Accommodation

What you need to know

• Your safety in halls of residence

  We’re aiming to make your experience of living in halls of residence as normal and fun as possible. We're currently arranging accommodation so that you’ll form a 'hall household' or social bubble with students in the rooms around you and you’ll share a kitchen. This means that you’ll be able to spend time together without keeping social distance from each other. We'll keep reviewing these plans to make sure they follow changing government guidelines around social distancing and safety.

  Your safety is always our priority.  We’ve been working hard with the teams in our halls to arrange extra regular communal area cleaning, hand sanitiser in key spots, as well as one way systems where possible.

• Support to help you feel at home

  Our Accommodation team and the great teams in our halls of residence will help you to adjust when you arrive so you’re as comfortable as possible.

  Each halls has a friendly team of Resident Assistants, who are students just like you. They'll help you with questions about uni and your flat as well as being a familiar face around the hall. They'll also organise regular kitchen meetings and activities, from online quizzes to socially distanced picnics, and make plans for your ‘hall household’ like bake-offs and games nights.

  We understand some students will be looking forward to living with and getting to new people in their accommodation and others will be worried about the potential risk. We'll be here to support you, however you're feeling.

• Quarantining and self-isolating in halls

  If you're an international student who needs to self-isolate when you get to the UK, you can do this within your hall. There will be specific areas of the halls for self-isolating students and your move in date gives you two weeks before the start of term.

  If a student within your ‘hall household’ has symptoms of COVID-19, then your whole flat will need to self-isolate following government guidelines. In case this happens, you'll need to buy enough food to last a couple of weeks in case and arrange for someone outside your flat to buy essential things for you.

• Making the decision to move to campus

  If you're a UK student and we’re planning to teach your course fully online then it’s your personal decision whether to move to accommodation. You might choose to live in halls straightaway so you can get involved in campus life or decide that you’d like to stay at home for now and move after a few months, or even longer. We’re taking a flexible approach to deadlines and move in dates so you can do what’s best for you. If you’re not sure about your plans then we’re here to give you advice.

  If you're an international student and you’ve applied for a course that’s taught fully online, then you won’t be able to move to campus for the start of your course because of UK Visa and Immigration regulations. Speak to your Regional Office for more info on your options.

• Deadlines and when to apply

  There’s currently no set deadline to apply for accommodation. If you want to live close to campus for the start of term, then we recommend that you apply for now. Then you’ll have the best chance of getting the accommodation that you want and you can make the most of opportunities on campus. If you apply for accommodation and change your mind, you can cancel up to 13 September and we'll give you a full refund.

  If you decide during the Autumn term that you want to live in halls then get in touch with our team and we'll let you know what rooms are available. You'll pay rent from the date you move in.

  If you decide to wait until January to start on campus, then you can apply from October for accommodation. We'll always do our best to find you a room, depending on availability.

  To get the latest updates on availability of rooms in halls, fill out this online form.

• Deposits, rent payments and refunds

  You won’t need to pay a deposit when you apply for accommodation. Instead we’ll ask you to make an advance rent payment when you accept an offer of accommodation. If you decide to cancel the room before 13 September then we’ll refund any money you’ve paid. If you don’t take your room, for example because there is a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak and there is no teaching on campus, then you will not be charged for that term.

  We understand that it’s difficult to make plans at the moment and we’ll be as flexible as possible as things change – in your personal circumstances and around the world. The most important thing is to tell the Accommodation team as soon as possible and we will work with you to find a solution.

• Support for different accommodation needs

  Get in touch with our team if you need different kinds of support with your accommodation.  They’ll put together a support plan for you and make a recommendation to the Accommodation team.