FAQs

Yes,  you must tell Evenbrook immediately if you plan for someone to move-in BEFORE they move-in to the property or when a tenant or occupier no longer lives there. This applies whether they are named on the tenancy agreement or not.

An inventory is a list of the condition and contents of the property on moving in date.  This is prepared by us and will be discussed with you during the moving in process.  The inventory will be counter signed by both you and us and a copy provided to you.  Please note that whilst a degree of ‘wear and tear’ through normal usage is expected, any damage to the property or our contents will be your liability.  For the avoidance of doubt this does include dirt or dust that was not in a property prior to commencement of the tenancy.

Evenbrook insures the building and the common parts of the building against fire, theft or accidental damage.  This insurance does NOT cover the contents of your property and we recommend that you insure any personal possessions which are in the property.by buying a home contents insurance policy.

Prior to moving into the property, you will not be required to pay a deposit. To avoid any misunderstanding, we’d like to confirm that we pursue any unpaid rent at the end of tenancy agreements and the cost of dilapidations where these are more than normal fair wear and tear in the property through the county court and high court in all cases.

Sorry, no pets allowed due to our properties being in large scale developments.

The completion process takes approximately 30 minutes; where you will be shown around your new home by an Evenbrook representative and will follow the process below:

Check in

• You will be asked to check and sign your Inventory
• You will have been given a copy of the Energy Performance Certificate and EICR for the property 
• You will have been given a copy of the Government's "How to rent "guide
• You will be shown how to operate the heating system
• Meter readings will be taken.

Sign up

• You will be asked to sign a copy of your Tenancy agreement, our Information and Advice factsheet and Heat Agreement (Browns Green only). You are responsible for arranging all other utility bills including electric, water rates and council tax.  (Copies of all these documents can be found in Downloads.)

Money

• Your payment on completion must be made in full, by bank transfer, credit or debit card, bankers draft or building society cheque. EVENBROOK DO NOT ACCEPT CASH PAYMENTS OR PERSONAL CHEQUES. We strongly recommend payment by online banking before the day of completion.

Keys

• You will be given a full set of keys to the property.

We will provide you with a factsheet about your property.

In short, you will need to inform the council tax department of the local authority, the water company and a company to provide utilities to the property.

Our properties have cable provision near by.  We suggest that you call your chosen provider to discuss availability.

These are detailed in the tenancy agreement.  In summary you are expected to take reasonable care of the property and its contents.  This includes keeping the property clean for doing the minor jobs which a householder would normally complete themselves such as replacing light bulbs and batteries.  All maintenance issues must be reported to our team by email maintenance@evenbrook.co.uk

You should not smoke or allow any visitors to smoke in the property.

Rent is paid on a monthly basis on the first working day of each month and is payable by standing order or bank transfer.

On moving in day, you will be required to pay the first month’s rent plus the pro-rated rent for the remainder of the current month.  This will be payable by bank transfer,credit/debit card with following rent payments to be made by standing order or bank transfer.

Complete/set up a new standing order and ensure that this forwarded to your bank to allow enough time for the payment to be set up for the start of the following month.

Contact us immediately by emailing rent@evenbrook.co.uk and we will consider the position with you.

It is not Evenbrook policy to allow rent payment holidays. If you know there is going to be a time when you may struggle to pay the full amount you should think about planning your finances in advance and paying a little extra each month to cover the anticipated shortfall.

Contact us immediately and we will consider the position with you.

We will help you as much as we can with advice regarding claiming housing benefit, completing forms and offer alternative advice agencies where possible. Delays in making a benefit claim could result in a lost entitlement. The important thing is to ask us for help.

Please contact us and we will discuss the options open to you. You will remain liable to pay the rent due under the tenancy agreement for the remainder of the contract term.  You will also be liable to pay the utility bills and council tax.  It is possible that if you or we find a replacement customer who contracts and moves into the property once you have told us that you wish to end the tenancy agreement before the end of the fixed term or without giving proper notice that your liability may end.  In normal circumstances however you remain liable for the rent and other costs as stated above until the end of the fixed term.

