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Packing up a student house…

15 Mehefin 2014

You’ve finished exams, coursework has been handed in and you’ve re-lived freshers week at the tail end of the year. All that’s left? The dreaded packing.

You will have accumulated more than 1 car load of things throughout the year, your kitchen things will be broken, lost or not worth cleaning and your room needs a lot of work to get that deposit back! There’s really no way to get around it, you’re going to have to face the facts that you’re going to have to get down and dirty with a dust pan and brush. Student letting agencies have never been known for being the most forgiving of souls so try to make sure that ANY damage/marks etc is repaired before you leave, you replace anything that should have been in there and you take things away which shouldn’t be. You’re entitled to a copy of your inventory to go through before you leave to check on what you should have. Be mindful of being the last person to move out – you’ll end up with a lot of cleaning to do unless you’ve prearranged something with your house! The Council also has two days in June where you can put out general waste to be collected so keep an eye out for them to start getting rid of all your novelty items you’ve collected on nights out and food you never ate!

In terms of your deposit, it should be protected with ‘The Deposit Protection Scheme’ (or a similar company), who are a third party that essentially hold the money and make sure that an amount to be returned at the end of the year is agreed upon. The letting agency will conduct a moving out inventory/inspection and note if there’s anything damaged or anything that needs repairing and if they decide that’s the case it will be reflected in how much of your deposit they want to return. You can dispute the amount if you think you deserve more and remember that if they’re not going to repair it or repaint a wall for example, then they shouldn’t charge you for it. Any work they do claim they need to do and you agree, always ask for an invoice to show that it was for the amount they’re charging you.

The earlier you can start thinking about it (especially in your final year!) the easier it’ll all be, but inevitably it’ll be a last minute rush, it’s some sort of student tradition. Personally, I find it one of the most mind numbingly boring and stressful parts of the year and instead of powering through I procrastinate and it takes me four times as long! Maybe that’s because I actually don’t want to leave though. However, in two days time, like it or not, I’ll be leaving Cardiff for the very last time and my room and my flat and my life need to be packed away and tied up with a flourish. Even having done this process twice before, it’s not any easier or better this time round! I hope you all have better luck!

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