Community Rules

For the safety of everyone, the gate and doors must be locked at all times. Theft did take place in the past…but only when the gate and doors were not locked. If the gate is not locked, you will be responsible for all costs related to damage from break-ins or theft that the landlord incurs.

Carry your keys with you. Your bedroom-door has the key-code engraved on it and it is easy to obtain a copy of your key if it lies around and the key-code is visible to other students.

Keep quiet...there are always students that are studying. That is the first priority for every student. Even if you feel like relaxing a bit, always do it in consideration of other students that are studying or even sleeping.

Remember you have signed an agreement to stay in a particular room. If you move to another room without an addendum to your contract, you are not protected against any breakages that may be recorded during an inspection. 

When you move into a room, you sign an inspection form where any faults are acknowledged. You will be protected against any such faults after signing this form. If you move to another room without a written agreement, you effectively become a tenant of two rooms. 

Friends cannot sleep over. Remember, you are staying with other students and everyone involved will be affected by this. You and your guarantors have signed surety for your room and living area. 

If you do allow someone to stay over, you are responsible for additional daily fees at a rate as stipulated in your rental contract for accommodating another person. You will also be liable for any damages caused by such a person.

Remain in your own building. Of course it is OK to visit friends in the other buildings, but you cannot use their facilities such as cooking or bathing there. Also remain sensitive towards other students. They might enjoy your presence, but be careful to overstay your welcome.

Keep the public areas neat and clean, in particular the kitchen and the bathroom – this is what you will be remembered by. Wash your dishes so that other students can prepare their food in a clean area. Dishes and pots are not to be left for the cleaner to wash. 

As far as possible, we will get the cleaner to put the garbage out. But ultimately it remains your responsibility. There may come a day that the cleaner is sick. Then you need to take it out. 

Leave the premises clean. Garbage and bottles and papers lying around is not how we live on this property. We are proud of who we are and how we leave the place for anyone else to live in. 

If you leave at year-end, clean your room and leave to us the best part of you so that we can think of you in high regard. 

You will not walk into a Spar and just borrow or take some food, will you? Taking food from someone else will incur a heavy fine for the whole building until we know who the culprits are. This will not be tolerated. That is stealing and disrespectful…it is as simple as that.

Put the extractor fan on in the main house and open windows in the bathroom to avoid build-up of mould. You put your health at risk if you allow that to happen.

2. It is customary in highly populated countries to drop pads and toilet paper (when you have only urinated) in the bin rather than flushing it away. I suggest you do the same. There are many of you living under one roof and Bloemfontein’s drainage system is not the best. Students are responsible for the costs of cleaning drains.

Keep an eye on water build-up outside the house and report this. It might be a leaking water-pipe that needs repair. If it is not reported, I don’t know about it and thus you will be billed for an excessively high water bill.

Take note when water restrictions are issued… that is typically when we get a crazy high water bill. And that will be for your account.

We want you to have an amazing stay with us. If any repairs are needed, please email us (in writing) as soon as possible to avoid any further damages. This way we can also keep track and follow up. We have a manager dedicated to look after the property and we have a reliable team of people who keep everything in order. 

Another reason that you stay in touch with us is to ensure we keep our finger on the pulse and know when any misunderstandings takes place. Please keep in mind that plumbers etc. have been send out in the past who never showed up. I am not there to be reminded of that and it is you who will live in discomfort if things are not getting fixed. Do not hesitate to keep informing us until repairs are done. It is my policy to keep my house in good condition and to improve the setup/house every year to the best of my ability.

Any faulty locks are for your expense. Ensure it works well when you move in.

Light bulbs are replaced by students. You must have your own kettle and two plate stove. We don’t provide that.

If there are bed bugs, other bugs or rats – that is for your expense. Expect rats if you do not clean the bins or have food lying around where rats can access it.

I buy enough black bags – 2 per week for main house and 1 per week for Wendy and 1 for Cottage. If you run out of supply, you need to buy extra

Electricity tokens must be ordered 3 days in advance. The reason for that is that I might be out of office and won’t be able to help you immediately. I am not in the office over weekends. Keep an eye on the meter. I do keep pre-generated tokens. That I will gladly issue anytime. But it can only be issued if there is enough credit in the pool. I DO NOT CONSOLIDATE BILLS DURING EMERGENCIES WHEN YOU SUDDENLY RUN OUT OF ELECTRICITY. IF YOUR BILL IS PAID COMPLETELY AND ON OR BEFORE THE 1ST OF EACH MONTH, THAT’S NO PROBLEM TO ISSUE A BULK TOKEN. If you want your token to be issued individually during the month and not as part of the bulk token, sure. But with a R20 handling fee

Be aware...electricity usage can easily escalate to double the normal bill in the winter if you do not work sparingly. Electricity is more expensive during peak hours… that will deplete your units also. In summer the token that you will get is normally sufficient.

Once the electricity token that is provided, according to the rental agreement, is depleted, students will buy additional electricity at their own cost. Additional tokens have a R20 rand handling fee

The landlord is by no means responsible to buy additional units at her cost on behalf of a tenant. Management and running costs of the house is very high (management fees, cleaner, garden maintenance, rates and taxes, mortgage, repairs and maintenance, legal fees) and therefore all fees received will firstly go towards settlement of your outstanding bill. Only thereafter will monies received be used to buy electricity tokens. Since students residing on this premises buy prepaid electricity, the landlord can neither force nor sue any student to buy electricity as this is a matter of choice whether you want to buy electricity or not.

Replace light bulbs at your own cost. Only energy savers are allowed.

You have a fixed contract. That means you have to pay rent for December as well...even if you have left for holidays in November. If you refrain from paying your December rent, you and your parents’ financial credit score will be reflected on the credit bureau and you will forfeit your whole deposit. You will then still be liable for December’s rent.

Rent is payable on or before the first of every month. If it reflects in my account after that, you will forfeit your early payment discount. If you pay after the 3rd, you will incur a fine and your financial credit score will be reflected on credit bureau.

If you make cash deposits to pay your rent, you will forfeit your electronic payment discount. Learn to do cell phone banking or internet payments. Go to your nearest bank and ask them to show you how this is done. That will not incur additional fees.

Read a copy of the contract...excuses like “I did not know” is proof of your own negligence. A blank copy of the contract will be emailed to you so that it is easy for you to retrieve at any time

Read your monthly bill send to you and inform your parents of outstanding costs. The bill will be sent via email. Forward a copy to your parents if they have email. I do not send a bill to your parents for you are the one that will be confronted if fees are outstanding. It also makes it difficult for me to know when to send a statement to whom. If I send it to all students, I know in which direction communications flows.

Should you think I am not meeting my part of the rental contract, do not hesitate to take this up with me. The rental law is very complicated and I believe that we can always find amicable ways to resolve disagreements.

You have a fixed contract. That means you have to pay rent for December as well...even if you have left for holidays in November. If you refrain from paying your December rent, you and your parents’ financial credit score will be reflected on the credit bureau and you will forfeit your whole deposit. You will then still be liable for December’s rent.