During the Christmas season most student will be heading home for a few weeks for family festivities. This means that often student houses will be sitting unoccupied for 3-4 weeks through some of the coldest weather of the year. Here are a few things to consider before heading off on your Christmas break.
1. Have a good clean up
It’s rubbish getting back from the holidays to a grubby, messy house. A couple of days before leaving, get all your house mates together, whack the music and heating up and have a good clean through the house. This way when you get back in spring, everything will be nice and clean and tidy.
2. Think about security
The sad news is that student houses are a target for thieves, who do tend to know where the student houses are, and that they are empty in the holidays. Take small valuables home with you (ipods, cash, cameras, laptops etc.). For larger items like TV’s, games consoles etc. Make sure they are out of view, ideally put them in a cupboard. Finally, close all curtains and doors before you leave.
3. Don’t turn the heating right off
This one is extremely important for a number of reasons. It will be written in your contract that you must ensure that the house is adequately heated during the winter months to stop pipes from freezing, which can cause them to burst. If you were deemed to have broken this agreement by turning everything off, you can find yourself liable to pay for the damage caused by any burst pipes/flooding in the property. Needless to say, this is likely to run well into the £1000’s. If you have a thermostat, set it to a lower temperature, 14 deg should do it. Alternatively, set your timer to come on for just an hour in the morning and an hour late in the evening to keep the chill off the house. This will also help to prevent any damp and mould in the house.
