Operational Handover Pack · Sold Tenanted
Infinity House 18-bed student HMO, Stoke-on-Trent. Handed over as a running operation with tenants in situ.
Property at a glance
A converted, fully-fitted student HMO, let by the room and managed at arm's length through a local agent. The value is in the established processes — each section below covers one.
| Address | Infinity House, Shelton Old Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 7RX |
|---|---|
| Configuration | 18 en-suite bedrooms over three floors · Ground (1–6), First (7–12), Second (13–18) — plus a lower-ground / basement floor housing the lounge and bin store |
| Shared areas | Kitchen and corridors per floor; lounge and bin store on the lower-ground floor |
| Use | Student HMO — full-time students, Staffordshire University and others |
| Rent basis | Let per room, inclusive of all bills — gas, electricity, water and broadband are landlord-provided (Section 8) |
| Academic year | Tenancies run 1 Aug – 31 Jul; some rooms carry summer tenancies or half-rent storage over the gap |
| Letting agent | Greenpad · 01782 422 300 · enquiries@greenpad.co.uk |
| Sale basis | Tenants in situ — existing ASTs and processes continue |
| Listing | Infinity House on greenpad.co.uk |
Who does what
A small set of roles. You slot your team into the owner/management side; agent and on-site roles continue with the building.
Greenpad — letting & local agent
In place · continues
Sources and manages tenants, issues ASTs, chases certificates, does weekly visits, coordinates contractor access, relays maintenance. First point of contact for tenant- and building-facing matters.
Greenpad, College Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 2DE · 01782 422 300 · enquiries@greenpad.co.uk
Lettings manager: Michelle Emery · michelle@greenpad.co.uk
On-site warden
Resident student · changes yearly
A tenant who inspects and reports weekly (Section 13), and handles hands-on tasks like heating battery swaps.
Owner / management
Transfers to you
Oversight of the letting cycle, exemption, compliance, utilities and warden-reported issues — the role you're stepping into.
Cleaner — “E&C Clean”
In place · managed by Greenpad
Cleans the communal areas regularly and carries out end-of-tenancy cleans. Booked and coordinated through Greenpad.
Emma Kamara · emmakamara51@gmail.com · Carla Savatovich · carla.savatovich@gmail.com
Conversion contractor, roofing contact (Section 14), and Greenpad's handyman for minor fixes. Current details provided directly on completion.
Tenancies & the letting model
Let room-by-room on individual ASTs, sourced and managed by Greenpad. Rents are inclusive of all bills. Owner's role is oversight: fill rooms each year, check rents match, keep exemption paperwork current.
The cycle
- Tenancies renew each academic year (1 Aug – 31 Jul). Filling rooms ahead of the new academic year is the year's most time-sensitive task.
- Greenpad issues each AST in two stages — unsigned first, signed copy later (up to ~7 days).
- The main intake is the August start. There may also be an additional intake of Erasmus students each January.
Recurring situations
| Continued tenancy | Same student, next year, no gap. Certificate re-submitted; no council tax due. |
|---|---|
| Summer stay-on | Existing tenants can stay over the summer; August has been charged at half rent. This policy can be varied — arrange any change via Greenpad. |
| Summer storage | Storage only over the summer is possible, by a separate agreement with that tenant (arranged via Greenpad). |
| Early leavers | Liable for remaining period plus re-let fee, unless they find a replacement. |
| Visa cases | Extension must clear before expiry or tenant vacates by expiry date. |
| Voids | Any empty period between tenants = owner liable for council tax on the gap (Section 5). |
Current tenancy schedule and signed ASTs transfer on completion, subject to data-protection handling for tenant data.
Rent schedule
An anonymised view of the per-room rents — tenant identities are removed. All rents are inclusive of bills. Figures are taken from the current rent roll.
[figures to be inserted from the current rent roll before issue]
Ground floor
| Room 1 | £ — pcm |
|---|---|
| Room 2 | £ — pcm |
| Room 3 | £ — pcm |
| Room 4 | £ — pcm |
| Room 5 | £ — pcm |
| Room 6 | £ — pcm |
First floor
| Room 7 | £ — pcm |
|---|---|
| Room 8 | £ — pcm |
| Room 9 | £ — pcm |
| Room 10 | £ — pcm |
| Room 11 | £ — pcm |
| Room 12 | £ — pcm |
Second floor
| Room 13 | £ — pcm |
|---|---|
| Room 14 | £ — pcm |
| Room 15 | £ — pcm |
| Room 16 | £ — pcm |
| Room 17 | £ — pcm |
| Room 18 | £ — pcm |
Rents are per room and inclusive of all bills. Any summer or part-year arrangements are noted against the room in the live schedule. The current signed schedule transfers on completion.
Council tax — the exemption
Because every occupier is a full-time student, the building qualifies for a full council-tax exemption — provided each student's certificate is submitted to the council.
Each student must submit their student certificate to be eligible for zero council tax. Once a valid certificate is held for every occupied room, no council tax is due on the building. Certificates are collected for each new tenancy and submitted to Stoke-on-Trent City Council (chased via Greenpad).
