BU Accommodation Bursary 2022

• You must be a new student in your first year of study enrolled at BU (undergraduate or postgraduate) and unable to secure a long-term accommodation option that provides you with a contract covering the period of your studies for the academic year 2022/23
• You only require accommodation for yourself (students with families or dependents see Accommodation for familes or couples)
• Your current home address must not have a BH postcode
• Your main place of study must be at the Talbot or Lansdowne Campus
• You must provide evidence that you will be living in temporary accommodation from the start of term on or after 12 September 2022.

To apply for this support, you’ll need to arrange temporary accommodation for the start of term and give us evidence that you’re paying for it. Evidence can include a receipt from a hotel or bed & breakfast accommodation email confirmation of payment for your booking, or a letter from a friend or relative with whom you are staying and who is charging you to stay there. You are eligible for the Accommodation Bursary regardless of the costs of your accommodation.

Evidence should be sent to [email protected], along with:

• your full name
• your student number
• the address of the temporary accommodation
• the dates you have booked for

You must have sent evidence of your temporary accommodation arrangements to [email protected] by Friday 30 September 2022. We will confirm if you are successful as soon as possible and let you know what you need to do next.

• Being placed on a priority waiting list for the next room in BU accommodation that becomes available. Note, the Accommodation Bursary waiting list will replace any previous waiting list that BU were running up to this date
• A monthly bursary of £350 to contribute towards some of your living costs (these payments will be paid on a pre-paid Visa card). You will need to accept the terms and conditions of use for this pre-paid Visa card upon collection
• A free BU UNIBUS (bus) pass for the duration of your Accommodation Bursary (normally worth £273 per annum). This includes all BU bus services and some local services too (check the UNIBUS website for routes and info). Visit the UNIBUS website for more information about the bus pass.

You’ll be given a pre-paid Visa card and be able to collect this from the Residential Services Team on the fifth floor of the Executive Business Centre, 89 Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth, BH8 8EB.

You must have enrolled at BU before you can get the card, and you will need to show a valid BU student card when you collect them.

Your free bus pass will be emailed to you from 19 September by UNIBUS.

• All eligible students still requiring the support will have a second payment uploaded to their pre-paid Visa card on Friday 4 November 2022, and the third payment will be uploaded on Friday 2 December 2022. Any subsequent payments will be made on the first Friday of each month
• To continue to receive the Accommodation Bursary, BU will contact you three days before the next payment date for confirmation of your ongoing temporary accommodation arrangements. We will need proof that you are still in the accommodation for us to keep paying the Accommodation Bursary – unfortunately, we will be unable to continue to provide the bursary without this proof.

Temporary accommodation would include hotels, Bed & Breakfasts or staying with a friend or relative (provided you are paying for the accommodation). You are eligible for the Accommodation Bursary regardless of the costs of your temporary accommodation.

If you are unsure, then first check with Residential Services if your accommodation of choice will be accepted to be eligible for the Accommodation Bursary. You can do this by calling +44 (0)1202 969696 or emailing [email protected].

Once you secure your Accommodation Bursary, you’ll be placed on a waiting list for accommodation. If and when a room in BU accommodation becomes available, we’ll contact you to make you an offer of a room.

We will contact you by email in the first instance, so please make sure you check your BU email daily, and we will follow up to provide information and guidance. You will need to accept or decline the offer of a room within 48 hours (excluding weekends). After this point, whether you have accepted or declined the room, you will no longer be eligible for the Accommodation Bursary and you will receive no further payments.

There is a possibility that some postgraduate students will be offered a contract for a room that is not for the same duration as their studies for the academic year 2022/23. Should this be the case, you will still be expected to accept the offer and we will support you to find onward accommodation at the end of the contract.

The Accommodation Bursary will continue throughout the 2022/23 academic year unless:

• you are no longer a BU student; or
• you have been offered a room in accommodation by BU and accepted it; or
• you have not accepted the offer of a room in accommodation by BU within 48hrs (excluding weekends); or
• you decline the offer of a room in accommodation offered by BU; or
• you have confirmed to BU that you have found alternative long-term accommodation yourself.

If you find suitable alternative long-term accommodation and move out of the temporary accommodation you must tell us immediately so that the Accommodation Bursary can be stopped. You should email [email protected] letting us know the date you moved out of the temporary accommodation.

BU cannot accept any liability for financial loss you might experience due to monies already paid for your temporary accommodation.

Any amount left on to the pre-paid Visa card at the time of cancellation of the Accommodation Bursary is yours to keep.

The BU bus pass will be terminated at the time of the cancellation of the Accommodation Bursary unless you are in accommodation that includes the bus pass and you opt to continue to receive this as part of your accommodation agreement. The charges for the bus pass will be explained in your accommodation agreement.