Rental Agreements
House Rules
No smoking
No smoking is allowed inside any of Doghouse Living Properties by any resident or their visitors. You may smoke in the outside areas but we ask that you dispose of your cigarettes in the correct manner.
If we have evidence that persons have been smoking inside the buildings we reserve the right to serve notice of termination of tenancy and a charge of £100 will be taken to clean affected areas thoroughly.
No illegal substances
We have a zero policy regarding illegal substances. Any person caught using such substances will be served termination of tenancy notice and depending on the situation the Doghouse Living will prosecute such persons – Please see Drugs and Alcohol Policy.
No visitors stay permanently
Please be aware that your tenancy relates to you only and represents a single occupancy. Although we are happy for you to have visitors but they must not reside in your room on a permanent basis.
Nuisance and respect
Please respect other tenants both within your apartment and above, below and at the side of you. Whilst we appreciate you need to have fun we ask that after 11pm you reduce noise to an acceptable level. We also ask for you to ensure that you act in an orderly fashion within the home – keep the kitchen, oven and waste bin areas free of mess. Also we ask that you keep your individual bedroom clean and tidy. Should you wish to have the cleaners clean your individual room this can be arranged at additional cost - please speak to a Doghouse representative.
Respect privacy
As a home with multiple persons from different backgrounds we ask that you respect each others privacy in line with our Equality Policy. We operate a BE KIND environment within the company and hope you will embrace this.
Property
We ask that you do not interfere with any of the property within the your accommodation. Should there be a maintenance issue this should be raised through the proper channels under no circumstances should you try to ‘mend’ any appliance or piece of equipment.
Whilst we endeavour to provide a safe and secure environment by the use of the latest technology , CCTV etc we suggest that if you have property of particular value you should consider taking out a private property insurance. Should you require any information for your insurers we will be happy to provide that to you.
*Please Note that any Theft of any property will result in proceedings been issued.
Key Policy
Please remember that safety is paramount and therefore DO NOT hand out your keys to others or copy keys.
Maintenance Policy (not emergency Policy)
Even though we carry out twice yearly maintenance checks , from time to time our buildings misbehave and catch us out. For these occasions, we have our own tried and tested maintenance reporting system for you to inform us of all problems which may occur during your stay.
Please report ALL issues as soon as you become aware of them – we are happy to sort out any issues during your tenancy – please do not ignore them.
Doghouse Living use a Traffic Light system for the reporting of Maintenance issues in your property.
Our Traffic Light System works as follows:
Red – Pretty Bad ( An issue that would result in further damage to the property and your ability to live in it eg. water leaking through the ceiling). We will respond within 24hrs or sooner depending on the urgency of the issue.
Amber – Bad ( An issue that is causing great inconvenience and has an impact on your enjoyment of living in the property eg. Fridge not working). We will respond within 3 days.
Green – Not so bad ( An issue that is causing minor inconvenience eg. Hoover not working). We will respond within 14 days.
Please report all issues, ranked using the traffic light system above, by email to hello@thedoghouseliving.com – don’t forget to add into the subject: ‘Green/Amber or Red’, ‘Your apartment number/name’, ‘Your name and the date’.
Throughout your stay, a member of the doghouse team will carry out twice yearly maintenance checks, even if no issues have been reported. This is because we may see things which you do not, and we want to make sure everything is kept in perfect working order for yours and our own benefit.
These checks will be scheduled and you will be given 7 days notice: Don’t worry, you don’t have to do anything, we will let ourselves in, carry out the check and be gone before you notice we are even there, that is unless you want to meet in which case we will do our very best to accommodate.
Drugs and Alcohol Policy
The Doghouse Living are a responsible landlord and have a duty of care for our tenants, visitors, and the surrounding community of our properties. We understand that within social circles the use of drugs and alcohol is commonplace for some, but as a landlord we do not condone inappropriate behaviour of any kind and consider any form of illegal act reportable to the police.
We of course understand and accept that the safe and appropriate use of alcohol is also common place amongst students and do not deter our tenants from engaging in social activity of this kind, we do however encourage our tenants to undertake levels of control when engaging in such activity.
We are committed to discouraging the misuse of drugs and alcohol in society especially when such acts may be undertaken on the premises we own and operate.
What do we mean by misuse?
Substance misuse is understood to be drug taking that causes harm to the individual, their significant others, or the wider community. The harm to individuals can be social, psychological, physical, or legal. It includes problematic use of both legal (including alcohol, tobacco, volatile substances, so called “legal highs/club drugs/ Novel Psychoactive Substances ) and illegal drugs (controlled by the Misuses of Drugs Act, 1971), as well as the misuse of over-the-counter and prescriptive medicines.
Illegal drugs are divided into three classes: Class A includes cocaine, LSD and morphine, Class B includes amphetamines, codeine, cannabis and barbiturates, and Class C includes anabolic steroids, ketamine, and benzodiazepines.
