Dealing With Waste When Your Student Tenants Move Out

Although your lease agreement will state that your property must be left in its original condition, that's unlikely to happen when you're letting out your house to students. When a tenancy ends, you'll no doubt be left with unwanted trash: used crockery, torn up upholstery or leg-snapped chairs. Waste disposal can be almost as troublesome and time consuming as a minor renovation. If this problem sounds familiar, these tips will help.

Know Your Legal Obligations

It's important to understand your legal obligations so you don't unlawfully discard any leftover goods. You are entitled to dispose of any perishable items, such as broken furniture, old newspapers and food left in the fridge, immediately, without permission from the tenant. However, you must be 100% certain that everything is rubbish. If anything of value has been left behind, you must notify your former tenants in writing, in person or over the phone. If you cannot contact the tenant, leave a note on the front door or in a prominent position. If, after 14 days, the former tenant does not reclaim their goods, you may donate, dispose of, keep or sell them.

Unlike living essentials, furniture and appliances, personal documents must be kept for at least 90 days. This includes identity documents, financial information, photographs, memorabilia, licenses and qualifications. All documents should be stored in a safe place. After 90 days, the documents must be disposed of in an appropriate manner; by either shredding them or returning them to the issuing authority.

Consider Upcycling

One man's trash is another man's treasure. You may see an old, torn up sofa as junk, but in the right hands, it could be completely reborn. Upcycling is the process of enhancing discarded material to make it more valuable. The difference between upcycling and recycling is that upcycling doesn't contribute to the waste system at all; it requires just creativity and a little bit of elbow grease. Before you throw away any old furniture, step back and try to see it for what it could be, not what it is. Upcycling old waste from previous tenants could save you having to refurnish the property before new tenants move in.

Take Out The Trash

If time runs out, none of the leftovers can be upcycled, and you're left with an excessive amount of waste to dispose of, hire a skip. If you have multiple properties, with large furniture and appliances to get rid of, taking multiple trips to your local dump is inefficient and costly. A skip will make the job more manageable, especially if all of your properties are within close proximity of each other. In addition, skip rental companies will offer environmentally safe rubbish removal, so you won't have to worry about your carbon footprint.  

For more information, contact a local rubbish removal or skip bin hire company.