As an HMO, liability for any council tax sits with the owner, not the tenants — so a missing certificate, or a room sitting empty, falls to the owner.
The council-tax account and portal access transfer securely on completion.
Heating & smart controls
Room-by-room smart control keeps running costs down. One ongoing task: it's battery-powered, so batteries need monitoring and replacing.
Setup
- Each bedroom has a smart TRV plus motion sensor — heating responds to occupancy.
- Radiators in bedrooms, en-suites, corridors, kitchens, lounges — all zoned.
- Administered online across three logins, one per floor.
Batteries & full-replacement quantities
The system is battery-powered throughout: a smart valve (TRV) on every radiator and a motion sensor in every bedroom. Quantities for a full replacement:
| Radiator valves (TRV) | Motion sensors |
|---|---|
| 2 × AA per valve | 1 × CR123 per sensor |
| 18 bedroom · 18 en-suite · 3 corridor · 3 kitchen · 2 lounge radiators = 44 valves | One in each bedroom = 18 sensors |
| 88 × AA for a full set | 18 × CR123 for a full set |
The on-site warden can be expected to replace batteries as needed. Standard cells throughout.
"Device not found" — usually a flat battery; replace. Radiator stuck on — valve popped off its thread; re-seat on site. Both quick.
Platform logins transfer securely on completion.
CCTV & remote access
Multi-camera CCTV, viewable live and reviewable remotely on desktop and mobile.
| System | Multi-camera CCTV, entrances and common areas, desktop software |
|---|---|
| Capabilities | Live view + historic playback/download by camera and time |
| Remote access | Live view and playback over the internet |
Camera locations
Five cameras cover the approaches and key internal points:
- Facing down Shelton Old Road, showing the front door
- Facing down Swan Street
- Facing down the alleyway
- Inside the entrance door
- Lounge
Viewing app
Live view and playback on mobile through the HiLook app (also available as desktop software).
Camera details and credentials transfer securely on completion.
Utilities & meter readings
Landlord-provided and included in the rents — standard for a student HMO. Suppliers are below; the one recurring task that needs a person is the periodic water meter read.
| Gas & electricity | Pozitive Energy · SMETS2 smart meters |
|---|---|
| Water | Water Plus — metered, meter in the basement (reading process below) |
| Internet | Virgin Media broadband, distributed through a Ubiquiti mesh network across the building |
| TV Licence | Each student arranges their own; the landlord holds the licence for the shared lounge only |
Meter & stopcock locations
| Gas meter & ECV | Basement lounge — half-height cupboard under the windows (Emergency Control Valve alongside) |
|---|---|
| Electric meter & consumer unit | Cupboard inside the building's front door, on the left |
| Water meter & stopcock | Boiler cupboard in the lounge — through the lounge door, on the right |
Cupboard keys are held in the key safes — see Section 9 for safe locations and contents.
Water meter reading
- Water supplier periodically requests a reading.
- Meter is in the lounge boiler cupboard, so Greenpad photographs it on their next visit — reading and serial number both legible.
- Reading submitted to the supplier and logged; next statement checked to confirm.
Key safes, cupboard keys and the door keypad codes are covered in full in Section 9 — Keys & access codes. All codes are provided on handover.
Take opening meter readings and notify each supplier of the change of ownership at completion (Section 17). Confirm which supplier holds each account and where the meter-read obligation sits.
Keys & access codes
A nested set of key safes holds the keys to every room and service cupboard. Codes and the physical keys are provided on handover; Greenpad also hold a full set at their offices.
Key safes
| Key Safe 1 | Bottom of the cupboard next to Room 1. Contains the keys to the lounge under-stairs cupboard and to the two key safes inside it (Safes 2 & 3). Start here. |
|---|---|
| Key Safes 2 & 3 | Inside the walk-in cupboard under the stairs in the lounge. Contain the keys to all rooms. Reached using the keys from Key Safe 1. |
| Key Safe 4 | Next to the gas meter, in the half-height cupboard in the lounge. Contains the keys to the adjacent CCTV cupboard, the basement boiler cupboard, and the 2nd-floor boiler cupboard. |
Door codes
| Front door | Keypad entry code — [provided on handover] |
|---|---|
| Bin store internal door | Keypad code — [provided on handover] |
Greenpad hold a full set of keys at their offices. Cupboard keys for the meters and boilers are in the key safes above (Section 8 lists what each cupboard contains).
Inventory & contents
What comes with the building, room type by room type. For the definitive record, Greenpad hold a dated, photographic inventory for every room.
What's included
| Bedrooms (each) | 1× bed (sizes vary by room) · bedside table (some rooms have a desk at the bedside) · desk and chair · wardrobe and drawers |
|---|---|
| Lounge | 1× 5-seater sofa · 8× metal stools · 6× plastic chairs · 1× coffee table · 1× wooden & metal table · 1× TV |
| Kitchens (each) | 2× bins · 2× fridge-freezers · 1× washing machine · 1× tumble drier |
| Cleaning supplies | 2× vacuum cleaners · 2× mop and bucket |
| Bin store | 6× bins |
Greenpad carry out a photographic check-in and check-out inventory for all new tenants. For clarification on any room, check Greenpad's photographic inventory for that room.
