You will be expected to maintain your accommodation and other living/cooking/washing/toilet areas in a clean condition. Please keep foods such as butter, milk, meats or fish in the refrigerator. Put other food away in the cupboards provided as it can attract mice and rats if you leave it out.

Some farms also charge a deposit for the accommodation. This will be returned provided you leave the accommodation in a clean and undamaged condition.

Your employer is obliged to offer accommodation. You are not obliged to accept it and are legally permitted to find alternative accommodation nearby. This is providing that the alternative accommodation is close enough to your place of work to enable you to arrive on time for work each day. However, please remember that rents charged by farms are very reasonable compared to commercial rates in most regions of Britain.

The accommodation you stay in will normally occupy a particular area of the farm. This will include an area with showers and toilets and space for cooking. On most farms you will find that the kitchen area is communal. This means there will be lots of ovens and preparation areas in one room. You will be able to prepare food with your friends and there will also be space in the kitchen for you to store your food. Communal kitchens can get very messy and you need to be prepared to clean up after yourself!

Alongside the kitchen our farms provide a communal area that employees can use for socialising and relaxing outside of work hours. These vary greatly from farm to farm but they will usually have some kind of entertainment. Some farms have table football or pool/snooker tables and others have computers and televisions. Farms also provide an outdoor area which many students use to have barbeques in the summer months.

Health and Safety in Accommodation

Listed below there are some Health & Safety issues which you need to consider in relation to your accommodation.

1. Never interfere with any gas appliances and immediately report any defects or cracks.
2. Never take the batteries out of the smoke alarms in the accommodation as this will put your own and other students' lives at risk.
3. Do not touch the wiring on any electrical appliance, particularly where water is used, such as the shower or a washing machine.
4. Do not remove fire blankets from the accommodation and kitchen areas as you never know when someone else might need them urgently.
5. You must get permission from your employer before adding any heating appliances to your room. Heaters use up a lot of electricity and may cause the whole electrical system on the farm to fail, or cause a fire.
6. Remember if you buy second hand electrical goods, you should have them checked out by a qualified electrician. Faulty electrical goods are one of the most common causes of fires. It may seem like an inexpensive purchase, but if you cause a fire and lose all your possessions it could cost you and others a great deal of money.
7. Make yourself aware of any emergency exits and do not block them.

Make sure you know who to contact in an emergency and familiarise yourself with any escape routes.