THE PROPERTIES

We have a number of houses in Bretton (north of the city) and Orton Malborne (south west of the city & close to the A1).

When we buy houses they are usually run down and it gives us the opportunity to completely renovate and improve them by doing such things as extending the heating systems, adding showers and so forth.

All the rooms are furnished, most with double or king sized beds, fridges and all the usual things such as wardrobes, chests of drawers etc. Some rooms also have en-suite shower and wash basin facilities.

Shared kitchens have all the usual appliances and the bathrooms are usually tiled floor to ceiling for hygiene and appearance.

We aim to provide the best possible accommodation that we can for the prices we charge. One letting agent has stated that one of our houses was the highest standard he had ever seen of a shared house and one of the tenants described the same property as like an hotel.

Whilst we offer rooms on assured shorthold tenancies, payment can be made weekly or monthly.

All rooms charged at between £65 or £70 pw. This equates to £280 or £300 pcm.

Prices include council tax and utility bills.

STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Peterborough offers a wide standard of accommodation, particularly in the shared house or ‘House in Multiple Occupancy’ (HMO) sector. Due in part to the amount of agriculture in the surrounding area, there is a large migrant population and these workers are often willing to put up with conditions that are normally deemed as unacceptable. There is many an unscrupulous landlord that is happy to exploit the lowly paid or vulnerable worker by providing accommodation which is at best disgraceful, and at worst, illegal!

An HMO is a house where 3 or more unrelated adults share facilities. There are national standards to cover the basic conditions in terms of bed-space, natural light, ventilation, cooking facilities, bathrooms, etc, etc, etc. However, out of all the legal requirements the most important is probably the fire protection aspect, as it is there to save lives.

Peterborough City Council takes the standard of HMO’s very seriously and strives to ensure that HMO landlords meet or exceed the regulations in place. If you feel that accommodation you have been offered, or already live in, is not registered with the Council then please phone the Council Officer responsible. Clues to the lack of registration include the lack of fire protection (fire doors and alarm system), cramped and overcrowded living conditions and the lack of adequate kitchen and bathroom facilities.

Peterborough City Council HMO Officer: Paul Kerr 01733 742552