • As with everything, communication is the key.

If you let us know as soon as possible and then work with us it will assist in making the process as smooth and quick as possible.

  • You are contracted to the rent terms within your tenancy agreement from when you go through the process of signing the contract.
  • You have the right to give notice once your tenancy has started (so from your move in date onwards).
  • If your tenancy has started then the notice period you need to give us is two full rent periods (Please see our Student FAQs and Renters Rights Act 2025 - Students FAQs)
  • Serving notice may be avoidable, so please do get in touch to discuss your circumstances.
  • One way of not having to serve notice may to be work with us to find a replacement tenant your room. That person has to go through the above process. A replacement is only suitable when all of the following conditions are met:
    1. Someone acceptable to the rest of the group, Escape Campus and the landlord.
    2. A person of similar circumstances, examples of which would be; undergraduate, post-graduate, full time student, similar age, same gender (if that is important to the other tenants).

If you ask us to either replace you on the contract, whilst removing you, or just remove you from the contract, and the landlord and remaining tenants agree to this, we will help you through the process but this can be time consuming and has overhead expenses so we charge £100 + VAT, which will be deducted from your deposit.

These charges will only go some way to covering the time and costs associated with the processes that go into someone being released from a contract. We would also remind you that rent remains your responsibility until you have either been leased from the contract, a replacement has been signed up or you have served the two whole rent period notice.

If you are finding things difficult or your circumstances have changed, please contact us straight away; we are here to help wherever possible and will work with you to try and resolve any issues you're having.

If you are experiencing difficulties with money then consider contacting one of the following:

Citizens Advice Debt Line - 0800 240 4420

LUSU - 01524 593765 or email [email protected]

Nation Debt Line - 0808 808 4000