House Rules

The following rules are to be adhered to:

• Smoking is a fire hazard and strictly prohibited throughout the entire building, as are candles, incense sticks and any other open flame, miscellaneous items. If any member of staff finds evidence of smoking in your room, £100 may be deducted from your deposit, and you may be asked to leave the residence. Smoking in a communal area is strictly forbidden and is illegal in the UK, as well as being a significant fire hazard. All smokers must be outside of the building

• Drugs are also strictly forbidden here at The Outlook. All tenants are prohibited by law to have drugs in their possession, and they will be reported to the police and have their tenancy terminated with immediate effect. We have a zero-tolerance policy for the possession, use or handling or any illegal drugs.

• Guests are welcome, but there are restrictions in place to protect the security and welfare of all of our students. We allow a maximum of two guests per student at any one time, with all visitors required to leave by 11:00 PM. While your guests are on the property, you are responsible for them and any damage or disturbance they may cause.

• Overnight Guests are allowed to sleep in residence as long as prior permission is sought from The Outlook staff. This is vitally important, as in the event of a fire, or an emergency during the night, it’s imperative that the staff know who is in the building. Guests will be charged £20 per night.

• Quiet Hours are between 11:00 PM and 8 AM. We kindly ask that you respect those around you and refrain from making loud noise during these hours – please be respectful of your neighbours. After this time, there is to be no congregating in the kitchens or communal areas for social purposes. Any social interactions must occur in your rooms only.

• Damage should be reported to a member of staff immediately. Failure to do so may result in the student being liable for those damages when he or she vacates the residence, so it’s always best to let us know straight away. The general wear and tear of furniture is acceptable. However any other damages to your room or communal facilities does fall to the responsibility of the student, and they will be required to pay for any purposeful or accidental damages caused.

• Kitchens are open 24 hours a day for your convenience, but after 11 PM – during our quiet hours, there is to be no congregating in the kitchens or corridors. For your safety and the safety of others in the premises, please make sure that you turn off all cookers after use and clean down the tables, work surfaces and any other equipment used. We ask you to respect your new home, and treat it as if it were your own. Do not leave food in the sink, there are plenty of bins provided.We ask you to put your kitchen equipment, crockery and cutlery back to your room when you have finished cooking. Any items found on the side in the kitchen the following morning will be thrown in the bin by the cleaners, which could result in you being charged for missing items when you check out.

• Room cleaning can be arranged weekly, through either your university contract or by paying The Outlook directly. Your room will be vacuumed, cleaned, rubbish removed and bedding changed. If you are asleep or your room is messy and the floor covered with books, rubbish and so on, the cleaner will not enter your room, and it will not be cleaned that week. Do not leave any open food containers in your room or in the communal areas.While this additional service can be provided, it is still the students’ responsibility to keep their own room tidy and clean. At the end of your tenancy, all students may be charged a standard £30 for cleaning and bedding to be changed from your deposit.

Security and safety

• Fire alarms and smoke detectors
  Fire protection is a legal requirement of any student accommodation. As a tenant, you are required to familiarise yourself of the relevant fire procedures, precautions, fire exits, the location of fire alarms and equipment. When a fire alarm sounds, it’s of paramount importance that everyone leaves the building immediately – regardless of the weather conditions and time of day.

Only when you smell or see signs of fire, should you activate the alarm and alert your fellow students. The smoke detectors, which are strategically placed throughout the premises, can save lives by warning us early, so please do not tamper with them.

• Fire equipment
  It’s imperative that fire protection equipment is not tampered with or damaged; they are not toys – they are vital for saving lives should an emergency arise and should be treated as such. Penalties will be issued accordingly if the equipment is abused.

In fact, interfering with the fire safety equipment is a criminal offence, and anyone found doing so, may hve £100 deducted from their deposit and may also be asked to leave the residence.

This includes:

• Removing a fire extinguisher from the wall and/or discharging it in a non-emergency situation.
• Deliberately activating a fire alarm in a non-emergency situation.
• Intentionally covering or interfering with a smoke alarm.Please familiarise yourself with our fire evacuation procedure, which is mounted on the back of your room door.

• Entry into the Building
  In order to maintain the security and safety of all our students, we strictly prohibit residents from letting anyone they do not know into the building. All unaccompanied guests must wait for their friend, who resides at The Outlook, to come to the entrance and let them in.

Please do not let strangers enter the building and never let anyone you don’t recognise follow you into the premises, no matter how innocent they look. Should you be concerned, let a member of staff know as a matter of urgency.

We ask that our students take great care to shut the front door after them, upon entering and leaving the residence.

• Keys On arrival to The Outlook, you will be given your individual key and fob by a member of staff. The key is for locking your room door, and the fob is for gaining entry to the main building. You will need this fob during out of hours, when the main door is locked and on either the fifth or sixth floor, depending on where your room is located.

You are not allowed to give your key to any other person, including your friends. They key is for you and for you only – failure to comply with this rule may result in you being asked to leave the residence.

If you lose your key or your fob, please report it immediately to the one of the residence managers. Please note that you will have to pay for the cost of a replacement key, so we suggest putting it in a safe and secure place. Replacement costs are £10 for a key and £20 for a fob.

• Ventilation
  Condensation, caused by excessive moisture in the air, is harmful to both your health and to the property. It can cause ill health and respiratory problems if not prevented efficiently, so during cold weather we kindly ask that you leave a window open a little when you have your heater on. This allows for adequate ventilation and will prevent condensation from appearing.There is a ventilator fan in your bathroom, located above the bathroom door. The ventilator switch must NEVER be turned off. Once the bathroom light is switched off, the ventilator fan will run for approximately ten minutes before switching off automatically. If you turn off your ventilator fan when you take a shower, this can activate the fire alarm. The ventilator fan removes steam from your bathroom and is there for a reason so please refrain from tampering with it.We also ask that you only use your heater when you are in the room and that you turn them off when you are out. You must never cover your heater or attempt to dry your wet clothing on your heater as this is a serious fire risk.