Appliance manuals
Manuals and guides for the appliances and equipment throughout the building, collected in one place.
Everything is kept in a single Google Drive folder — boilers, white goods, heating controls and the rest.
Open the appliance manuals folderCompliance & the annual cycle
An 18-bed HMO carries a steady compliance load. Live certificates and renewal dates sit with the legal pack; this is the operational rhythm.
| Rolling / annual | Gas, electrical, fire & life-safety on their own cycles — in a compliance tracker. |
|---|---|
| Every autumn | Council tax exemption re-established (Section 5). |
| Weekly | Warden report (Section 13); Greenpad visit. |
| Monthly-ish | Heating battery review (Section 6). |
| Periodic | Water meter reads on request (Section 8). |
Compliance documents
The current certificates live in a shared Google Drive folder. Individual documents are linked below for quick reference. [links to be added]
Open the compliance documents folderThe HMO licence is personal to the current licence holder and cannot be transferred with the sale. The new owner must apply to Stoke-on-Trent City Council for their own licence — start this as early as possible, ideally before completion (Section 17).
Because the property operates CCTV and holds tenant personal data, the operator must be registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and pay the annual data-protection fee. This does not transfer — the new owner must register in their own name and pay the fee (Section 17).
The live certificate set sits with the legal pack. Buildings insurance does not transfer — the buyer arranges their own cover (Section 17). Load every renewal date into one calendar on day one.
There is no local landlord accreditation scheme to join — the previous Stoke-on-Trent scheme was wound up in 2023. The HMO licence remains the operative permission.
On-site warden & weekly reporting
A built-in early-warning system: a resident warden inspects and reports weekly. Cheap, effective, worth keeping.
- Warden is a tenant (student); role typically changes yearly.
- Weekly (ideally Friday) they complete a short form flagging any building or tenant issue.
- On submission it automatically emails Greenpad (and any wider distribution list).
- Routine: check each week's report against the "all normal" baseline; anything different goes to the team.
No report for 10+ days is itself the flag — usually the form has stopped (warden moved on); re-establish via Greenpad.
The weekly inspection is a Google Form that automatically emails Greenpad the moment it is submitted. The form and its notification setup must be transferred to the buyer, or recreated by them, so the weekly report keeps reaching the agent.
Roof access
How the flat roof is reached, for repairs or inspection.
Getting onto the roof
- Access via a top-floor roof light, by ladder.
- The roof light is linked to the fire alarm — the alarm is taken out of service to open it; Greenpad coordinates with tenants and any contractor.
- Secured by a finger-tight nut and bolt; it must be re-secured afterwards.
- Access is arranged through Greenpad, who contact the roofing contractor used previously.
Buildings insurance does not transfer on sale, so any previous roof-inspection condition falls away. The buyer should confirm what, if anything, their own insurer requires for the flat roof (Section 17).
Live maintenance issues
A snapshot of any open repairs or known issues as at the day of transfer — so nothing already in progress is lost in the handover.
This section is left open on purpose. It is filled in on the day of completion with any live maintenance items — outstanding repairs, jobs already booked with contractors, and anything the buyer should pick up immediately.
| Open items | [to be completed on the day of transfer] |
|---|
What transfers on completion
This pack explains how the building runs. The following transfer securely on or around completion so your team can operate from day one.
Marketing & social channels transfer with the property
The established audience and listing come across too — keep them running from day one.
See the buyer checklist (Section 17) for the first-week actions that keep the building compliant and running.
Buyer checklist
The essential first actions to keep the building compliant and running from day one. Tick them off as you go.
- Apply for your own HMO licence.The existing licence cannot be transferred — apply to Stoke-on-Trent City Council as early as possible (Section 12).
- Arrange buildings insurance.The seller's policy does not transfer. Put your own cover in place for completion.
- Register with the ICO and pay the data-protection fee.Required because the property runs CCTV and holds tenant data — register in your own name (Section 12).
- Take meter readings and notify the suppliers.Gas & electricity (Pozitive Energy, SMETS2), water (Water Plus) and Virgin Media broadband — give each the change of ownership and opening reads (Section 8).
- Notify the council for council tax.Single council-tax account with Stoke-on-Trent City Council; re-establish the full-time-student exemption (Section 5).
- Transfer or recreate the warden Google Form.Keep the weekly inspection report flowing to Greenpad (Section 13).
- Collect all keys and access codes.Work through the key safes, cupboard keys and the front-door & bin-store codes (Section 9).
- Take over the app logins.CCTV — HiLook (Section 7); heating — Genius Hub, one login per floor (Section 6).
- Load every compliance renewal date into one calendar.Gas, electrical, fire and life-safety (Section 12).
- Pick up any live maintenance items.Work through the issues logged on the day of transfer (Section 15).
- Introduce your team to Greenpad.Your first point of contact for tenants and the building (Section 2).