Terms and conditions of the Accommodation Guarantee

You will be eligible for the Guarantee if you have an Unconditional Offer for your first year of study at BU starting in January 2025. This is applicable to both undergraduate and postgraduate courses starting in January 2025.
 

Undergraduate (Home)

To be eligible for a guaranteed room in our accommodation you must:

• Have chosen BU as your first choice institution by 18:00 on 29 January 2025
• Have an Unconditional Firm (UF) status and have chosen and reserved your room by 17:00 on 14 August 2025

Undergraduate (Overseas)

To be eligible for a guaranteed room in our accommodation you must:

• Have chosen BU as your first choice institution by 18:00 (UK time) on 29 January 2025
• Have an Unconditional Firm (UF) status and have chosen and reserved your room by 17:00 (UK time) on 29 August 2025

Postgraduate

To be eligible for a guaranteed room in our accommodation you must:

• Have an Unconditional Firm (UF) status and have chosen and reserved your room by 17:00 (UK time) on 14 August 2025

We will update this page once availability of the Guarantee is confirmed for students who choose BU as their firm choice but apply after Wednesday 29 January 2025 and before the UCAS Extra deadline of Friday 4 July 2025.

If you choose BU as your insurance choice or apply through Clearing then you will not currently be guaranteed a room in the BU student accommodation portfolio. We will contact you in August 2025 with updates.

If you have an Unconditional Firm offer to study at BU but have chosen to defer entry to the following academic year, you are eligible for our Accommodation Guarantee. For September 2025 entry, you will be able to log in to our Accommodation Portal from March 2025 to choose and select your room.

BU will support the needs of all students falling within the accommodation Guarantee Policy as far as reasonably practicable. Where a student declares a medical condition, disability or has an accredited assistance dog or emotional support animal, which means that they need specialist or modified accommodation, or require the allocation of a specific type of room the student must let us know about their circumstances as early as possible and register with the university’s Additional Learning Support (ALS) team. Early disclosure and registration enables us to carry out a full needs assessment in conjunction with our accommodation management teams (as relevant) as soon as possible.

Upon review of the needs assessment and considering any third-party advice or recommendations as appropriate, BU will determine whether suitable accommodation is or can be made available. This might be existing accommodation in its current form or subject to reasonable adjustments made to meet the student’s needs). BU will consider the student’s preference as to location, price and accommodation provider as far as reasonably practicable.

If the assessment finds that BU is unable to accommodate the student, because reasonable adjustments cannot be made, or the student's needs are such that they cannot reasonably and safely be met, BU will inform the student as soon as possible. 

BU may not always be able to meet a student’s specific room requirements, particularly if the student does not notify BU of such requirements as soon as possible, or if notified outside of the timescales within the Guarantee Policy, but will consider the student’s requirements and room availability.

Applicants who are proven care leavers or have a Compact agreement are guaranteed BU accommodation for the full period of their studies, if they require it. The deadline for applicants in this category to inform Residential Services of their need for accommodation is 18:00 on Thursday 14 August 2025.

Purbeck House, which is operated by our accommodation partner Unite Students, offer all care leavers who live in this property the opportunity to apply for the Unite Foundation Scholarship. Further information and how to apply can be found at our Unite Foundation Scholarship webpage. 

Applicants who are able to supply satisfactory evidence that they have been estranged from their parents for at least 12 months or more will be guaranteed a room in BU accommodation for their first academic year of study. Evidence that will be considered in an application include:

• Evidence from Student Finance England that a successful assessment for the status as Independent Student on the grounds of 'estrangement' has been made.

Or

• Letter(s) from professional person(s), e.g. a doctor, social worker, teacher and/or supported accommodation provider, confirming their circumstances
• If they claimed income support when they were under 18, a letter from a Jobcentre Plus office demonstrating they were in receipt of benefits due to their circumstances
• Confirmation from their Local Authority that they received Section 17 (Child in Need) support until their 18th birthday due to their circumstances

Each application will be assessed on a case by case basis based on evidence supplied. The deadline for applicants in this category to inform Residential Services of their need for accommodation is 18:00 on Thursday 14 August 2025.

