Tenant Information & Resources

Membership of the ANUK/Unipol National Code of Standards for Larger Developments is a voluntary commitment to provide student accommodation that goes substantially beyond the legal minimum. By registering, Sam Properties agrees to be bound by a comprehensive set of management standards covering every aspect of student accommodation from marketing and allocation through to repairs, health and safety, welfare, sustainability, and the resolution of complaints..

Membership is not a one-off exercise; it requires ongoing compliance, self-assessment, and periodic independent verification.

Registered properties must ensure that all staff with responsibility for the day-to-day management of the building understand and apply the Code’s standards. This includes maintaining accurate and honest marketing materials, providing a full written welcome pack to every resident at the start of their occupancy, and ensuring that all repair response timescales are met:

• Emergencies — within 24 hours
• Urgent repairs — within 5 working days
• Routine repairs — within 28 days

Communal areas must be kept clean, safe, and unobstructed at all times, and the building must be maintained in compliance with all relevant health and safety legislation, including fire risk assessments, electrical safety checks, and water hygiene management.

The Code places a strong emphasis on the welfare of residents. Properties must have documented procedures for supporting residents experiencing wellbeing or mental health difficulties, and staff must be trained to respond appropriately to welfare concerns.

A satisfaction survey covering all nine mandatory topic areas must be conducted, with results analysed and used to drive genuine improvement. Where residents raise complaints, these must be dealt with promptly, professionally, and in accordance with the Code’s complaints procedure.

All allocation and management processes must comply with the Equality Act 2010, and the property must have a written equality access statement. No applicant or resident may be treated less favourably on the basis of any protected characteristic.

All personal data, including any sensitive welfare or PEEP information, must be handled in full compliance with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

The National Code Administrator (NCA) carries out periodic verification checks to confirm that registered properties are meeting the required standards. Properties that fail to comply risk suspension or removal from the Code, and any upheld complaints or Tribunal decisions may be made public.

Membership carries real accountability, it is not simply a badge, but a binding commitment to a higher standard of student accommodation management.

The National Code Administrator can be contacted at nationalcodes@unipol.org.uk or on 0113 243 0169.

Full details of the Code’s requirements, verification procedures, and complaints process are available at www.nationalcode.org.

If you are living in, or considering living in, a property registered with the ANUK/Unipol National Code of Standards, you benefit from a level of protection that goes beyond what the law alone requires. The Code sets out clear standards that your landlord or accommodation manager has voluntarily committed to meet and gives you a formal route to seek redress if those standards are not upheld.

Before signing any agreement, you are entitled to be given accurate, honest information about the property, including full details of the rent, any additional charges, and the terms of your occupancy agreement. You should be given a reasonable opportunity to review the terms before you commit, and you must not be asked to pay anything other than a permitted holding deposit before entering into a written agreement.

The property’s membership of the National Code should be clearly displayed in the building and referenced in your occupancy agreement.

At the start of your occupancy, you should receive a full welcome pack covering at minimum:

• Contact details for your landlord or manager
• How to report repairs and the timescales within which they will be resolved
• How to operate all appliances safely and efficiently
• Instructions on waste and recycling
• Fire safety information including escape routes and equipment locations
• Information about local support services and how to register with a GP

The property should be clean and in good repair when you move in, and an inventory or record of the state of the property and its contents should be available to you.

Your landlord is required to operate a clear, documented repairs reporting system:

• Emergencies — e.g. a security breach, total loss of heating in freezing weather, or a serious water leak must be attended to within 24 hours
• Urgent repairs — e.g. a faulty shower or broken oven must be resolved within 5 working days
• Routine repairs — completed within 28 days

If a repair you have reported is not being dealt with within these timescales, you have the right to raise a formal complaint.

The Code requires that your landlord or accommodation manager has in place clear procedures for supporting residents who are experiencing wellbeing or mental health difficulties. If you are struggling, you should feel able to approach the property manager in the first instance.

You can also access support through your university or college student services, the students’ union, NHS 111, or the relevant 24-hour mental health helplines signposted in your welcome information.

Your landlord must not share your personal information without your consent, except in exceptional circumstances where there is a genuine concern for your safety.

If you believe your landlord is breaching the standards of the National Code, you have the right to make a formal complaint. You should first raise the matter directly with your landlord in writing and allow a reasonable opportunity for it to be resolved. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you can escalate your complaint to the National Code Administrator at Unipol, who will consider the matter independently.

If the complaint cannot be resolved through this process, it may be referred to a Tribunal, whose decisions are final and binding on the member. Outcomes of upheld Tribunal decisions may be published publicly.

For independent advice, you can also contact your students’ union, Shelter, or Citizens Advice.

You can check whether a property is a current member of the National Code at www.nationalcode.org. If a property claims to be a Code member but does not appear on the register, contact the National Code Administrator immediately.