Green Photo Holiday Merry Christmas Postcard

Tenants newsletter

Name: Clan Gordon Letting Agents In Edinburgh
Price range: $$

It would be hard for anyone to miss recent economic issues in the UK from the impact of the war in Ukraine, subsequent inflationary pressures and the energy crisis.

With that in mind our team are keen to do everything we can to help you manage your energy costs for the coming winter. We have already started receiving more reports of leaks than usual with heavy rainfall and some boiler/heating issues as it gets colder and we are working hard to support tenants with these challenges.

Managing condensation and mould

The Scottish Landlord’s Association has issued a factsheet to all tenants, to help you understand the measures you can take on a day-to-day basis to limit build-up of condensation in your home, such as avoiding the obstruction of vents and airbricks, taking care with regards heating and ventilation when drying clothes inside, keeping furniture away from outside walls and keeping rooms well heated and ventilated, even throughout winter. The advice covers the causes of condensation, prevention and treatment and can be read in full here.

Although the advice on preventing condensation in properties is clear that heating and ventilating your home will prevent condensation, we know from experience that in some properties this can be difficult, especially in the winter months and with the rising cost of energy. If you have difficulties in this area please let our team know so we can work with you to try and help as much as possible and discuss further ways to help.

Reporting Maintenance

If you need to report any maintenance please use our reporting tool FixFlo which is also designed to help you resolve some simple maintenance issues yourselves and ensure maintenance reported includes all the information we might need. Contractors will have limited availability over Christmas so may only be available to attend emergencies.

In An Emergency

If you experience an emergency – a situation that is causing ongoing damage to the property or a risk of injury to you – call our office on 0131 555 4444 and listen to the recorded message for emergency contact numbers or refer to your Check-in Guidelines. If it can wait please report it using FixFlo and we will pick it up when we are open.

For a gas leak visit: https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/what-to-do-in-an-emergency/

If your CO alarm is going off - https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/help-and-advice/carbon-monoxide-poisoning/

Locked Out?

We're afraid that, although understandably difficult when it happens, being locked out of your property due to lost keys (or left elsewhere) is not classed as an emergency. If you find yourself locked out, outside of office hours, phone a local locksmith to get back in. Unless there is a problem with the door or lock (if the lock is faulty for example) you will be liable to cover the cost of the locksmith plus any remedial work if any damage is caused to the door. We can, of course, lend you a management set of keys at the office when we are open.

Safety Reminder

Fire safety: As per your tenancy agreement, please do not use candles and always remember to switch off all Christmas lights when you are out of the property.

Avoid Frozen Pipes: If you are going away over Christmas please drop us a brief email confirming when you are away, leave the heating on low to maintain a constant temperature. Please also remind yourself of the location of the stopcock so you can be prepared in an emergency.

January Rent Payments

We would like to remind you that rent is due on the 1st of each month via standing order (with the exception of a few tenants by prior arrangement). If you are unsure of your rent due date please get in touch or check your tenancy agreement. If you have yet to set up a standing order, please ensure this is done in time for the 1st of the month for all future rent payments.

We understand this year has continued to be financially challenging for many people due to the pandemic. If you have found yourself struggling there are various sources of support available for tenants in the Private Rented Sector, please see links below to each of these:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-privately/private-renting/get-help-with-renting-costs/

https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/tenantgrantfund

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/discretionaryhousingpayments

https://www.mygov.scot/scottish-welfare-fund/

If you have any concerns regarding your rent payments then please do not hesitate email tenant@clangordon.co.uk or give us a call to discuss further. We can help more easily if you contact us as early as possible.

Receiving old post?

If you are receiving post addressed to former occupants of your property, please cross through the address and simply mark on the envelope “Not at this address, return to sender” before posting back into the mailbox. You do not need to add postage stamps. Please note that Clan Gordon is unable to redirect any mail received.

Your award-winning service

As a company we always work hard to provide the very best service for our landlords so that letting your property never feels like a hassle for you – or your tenants.

We are pleased to let you know our dedication to customer service has been acknowledged by several prestigious industry awards in recent months, Gold in the allAgents Edinburgh category, Silver in the Scotland category, finalist in the Scottish Housing Awards and Bronze in The Negotiator awards. And we were again awarded the Gold award by the EA Masters in September - a testament to our continued commitment to investing in staff training to ensure the service you receive is delivered by property management professionals.

We are always very grateful to every one of our tenants who has taken time to leave a review of our service over the last year. This is very much appreciated and plays an important role in helping to guide our service going forward. If you would like to leave a more recent review, you can do so here.

Staff update

We have been delighted to welcome Carrie Morrison to the lettings team recently. Carrie will be working towards her MARLA qualification to ensure the service you receive is always first class. Dominika Kreft has also been working hard studying for her ARLA Level 6.