During office hours, please contact our dedicated Maintenance team by emailing maintenance@evenbrook.co.uk who will arrange for one of our team to address the issue.  We endeavour to resolve maintenance issues within 24 hours for emergency repairs – these are defined as those likely to cause a risk to the health or safety of residents, or serious damage to the building or its contents; the work may include making temporary repairs in the first instance.  For urgent repairs we will endeavour to resolve within 7 days - these are defined as any repairs that materially affect the comfort or convenience of the residents.

Evenbrook offers a support service outside of normal office hours of 9am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday for genuine property related emergency issues only. The telephone number is provided on the Report a Repair page.  Please see below for guidance on what constitutes a property related emergency - most property related issues reported are not emergencies and should be reported by submitting an online request and our team will respond as soon as the office is next open.

We ask that you use common sense and call 999 if it is a life threatening situation such as a fire or an immediate security threat.  If you can smell gas then you should call the National Gas Emergency servies  on 0800 111 999. 

We will endeavour to arrange for reasonable assistance to be provided to you outside of normal office hours if you experience a property related emergency issue which requires action prior to the next working day such as a serious and ongoing leak that cannot be contained, an issue which means that the property is not secure and where the situation means that there is no power to the property or heat in cold weather or where a vulnerable person is resident..

If you have lost your keys and are locked out of your property or have a broken window, door or lock please contact a locksmith or emergency boarding up service yourself and arrange for necessary temporary repairs.  Evenbrook will reimburse reasonable costs incurred where fault does not lie with the customer.

Most other issues are not emergencies and a request for a repair should be submitted using the form provided on the Report a Repair page under the Contact Us tab.  If you are concerned about electrical safety do not  turn on lights or appliances or touch sockets, appliances or light fittings especially if water is present - contact Evenbrook on the emergency number or contact an emergency plumber directly. 

Most external roof leaks cannot be attended to until working conditions outside of the property are safe and dry and in daylight. Most internal leaks are caused by overflowing sinks or baths or toilets in properties above - please contact the upstairs properties directly immediately to try and end the leak in the first instance. Please consider carefully whether the issue is a genuine emergency or can be reported as a repair using the online form.

The Evenbrook property emergency number for outside of normal office hours is provided on the Report a Repair page.

Please contact the local council to arrange assistance.

Please see the payment FAQ’s.

One of the most frequent issues between neighbours is noise.  We simply ask that you show courtesy to your neighbours and inform them of your plans including ending the party at a reasonable hour.

Once you have completed your initial fixed term period you can end the tenancy by giving a minimum of one month’s notice in writing either by email to enquiries@evenbrook.co.uk or by post to Evenbrook, 4th Floor, Brecon House, Browns Green, Birmingham B20 1FE.  Please note that the tenancy will continue automatically after the end of the initial fixed term on a rolling monthly basis so you don't need to take any action to continue living in your property. 

Once we have received your notice, we will write to you confirming the date on which your tenancy ceases and moving out arrangements.  As part of this process, we will arrange a final inspection in which we consider the condition of the property and whether there is any non fair wear and tear damage to the property.  Final meter reads will also be taken at this point for you to inform the utility company of.

Once you have agreed a departure date with us, you will need to inform the council tax department, water company and utility companies that you are moving out so that you are not charged for usage after you have left the property.

Our complaints procedure is used when a customer feels they need to formally complain about a shortfall in our service standards. However, we much prefer to resolve matters informally - you can email us at complaints@evenbrook.co.uk. 

In the event of a formal complaint Evenbrook's Customer Service Manager follows the procedure stated in the complaints policy.

Please view our Complaints Policy.

The BPF code of conduct is designed to formalise best practice between Landlords and their tenants.  Evenbrook is an active member of the organisation. 

View the BPF Code of Conduct here.