Purbeck House, which is operated by our accommodation partner Unite Students, offer all estranged applicants who live in this property the opportunity to apply for the Unite Foundation Scholarship. Further information and how to apply can be found at our Unite Foundation Scholarship webpage. 

The accommodation guarantee covers the individual applicant only. BU cannot accommodate dependants unless it is in accommodation that has been allocated by BU for such use. This type of accommodation is very limited and cannot be guaranteed to be available. If the applicant cannot be accommodated within BU managed accommodation, BU will provide information on seeking accommodation in the private sector. BU does not accommodate third parties who are not dependants.

For the purpose of this policy:
A ‘dependant’ is a spouse, civil partner, child or parent of the student, or a person living in a single household with the student (excluding tenants, lodgers, boarders and employees).
A ‘single household’ is formed by: a family; single person; and employer and certain domestic employees (who provide a service and do not pay rent / other consideration); a carer and the person receiving the care; and, a foster parent /foster child.
A ‘family’ comprises a couple (whether or not married, and including same sex couples), a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, child, grandchild or step child, cousin, niece or nephew or aunt or uncle. Half-blood is treated as a relationship of full blood.

If your living arrangments include dependents or any other third party you should read through your options on our Accommodation for familes and couples webpage.

If you want to live in university accommodation and are under the age of 18 on the date you require accommodation then you need to read and understand our policy before being able to proceed.

The under 18’s policy covers students wanting to book university managed or contracted private accommodation partner accommodation whose 18th birthday falls after the first day of the accommodation contract of the year of entry to the university. This policy will cease to apply to students once they reach their 18th birthday. Please read the full policy document (pdf 196kb) and if you have any questions then please call Residential Services on +44 (0)1202 961671 or email [email protected].

This section applies to any student who has disclosed a relevant criminal conviction as required under BU policy 3E: Criminal Convictions Procedure (pdf 492kb).  

Students will not be asked to make a separate declaration of criminal convictions as part of the accommodation booking process. Under policy 3E, where a student declares a criminal conviction BU carries out an assessment of any risks which may arise within the University environment from the declared conviction. This includes consideration by the relevant BU Panel of any potential risks arising from the student living in BU accommodation. The outcome of that risk assessment will determine whether and how the student can proceed to exercise their right to guaranteed accommodation under this policy as follows: 

If the risk assessment determines that there are no risks which justify an impact on the student’s right to guaranteed accommodation or restriction of the choice of BU accommodation, the student will be informed accordingly by the Panel. The student’s guarantee of accommodation is not affected and they will be able to proceed with accommodation booking through the standard route. No information about the conviction or the risk assessment will be passed to Residential Services; 

If the risk assessment determines that there are risks arising from the student living in BU accommodation but these could be adequately controlled through risk control measures put in place around the student’s booking of accommodation, the Panel will specify the required risk control measures. These may mean restricting the student’s choice of BU accommodation or putting other conditions around their booking. In these circumstances the student will be informed of the proposed control measures. If the student wishes to proceed to take up their right to guaranteed accommodation on this basis, BU will provide the student with the information and assistance required to make their booking in accordance with the risk control measures.  Information about the required risk controls will be passed to Residential Services for this purpose, and information about the conviction and the risk controls will also be shared with a relevant third party accommodation provider of accommodation booked by the student if and to the extent necessary to enable the risk controls to be put in place. If the student does not wish to proceed to take up their right to guaranteed accommodation on this basis, Residential Services will be asked to provide the student with information on seeking accommodation in the private sector but will not be given any information about the declared conviction or the risk assessment; or  

If the risk assessment determines that the risks arising from the student living in BU accommodation cannot be adequately controlled, taking into account all reasonably available risk control measures, BU will remove the student’s right to guaranteed accommodation. Residential Services will be asked to provide the student with information on seeking accommodation in the private sector but will not be given any information about the declared conviction or the risk assessment.