STUDENT HOME SAFETY & SECURITY
At the time of writing this information is accuarate.
Your safety and security is vital! SEE ALSO SMOKING Drugs
All houses feature:
- Gas and electric certificates for all houses (see full house details)
- Gas services annually in addition to statutory certification.
- Electric Certificate,
- Mains wired smoke and heat detectors
- Three lever mortis locks on all bedroom doors with separate entrance door keys. Recent aquisitions may not feature door locks on bedrooms.
- Our contract provides details of further measures for your protection including prohibition of smoking and lighted candles at any season.
Up to two storeys Most houses feature:
- Mains wired smoke and heat detectors in all houses and in almost every room too in almost every house even though not legally required!
- Double glazing in all but 2 houses
- Secure window handles
- Fire doors throughout in all but a few houses despite not being legally required
- High density partition walls minimises sound transmission and helps resist fire
- Some disabled facilities see: 22 Regency Place with wheelchair access and ensuite room with grab handles see also 43 College Road Canterbury, 29 Old Park Ave Canterbury, 1 and 2 College Road Canterbury, 28 Warwick Road Canterbury and other ground floor ensuite rooms.
- Most of our boilers are stored in the loft out of harms way. CO2 is slightly lighter than air so in the unlikely event of an escape any fumes should escape via the eaves into the atmosphere.
- Energy efficient light bulbs throughout
- Outside security lights all round on most houses.
All our three-storey houses are licensed by Canterbury City Council in accordance with 2006 legislation to include the following:
22 Regency Place Canterbury CT1 1YS
23 Regency Place Canterbury CT1 1YS
24 Regency Place Canterbury CT1 1YS
49A Castle Street Canterbury CT1 2PY
10 Uplands Canterbury CT2 7BL
43 Godden Road
- Heat detectors in common areas where smoke detectors would otherwise be a nuisance
- Fire doors with intumescent smoke seals where required and often where not legally required
- Door closers on all internal doors
- Emergency lighting on all floors
- Fire extinguishers and blankets
- Smoke detectors in all rooms
See also on each property page headings:
Emergencies contact numbers and help
Certificates
The following health related topics are available in more detail on our web-page Fault Finding
The shower is too hot/cold
When the shower head is scaled up the reduced pressure will not allow the water to mix efficiently. De-scale the shower head as indicated in Fault Finding. If there are rubber nozzles simply rub your thumb over the rubber to break up the scale. Be careful not to scald yourself!
Gas Problems:
If you think you smell gas -
Ring Transco on 0800 111 999
You will receive important advice!
Switch off the gas at the gas meter.
Do not turn on any electrical appliances.
Open the windows to avoid any build up of gas
Transco should attend your house quickly.
They may isolate your supply until the defect is identified and rectified.
Note that the thermostat (usually located in the downstairs hallway or lounge could click on if the temperature drops below the ambient temperature - this could trigger the boiler to ignite and the heating to come on. The thermostat may "spark" as it clicks itself on and cause an explosion. So close as many doors as possible to prevent the spread of fire.
If you have no gas where you should, do not ring Transco yet!
First check with your neighbours to identify how wide spread the gas cut may be.
Check the meter gas lever is in line with the pipe and on (no one has turned your supply off inadvertently).
If you find your supply is turned off check with all your housemates whether there is a valid reason for this before attempting to slowly turn it on again whilst listening for leaks and keep a good sense of smell just in case you need to quickly turn it off again.
Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning
Invisible, odourless tasteless which is why it is described as, "the silent killer". Some symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include:
• drowsiness
• lethargy
• headaches / migraines
• sickness / nauseous
• chest pains
• coughing
Anyone suffering from these symptoms should seek medical advice and report this to the landlord urgently for inspection (additional to the normal annual gas report.).
Total electricity power failure -
help!
Go to the fuse box (normally under the stairs), if any of the switches are down, push them back up.
If these trip switches repeatedly go off there is a fault—do not use these circuits and report the fault
Damp
Damp can arise in any house for a variety of reasons leading to respiratory problems.
The most common cause of damp is via a shower. Either lack of ventilation above or due to blocked drains below. If a shower or sink drain is allowed to block with hair and not cleared but left to overflow this will lead to more serious damage below. Hair in drains is a common but unnecessary problem. Some tenants would rather flood the ceiling below at the landlords expense than spend £2 in Asda for a liquid drain cleaner. Every two months or so pour a little clearer fluid down each drain hole to dissolve any built up hair.
Mould
Mould spores are present everywhere and normally present no problem. However, providing a damp environment invites spores to multiply to unacceptable levels causing asthmatics and others to suffer breathing difficulties.
Under heating a house will cause exhaled breath to condense on cooler surfaces, e.g. a toilet pan or underside of a sink and copper pipes (even creating the illusion a pipe is leaking). The condensate builds up until eventually forming pools of water, e.g. around a toilet pan. Moisture continually in the air is also absorbed by paint on walls and ceilings particularly at high levels, e.g. above an unventilated shower attracting mould. Outside walls are colder than internal partition walls and are likely to suffer most. Leydon Lettings have installed cavity insulation to most houses to minimise both heat loss and resulting condensation.
The design and materials of some window frames do not offer adequate thermal properties and can suffer from excessive condensation. Leydon Lettings has double glazed over 90% of all houses to retain heat. Conversely unopened windows can also retain moisture too! Open too much and watch the bills soar. Each day where practicable, open a small vent window where possible for a time.
Leydon lettings occasionally receive reports of leaks and damp when it transpires following inspection it is condensation.
Occasionally students new to letting are unaware of the need to open windows and adjust heating controls. Do strike a balance between the effects of ventilation on heating the street outside and keeping warm and healthy inside .
Damp can be caused by condensation, due to lack of ventilation. Where practical condensation can by reduced by hanging damp or wet washing outside to dry . Also when cooking place lids on pots to reduce steam.