The class into which a drug is placed affects the maximum penalty for an offence involving the drug. For example, Class A drugs attract the most severe penalty as they are considered likely to cause the most serious harm. Drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act are illegal to have, produce, give away or sell.
Not all drugs are illegal, but that does not mean they are not harmful.
If our tenants are found to be engaging in any illegal activity involving the misuse of drugs and alcohol, we reserve the right to terminate their tenancy with immediate effect and superseding any other terms and conditions in place.
We take drug and alcohol misuse seriously, and thus do not wish to be associated, whatsoever in any form, whether it be on the properties we own and operate or in an external setting, our misuse policy also covers those who engage away from our properties and is deemed a deformation of our character if our tenants are found to be partaking in any form of drug and alcohol misuse. Thus, the above termination of tenancy will be invoked if a tenant seen to be performing in illegal misuse of drugs and alcohol in any setting.
As a responsible landlord, we take the welfare of our tenants seriously and should any tenant find themselves becoming engaged with such activity or have concerns about anybody else who may be involved in drug and alcohol misuse we will endeavour to assist you or them with any rehabilitative course of action should it be deemed necessary.
Pet Policy
At the Dog House Living we offer Pet Friendly accommodation, however, all pets lodging at our accommodation MUST be approved before entering any of our buildings with a Dog House team member in writing and a PET AGREEMENT signed by the Pet’s owner.
The tenant (Pet Owner) agrees:
1. that any pet they bring onto any dog house premises or living accommodation is their full and direct responsibility. This includes but is not limited to, damage which may be caused, nuisance behaviour, volume levels, safety of all those pet or person.
2. understands that if their pet becomes a nuisance in any way, or the landlord received any complaint in relation to the tenant holding this pet at their property that the landlord reserves the right to request the pet is removed and re-homed for the period of the remainder of the shorthold tenancy agreement. The tenant understands that if the landlord makes this request they are obliged to agree and immediately commence the process of alternative arrangement. In addition, the tenant understands that this does not in any way reduce or void their contractual responsibility contained within the shorthold tenancy agreement.
3. that any damage caused by the pet either within the boundary of your living accommodation or within any of the communal areas or grounds of the landlords property the tenant is responsible for this damage and subsequently any cost the landlord accrues to repair the damage caused. The landlord reserves the right to take any related cost directly from the tenant’s deposit and furthermore request any additional cost direct from the tenant. The tenants agree they will cover any cost claimed by the landlord providing is it within direct relation to damage caused by their pet.
4. that the tenant holds full and direct responsibly for the pet’s actions.
5. that the tenant holds full and direct responsibly for the safety and security of all persons or other pets either living with the tenant and their pet or any visitor’s and or other persons or pets. The tenant agrees that if there dog has previously or at any point through this agreement showed/shows any aggressive tendencies or behaviour towards any human or other pet, they will act accordingly and in the safety of themselves and others and as a matter of immediacy have the pet removed from the landlords premises. The tenant agrees and understands any incident or fatality is not the responsibly of the landlord.
6. understands that the insurance the landlord holds on the property does not cover for any incident of any nature or fatality caused by the tenant having the pet on the landlords property and the landlord would advise the tenant to take out relevant and necessary insurance to cover for any eventualities.
7. agrees to clear away any mess caused by their pet both inside and outside immediately and remove of such waste in a proper nature.
8. agrees to keep their pet contained, if the pet is a dog, they agree to keep their dog on the lead whilst within any of the dog house communal areas.
9. agrees that when they are notified by the landlord of a visit either by an internal dog house member of staff or by an external party, they will ensure that necessary procedures are put in place to allow the visitor to have full and easy access of the full property including the tenants bedroom. If the tenant is not going to be present during this visit, they should notify the landlord at least 24hours before the visit and explain the procedures they have put in place to allow the visit to go ahead as normal, in a safe and accessible nature.
The Dog House living will not tolerate any mis treatment of animals, if any mistreatment is seen, reported or witness an immediate internal investigation will take place. The Dog House Living reverses the right to enter the property to carry out such an investigation.
The Dog House Living will not hesitate to contact the RSPC or any other appropriate service, such as the police force, to report mistreatment if required.
Zero Tolerance Policy
The Doghouse Living Limited believes our residents deserve the opportunity to experience an atmosphere which is fully integrated, with all individuals encouraged to incorporate their own values, talents, and beliefs in a safe and secure environment. One which offers the stability for all included to not feel threatened or intimidated and, in any way, a lesser individual.
The Doghouse operates a strict Zero Tolerance Policy and prohibits all examples stated below. If you are seen to be involved in any of the following this will lead to the instant cancellation of your tenancy.
- No physical violence is tolerated either in any accommodation or towards another person.
