Whether you're moving into a Fanda Housing home or any UK rental, these are the things every tenant should know on day one. If you're a Fanda tenant, your in-app welcome page also has the property-specific details (locations of the fuse box, meters, etc.) — sign in and check it.
The consumer unit is a grey or white plastic box with rows of switches. It's normally somewhere out of the way — under the stairs, in a hallway cupboard, in a meter cupboard, or just inside the front door.
If a circuit overloads (too many appliances, a faulty kettle, etc.), one of the smaller switches flips down. To reset, flip it back up. If it trips again immediately, something on that circuit is faulty — unplug things one at a time to find the cause.
The bigger main switch at one end kills all power to the house. Only flip that off if you really mean to.
If your home has gas, there's a meter (usually outside or in a cupboard near the front of the house) and a yellow shut-off lever next to it. The lever is on when it's parallel to the pipe; turn it perpendicular to shut off the gas.
If you smell gas: don't try to find a leak yourself. Open windows, leave the property, call 0800 111 999.
If you're not sure who supplies your gas, you can find out from Find My Supplier or by calling 0870 608 1524 with the meter's MPRN (printed on the meter).
There's a stopcock somewhere in the property — usually under the kitchen sink, sometimes in a hallway floor recess, sometimes near the front of the house. Turning it clockwise shuts off the cold water supply to the house.
If you have a sudden major leak, finding and turning this off is the first thing to do.
To find your water supplier, use the Water UK supplier finder with your postcode.
Most UK rentals have a combi boiler — a wall-mounted unit, often in a kitchen cupboard or utility room. The thermostat (the dial or screen on a wall that sets the temperature) controls when the boiler fires.
If you have no hot water or heating, check: the thermostat is set high enough, there's mains gas / electricity, and the boiler's pressure gauge is in the green band (typically 1.0–1.5 bar). If pressure is low, the boiler manual will explain how to top it up — or just message your landlord.
UK councils each have their own bin schedules and which colours mean what. Search "your council bin day" online with your postcode to find your collection days. Most councils run weekly recycling and fortnightly general waste, but it varies a lot.
If you're a tenant on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy you'll usually be liable for council tax (the landlord pays it on HMOs and some other tenancy types). Set up an account directly with your local council — search "council tax your postcode" online. Single occupant? You may be entitled to a 25% discount.
When you move in, you typically need to set up:
Sign into the Fanda Housing app and open the Welcome / how things work tile on your dashboard. Your landlord can record the exact location of the fuse box, gas meter, stopcock and so on for your specific property — and add photos so you don't have to guess.