Dear Tenants,

Winter precautions & protocol for emergencies during the festive period

As we are now within the winter months and approaching the festive holiday period, we wish to take this opportunity to contact all tenants to remind you of the precautions required to ensure that your home is safe and secure during the winter months.

Please ensure that your home is heated sufficiently during the cold months and we also advise that bathrooms and kitchens are adequately ventilated when in use to prevent the build-up of condensation / mould.

Should you have an outside tap in your home please ensure this is securely covered with insulation to stop the tap / pipework from freezing, which could result in a burst pipe damaging your home and contents.

As the festive period is a prime time for people to be away from home, we strongly request that if you are planning on leaving your home empty please ensure the heating is left on sufficiently to keep the property from getting too cold resulting in burst pipes.  The recommendations from insurers is that boilers are left on, on a permanent setting no lower than 7 degrees to help prevent pipes from freezing.

We would recommend that you arrange for a neighbour / friend to check the property on your behalf should you be away for more than two consecutive days during the winter months to ensure the Landlords Building Insurance and your own Contents Insurance does not become void.

Should you have an emergency issue out of our office hours for the festive period, we do have contractors on call who may be able to attend to EMERGENCIES ONLY (damage to property or danger to life) at their own discretion.  The contractor will make the decision as to whether a call out request is an emergency requiring immediate attention. 

Please understand that there will be limitations on what contractors can do over the festive period due to suppliers/merchants being closed from Friday 21st December 2018.

Please ensure that you are experiencing a true emergency (damage to property or danger to life) and that the issue cannot be resolved when normal working hours commence from Wednesday 2^nd January 2019. Please remember that if a contractor is called out as an emergency when this is not justified, you will unfortunately be liable for all costs which will be charged at bank holiday rates.

Third party contractors agreeable to assist if able to do so at their discretion are:

Matthew Hayes                           07980 113746 General Contractor

Mark Adamson                           07973 659775 General Builder

Linton Vickers                            07800 532269 General Handy Man

John Firth                                  07850780819 General Builder  

Matthew Heather                      07879 897437 Gas Engineer / Plumbing / Leaks / Heating issues

Heightley White Plumbing         07403 330745 Gas Engineer / Plumbing / Leaks / Heating issues

Rollasons Drainage                  07948 406537 Blocked or overflowing drains

M L Electrical Services            07854 153988 Electrical mains

ARB Electrical Services           07966 246727 Electrical mains

Lambley Electrical Services       07805 24694   Electrical mains

Please be aware that the above third party local contractors do not hold or have access to individual property keys.  If you are locked out of your home or have mislaid your keys we would recommend you contact a 24hr Locksmith directly.

Many of the properties that we manage have British Gas Homecare cover or similar policies in place as well as some landlords having their own preferred contractors, so please check the information letter you were given when you moved into the property, if your rental property does have a call out policy or specific instructions/contractors, you will need to contact the relevant company and not a Royston & Lund nominated contractor, as per your landlord's wishes. If you need to refresh yourself with regard to whether your rental home has specific contractors/call out policies please contact the office before the 21st December 2018 to check your records.

Opening hours during the festive period are as follows:

Friday 21st December - 9.00am - 5.30pm

Saturday 22nd December - 9.00am - 4.00pm

Sunday 23rd December - 10.00am - 12.00pm – Lettings enquiries only

Monday 24th December - closed

Tuesday 25th December - closed

Wednesday 26th December - closed

Thursday 27th December - closed

Friday 28th December - closed

Saturday 29th December - 9.00am - 4.00pm

Sunday 30th December - 10.00am - 12.00pm – Lettings enquiries only

Monday 31st December - 9.00am - 4.00pm

Tuesday 1st January - Closed

Wednesday 2nd January - normal opening hours resume

Finally we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all at Royston & Lund.