- No verbal abuse or threatening/intimidating behavior towards either other tenants visitors or Doghouse Staff members. - Bullying and Harassment of any description. - No harmful weapons to be stored/used on the property. - No destruction of any property either belonging to an individual or The Doghouse Living. - Any association with all and any illegal substances. - No fireworks or other explosive materials are allowed to be used within the property unless strictly agreed with the Doghouse Ltd. - If you experience or are aware of any of the above related issues please contact a member of the Doghouse Living.
Complaints Policy
The Doghouse Living always strive to provide our residents with the best possible service, we do this from through the services and properties we create, ensuring that they provide you with the best possible way of living whilst undergoing your studies. As well as ensuring we are at the forefront of student living innovation alongside curating our interior design homes for you we also commit to providing well maintained and clean properties for your enjoy through our regular cleaning service and 24 hour maintenance for those unfortunate mishaps.
Being a family run business we also ensure that we open this to our residents and include you in our extended family, always at hand to assist you with our 24 hour callout service and enquiry response service, we strive to:
- Acknowledge your enquiry within 24 hours
- Respond to your enquiry within 48 hours (often much less)
- Provide updates regularly (timeframes appropriate to any works being carried out)
- And always ensure we follow up once we have dealt with your enquiry to ensure you are happy with our response.
Through our continued commitment to our residents we would hope that any concern can be raised verbally with our General Manager and in most cases deal with any issues immediately through discussion, but we understand from time to time this may not be possible.
We encourage feedback both positive and negative to assist us in ensuring we are providing the products and services we boast about and always strive to resolve any bumps in the road quickly and efficiently.
If, however you feel your complaint has not bee resolved or efficiently dealt with, this policy is set out to assist you with the process.
- The complaint must be made by the resident themselves, not by a parent/guardian or guarantor (unless this process has been agreed upon the tenancy being signed).
- Any formal complaints must be submitted in writing, either via letter or email.
- We will acknowledge your complaint within 24 hours.
- We will investigate the grounds of the complaint within 3 working days.
- We will formulate a response with full explanations of our investigation and any actions carried out to rectify your complaint within 7 days, if our investigation dictates this to take longer then 7 days we will inform you within this same period.
- We will contact you within 48 hours of the resolution being received to ensure you are happy with the resolution and the issue has been rectified.
All complaints should be addressed by post to The Doghouse Living Limited, 1 East Bight, Lincoln, LN2 1QH.
Please ensure you include your name and the name of the residence your complaint is in relation to.
Visitor Policy
The Doghouse Living Limited believes our residents deserve the opportunity to experience a fun and social time whilst at our properties, however, we have to put some small rules in place to protect everyone’s enjoyment of our facilities.
- Whilst we encourage you to have visitors, please be respectful of other tenants and neighbours privacy
- Visitors are welcome but MUST NOT become a permanent feature
- When enjoying the company of others please remember to keep the noise to an acceptable level after 11pm
- Remember that all Visitors are under your charge and as such, any damage caused will be deemed to be your responsibility
- Please do not hand over door keys to any Visitors as this compromises both your and your flatmates security
If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this policy, please contact us via email on hello@thedoghouseliving.com
TV License
There is a requirement to have a TV licence for all types of viewing including Streaming on Laptops, mobile phones as well as conventional TV.
There is a TV Licence in situ for all of the apartments in the name of The Doghouse Living – your requirement for a TV Licence depends on the type of tenancy agreement you have with us and is explained below:
- If your tenancy of the apartment is under a Joint Tenancy, then you are covered by the apartments TV Licence even if you watch TV in your individual bedroom
- If you have separate Individual Tenancy, then you are covered for watching TV on the TV provided in the lounge area of your apartment but you must have your own TV Licence to watch TV in your individual bedroom
If you have any queries about your requirement for a TV Licence then please ask a member of the Doghouse Living team.
Equality & Diversity Commitments
The Doghouse Living Limited believes our residents deserve the opportunity to experience an atmosphere which is fully integrated, with all individuals encouraged to incorporate their own values, talents, and beliefs in a safe and secure environment. One which offers the stability for all included not feel threatened or intimidated and, in any way, a lesser individual.
Our accommodation is offered to all, regardless of age, gender, marital status, race or ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion, or religious beliefs, social or educational background.
We will always ensure that all residents (current, former, and prospective) and visitors are treated fairly, always with respect and dignity and never with prejudice.
To ensure this happens in practice, The Doghouse Living Limited will make a series of commitments to its residents, visitors, and employees:
- The Doghouse Living Limited will endeavour to treat all residents, visitors, and employees with a fair and respectful attitude.
- The Doghouse Living Limited will commit to tackling discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimisation.
- The Doghouse Living Limited will investigate any complaint of this nature from residents, visitors or employees who feel they have been treated unfairly.
- The Doghouse Living Limited will actively engage in activities to ensure the wellbeing of all residents, visitors, or employees.
- The Doghouse Living Limited will review its equality and diversity policy annually to ensure its commitments are maintained and raised year on year.
If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this policy, please contact us via email on hello@thedoghouseliving.com
