What to expect - Calico Homes

What to expect when you move in

We are committed to provide high quality, affordable homes. Your home will be completed to a void standard when you join us. At the very least, your home will be safe and secure. Below, you’ll find our responsibilities and your responsibilities.

Welcome to your new home

This is the start of an exciting chapter for you. Moving in can feel overwhelming, but it’s also a chance to create a space that truly feels like yours. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any help or have questions. Whether it’s getting to know the neighbourhood or making sure everything is in order, we’re here to support you every step of the way.

Your responsibilities

You will come in for an appointment to sign the tenancy agreement and pay a week’s rent in advance.
Set up your payments before moving in. Contact your Local Authority to let them know about your new home when you have moved in.
Be present at the property to collect your keys at the agreed time.
Contact the necessary company to ensure gas and electricity are set up before the gas team’s visit to activate the gas.
Be at home for your gas appointment.

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Your new home

As a minimum your new home will be; safe, secure, wind and watertight, free of damp and mould and have an appropriate level of insulation and ventilation. We will also provide you with a copy of the property’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).

Health & Safety

As a landlord we want to ensure that our customers can live safely in their new home. At the start of your tenancy:

We will ensure that smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are in place and they are safe, secure and functional.
Where your home benefits from having gas heating, we will issue you with a copy of the most recent Landlords Gas Safety Report and a copy of the property’s Electrical Condition Report.
Where asbestos is present and not in a hazardous state, it will be left in place and we will provide you with asbestos guidance. This includes information on what care should be taken when carrying out work in your home.

Where required, we will carry out a water safety assessment and any associated works. Where there are shared communal facilities, we will carry out a risk assessment. For properties that are not occupied for a period of time, we will replace shower hoses and shower heads to further reduce the risk of legionella.
Where applicable, we will highlight which first floor window is the fire safety window and where window restrictors are in place, we will show you how to override them.
Where applicable we will provide you with a fire action notice.
Where mould growth is excessive, properties will be assessed for the control of condensation and fxtractor Fans, PIV unit or window trickle vents will be installed where required.

External areas

Any garden will be left in a manageable state and as a minimum we will carry out a clean-up and cut of the grass.
Roofs, gutters and downspouts, fascia boards, bargeboards, soffits, flashings, chimneys, inspection chambers, manhole covers, gullies and gully covers, grids, waste pipes, ramps and handrails will be safe, secure and functional.
The property’s boundary lines will be clearly defined and any fencing or boundary/side gates will be safe, secure and functional. Where fencing or side gates are in place and repairable and do not pose any health and safety concerns, they will be left. Fencing will be removed and disposed of if in disrepair and will not be replaced if there is no health and safety or public boundary concerns.

Where a previous tenant has left a domestic garden shed in place and it is in good condition, safe, secure and functional it will be gifted to the tenant. However, when the shed becomes a maintenance liability and no longer safe, secure and functional, it will be removed by Calico Homes and not renewed.
Outdoor drying facilities will be provided i.e. clothes posts, and where in good condition will be left in place, if in disrepair they will be removed and not replaced.
Any paths and hard standings will be safe, secure and functional and free from hazards.
If your new home has a garden and its condition isn’t deemed manageable at point of let, once you have moved into the property, our Grounds Maintenance team will attend and ensure that the lawn, any bushes and other vegetation is trimmed and left in a manageable state for you to maintain in the future.

Decoration/soft furnishings

Decoration in properties is strictly on a discretionary case-by-case basis and depending on overall condition of the property, some rooms will be fully decorated. However, there may be rare instances where we offer new tenants decorating materials or vouchers.
The previous tenant’s wallpaper will only be removed if it is excessively dirty or stained and it isn’t feasible to paint over or it is badly hanging and/or the plaster beneath it is believed to be perished.
Wallpaper which is broadly in good condition, including where some has been removed for repairs works e.g. rewiring, will be left intact if it is determined that its removal will leave the wall visually worse off.
Any graffiti or excessive nicotine staining will be painted over.
Any bare plaster/plasterboard will be safe, secure and functional and ready for decoration with the exception of normal pre-decorative repairs.

Internal woodwork

Stairs, treads, risers, balustrades/newels and bannisters will be safe, secure and functional.
Internal doors will be safe, secure and functional and have adequate space for average height carpet clearance. They will not be glazed unless with safety glass.
Where required, fire doors will be fitted with an automatic door closer.
Unless the property is open plan there will be an internal door leading from the kitchen to other rooms.
Batons, architraves/linings and skirting boards will be safe, secure and functional.

Flooring

Floorboards and solid floors will be safe, secure and functional.
If the previous tenants had professionally fitted laminate flooring installed on a solid floor, it will be left in place. However, if future work is required to remove the flooring the laminate will be removed and not replaced.
If the previous tenant has had carpets fitted on a solid floor and they are clean and in good condition, they will be left in place.
Carpet grippers will be removed if they are in poor condition. However, if this may cause any disturbance to asbestos floor tiles, then it will be accessed whether the floor tiles are to be removed.
Floor tiles and vinyl flooring will be safe, secure and functional.
Kitchens and bathrooms will have safe, secure and functional washable floor coverings.

Bathroom

The bathroom suite will be safe, secure and functional.
An electrical shower will be in place and will be safe, secure and functional.
A shower curtain rail or shower screen along with appropriate splash back provision and sealant will be in place.
The bathroom window will benefit from frosted/obscured glass to help maintain your privacy.

Kitchen/utility area

We will ensure that we provide you with appropriate space for an electric cooker and single fridge freezer. Where practical will we also provide you with a space for a washing machine and a waste water outlet.
The kitchen will have an adequate number of units to meet the size and type of property. Any cupboard units, doors drawers and worktops will be safe, secure and functional and reasonably matched. Where they cannot be reasonably matched, all door fronts will be replaced for white or wrapped with an appropriate vinyl covering.
Worktops and sinks will have appropriate splash back provision.

Gas & Electric

Where your new home benefits from gas, the boiler will be the only gas appliance in the property. There will not be any provision for a gas cooker.
Radiators, radiator valves (thermostatic radiator valve, ‘TRV’ & lock shields), pipework, boiler and flue system will all be safe, secure and functional.
An electrical cooker point will be in place.
Where the property benefits from having an intercom system it will be safe, secure and functional.
Where external lights are in place, they will be safe, secure and functional.
Where present, TV aerial wires/satellite dishes will be left in place, safe and secure.
Unless the property requires a communal TV aerial, the installation of a TV aerial is the tenant’s responsibility.

External doors

All external doors to the property will be safe, secure and functional.
We will change all door locks and provide you with a full set of keys.
The property’s front door will have the house number on it.
Where the property has a communal door fob access, a fob will be provided to you.

Windows

All the windows in the property will be safe secure and functional.
Any failed double-glazing units will be accessed before replacing them. The main living room unit with be replaced if failed. Where units are starting to fail, they will only be replaced if there is an excessive amount of water settling in the bottom of the unit.
Where windows have key locks, you will be provided with the keys to them. If keys are not available, we will renew for a non-locking window handle.
In any of our general stock or low-rise properties at least one first floor window will be a fire safety window.