Chesil House

ResLifeBU is an exclusive programme, only available in BU accommodation, designed to help you enjoy your time in student accommodation to the fullest. 

Our ResLifeBU Team supports you across three core areas:

• Social – providing inclusive activities and events to help you meet your fellow students and build a great community
• Wellbeing – supporting your welfare, health, safety and overall comfort and security
• Skills – everything you need for your new independent life, from how to keep your flat clean, to cooking an affordable and healthy meal and tips on managing your budget

Each accommodation has a friendly Resident Assistant (RA) who lives on site and is a current BU student. Having experienced it themselves, your RA has an understanding of what it’s like to move to a new home when you start at uni. There is also a Welfare Coordinator who is a current member of BU staff and is available for any wellbeing issues you might have whilst in residence. Supporting these roles we have the three ResLifeBU Coordinators, and the three ResLifeBU Officers, all dedicated to helping you have the best time in our accommodation. 

£1.25 of your weekly rent goes towards the funding of the programme – but if you make the most of it, you’ll find it’s worth so much more than that.

Find out more about ResLifeBU

There are two types of the bedroom in Chesil House:

Ensuite (undergraduate or postgraduate) – all ensuites are single occupancy and come with a bed, study desk, desk chair, storage and your very own ensuite bathroom and shower. All ensuite rooms are within a shared cluster flat of between 4–8 other rooms. Undergraduates and postgraduates do not share the same cluster flat. All flats have fully fitted kitchens and dining spaces to eat, relax and socialise. 

Ensuite rooms vary in size, shape and layout but are approx 12 sqm.

Studios (reserved for postgraduates) – all studio flats come with a bed, study desk, desk chair, storage, your very own ensuite bathroom and shower, as well as a fitted kitchen area with everything you require for self-catering. Postgraduate studio flats are located in a separate block.

Studio flats vary in size, shape and layout but are approx 20 sqm.

Advertised prices are based on weekly rent inclusive of an annual bus pass and your ResLifeBU programme. 

Chesil is just minutes away from the town centre and the beach, and around a five-minute walk to Bournemouth train station. It’s also close to many of the bars, clubs and restaurants that are popular with students, including The Old Fire Station, which is run by the Students’ Union (SUBU) and hosts regular live music events and club nights.

There’s a small Co-op supermarket downstairs for all those day-to-day essentials, and the largest supermarket in the central Bournemouth is just a five-minute walk.

It’s also within easy walking distance of all our buildings on Lansdowne, with buses to and from our Talbot Campus picking up and dropping off just outside.

The U1 and U4 university bus services pick up from right outside Chesil, and take between 10 and 15 minutes to get to our Talbot Campus. Your bus pass is included in your rent so you can use these services as much as you need throughout the year, although you can opt out of this if you choose.

Your bus pass also includes unlimited travel on morebus zone A services, spanning the wider Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch area. 

And if you’re travelling further afield, the main train and bus station is just minutes away. 

Chesil House has a large common room that is open to all residents. It features comfy seats and a TV, as well as having a separate movie room equipped with a projector, big screen and sofas. There's also a card-operated laundry room that you can access 24 hours a day.

The cluster flats available to undergraduate and postgraduate students comprise five or six bedrooms. Each flat has an open-plan, shared kitchen and living area equipped with sofas, stools, tables, storage cupboards and all of the appliances (cooker, fridge, freezer and microwave) you’ll need.

Postgraduate studio flats, located in the separate block, have their own kitchen area, as well as a bedroom and living space.

Your bedroom and common room have high-speed Wi-Fi for work and play.

All of your bills are included in your weekly rent so you have nothing further to pay.

As well as having CCTV in the building and secure access, there is also a Chesil House team member onsite 24 hours a day to provide any help you might need.

The onsite team includes a maintenance operative who will be able to respond to and resolve any faults for you in a timely manner.

There is also a ResLifeBU Team who are on hand if you have any wellbeing concerns; they organise regular social events too (see ResLifeBU below).

You can find details of booking dates and our accommodation guarantee on our How to book accommodation page.

When you’re ready to book a room, you can do so via our Accommodation Portal. 

You will select your room via our Portal but your contract and rent payments will be with our accommodation partner, Campus Living Villages. For more details of the terms of booking and cancellation go to our Contract flexibility and cancellation page.

Chesil House is owned and operated by BU’s private accommodation partner, Campus Living Villages (CLV). CLV will be your landlord and you will pay your rent to them and not BU. Any queries or issues you might have during your time will be dealt with by CLV’s dedicated onsite team.

CLV has signed Chesil House up to the ANUK Code of Standard, which has been developed to encourage the highest possible standards of student accommodation provided by universities and major private suppliers. Find out more about the Code and how it benefits you.

We understand that you will want to know what safety measures have been put in place to reduce the risks posed by Covid-19.

Full details of the measures across the BU accommodation portfolio can be found on our Covid-19 safety measures page.