How to Proceed

Due to the extremely large number of students looking for accommodation, groups will normally only be taken to three houses in a session.

  1. Decide how many are in your group and who they are going to be. Choose carefully. Make sure they can all afford the rent and are not expecting to fail their exams and drop out, as this can cause serious problems within the group.
  2. Get together, study the list of houses and decide on a convenient date and time for all the group to go out and view. If possible have a back-up date and time in case we are booked up. It can sometimes be a problem getting everyone together when people have lectures at different times. However, the week our list goes out everybody is out looking for a house, so somebody is going to have to miss a lecture. It is only once in a while and can't be helped.
  3. Telephone or call at the office with your list of chosen houses, dates and times. Best not to use e-mail for appointments as we may not have your chosen times available and a certain amount of discussion and compromise might be required.
  4. Meet at office and fill in registration form.
  5. View houses. Ask questions. Read leases (take lease away with you for advice if you like.)
  6. Whole group pays administration fee.
  7. DMS sends out guarantor agreement, together with a copy of tenancy agreement for the house, to each tenant's named guarantor.
  8. Once ALL guarantor agreements have been returned to DMS, all members of the group come to the office to sign the tenancy agreement for the house.

If you decide that you would like to take a particular house, an appointment will be made for your group to sign the lease. We expect this to be done within a few days. Please ensure that your whole group is aware of what is involved. Groups frequently 'lose' a house because one member drags his feet. If you are seriously keen on getting next year's accommodation sorted out early and having the pick of the best houses, it is a good idea to get your finance sorted out. Also, if you would like to have the lease checked out by someone before you sign it, it saves time if you collect a blank copy from the office before your appointment to view.