Student Letting Process

You’re in good hands renting student houses with us as we have been voted ‘Best Large Landlord’ and ‘Most Socially Responsible  Landlord’ by Leeds University students. 

Pickard Properties has over 240 properties to rent in Leeds and across West Yorkshire, which we take pride in maintaining to a very high standard. We have a good reputation with all the governing bodies as we do our best to make your experience with us be a good one and continually strive to be the best letting company in Leeds.  

We are members of all the accredited bodies listed here 

and one of the most relevant code of standards in Leeds for students which Is Unipol. We are Unipol landlords which means we follow the code of standards set out by Unipol for all our Student properties listed here. We are Golden Owner Status and are signed up as a Unipol Code standard Landlord. 

We’ve been renting student properties in Leeds for over half a century, so we know what makes a good house for our studying tenants. So, whether you want a 2-bed flat in Leeds or a 9 bed student house in either Burley, Headingley, Hyde Park or Woodhouse, Pickard Properties can help you find your perfect home. 

Because we are a private landlord, there are no third parties, so we can act on maintenance issues straight away and complete work quickly. We have good and loyal relationships with our sub-contractors who are specialist contractors for gas, electrical, roofing and who understand our need for quick responses. Our maintenance reporting portal can be found here, a great platform call fixflo. 

This is what you do when you are house hunting for a student property


Finding your new student house in Leeds 

View our student house shares and flats on our website.

We have virtual tours and floor plans for you to take a look at on our property pages. We would encourage you to view the virtual tours of our properties to save you the leg-work of viewing multiple properties in person, plus, it keeps ours and your carbon footprint down.

You can talk to us on 0113 274 6642 to discuss your what type of house you need and we are a friendly bunch so can guide you through this letting process on the phone if wish. You can send us a specific property enquiry by clicking ‘book a viewing’ form on the property you like.


Seen a property that you would like more information on?

If you have found a property you are interested in letting, fill out the ‘book a viewing’ form or send us a message using out chat bot or call 0113 274 6642. We can help with any questions you may have.

The pandemic has changed our letting process a lot and for the better really, reducing our carbon footprint by not travelling to properties to ‘view’ and also our current tenants have not been disturbed by as many viewings during the house hunting season. We have found plenty of prospective tenants have favoured letting one of our properties virtually – by taking advantage of virtual tours, extra images and floor plans we have for each property together with e-signing it has become so much easier for everyone.

However, if you would still like to visit the property, please do get in touch with us and we can organise a viewing on the property you are serious about.


When you have decided on your new home

The House hunting season for students is always super busy so when you let us know which property you have chosen, we will check its availability.

Availability all checked and ready to go – you will receive an email requesting full name, email address and phone number for each member of your group so we can move on to the next step.

We will also ask if you would like ‘unlimited bills inclusive’ or ‘bills exclusive of rent’. If you opt for the inclusive option we would ask for your chosen package – here are all the packages to choose from.

You do also need to nominate one lead tenant for your group. The only additional responsibility this person will have is at the end of the tenancy they will be contacted in regard to the deposit return and will be our point of contact during this process.

Once we have this information the property will be reserved for you and your group for 24 hours. This will allow us time to draw up the relevant paperwork and send this to you by email for you and your group to review. This will also allow you time to have the documents checked by your student union, parent/guardian or UNIPOL.   

ThisHow to rent’ guide issued by the government is a useful tool if you are not sure what questions to ask when going through the property rental process.


The Application Process

Once you have reviewed the paperwork and we have answered any questions that you may have, you just need to let us know you are happy to proceed with signing for the property. This will guarantee that the property is your groups new home for the next academic year.

We will then send the paperwork to you and your group using our chosen E-Sign software and provide you with further details on how to complete the paperwork sent.


Confirmation of the tenancy

Once we have received the paperwork fully signed by all parties involved – your group as tenants and us as the landlord – we can confirm that the property will be your new home for the next academic year.

As per the terms and conditions of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement there is no cooling off period once we have received the paperwork fully completed and signed.

We will now ask for you to make payment of a joint deposit for the property. We ask that each tenant make a payment of £260.00 per person.

This can be paid via our secure online payment facility by debit or credit card

Once paid, we will be in touch again to provide you with the Prescribed Information document, together with the deposit protection certificate to support the scheme in which your deposit will be protected.

If you are already living in one of our properties your deposit will be transferred over to the new tenancy and processed accordingly.


Before you move in

Pickard Properties aims to make renting a student property in Leeds a smooth, easy and stress-free process. We’re continually looking for new ways to remove the stresses that are normally associated with moving house. Leeds is a great place to live and we want you to enjoy living here.

So, remember to complete this checklist before you move in:

  • Set up a Direct Debit for each tenant by clicking here, we use Go cardless software so it is perfectly secure.
  • Complete the Guarantor form provided.
  • Ensure you and your housemates have signed all the tenancy documentation and paid their deposit and first rental instalment.

We will send reminders to our tenants to advise of anything that is outstanding on your tenancy in the months leading up to your moving in day.

If you or any of your housemates have forgotten to do any of the above, then we are unable to hand out keys, so please check with our office before you trek to the office to pick up keys!


Moving in

If all of the above is completed, you can now look forward to moving in! Please follow these steps to make your move as easy as possible: 

  • Key collection: Please check with our office for opening hours and book in a convenient time for key collection. Especially if your tenancy starts on a weekend, please do contact us to arrange a time slot, as the office is generally closed over the weekend apart from pre-arranged appointments for key collection.
  • Don’t forget to bring your photographic ID (driving licence preferred).

We will provide plenty of helpful information to you and your group prior to and upon moving in to your new home so make sure your contact details are kept up to date with us to enable us to do so.

You can now kick back and enjoy your new home with Pickard.

Any more questions – check out our FAQs.