FAQs

 The following areas surrounding the University of Leicester, as they are fairly popular with students. 

• Clarendon Park/ Knighton
• Stoneygate
• North Evington/ Evington
• Highfields
• Aylestone Parks/ Knighton Fields
• City Centre
• Oadby

Other than the area, you may also want to consider:

• Your financial budget and what you can reasonably afford to pay in rent and bills
• Whether you wish to live on your own or with others
• How far away is the property from campus and local shops, services and facilities (including parking)
• Is there good access to local transport?
• What kind of property you wish to live in; see below for more information about this.

University owned accommodation: 

The University has two main accommodation sites: The City and The Village

University accommodation in The City  are purpose-built student accommodation blocks within ten minutes’ walk of campus.

If you choose to live in university accommodation, it can be a great way to meet and get to know other students. Plus, costs such as your bills will be included in your rent.

However, it is important to remember that if you choose to live in university accommodation you may not get a choice of who you live with which is something to be mindful if you are happy to be living with people you do may not know. You will, however, always have the university accommodation team on hand for support, should you need (accommodation@le.ac.uk).

For information on university accommodation, head to their website by clicking here

Private student flats, houses or student halls: 

These are run by private companies, letting agencies and landlords. Properties may be similar to university accommodation, like university halls and flats or you may live in a house with other peers. It is important to be mindful that unlike university owned accommodation, because these types of properties are not owned by the university, the university have no jurisdiction or authority over these type of accommodation, therefore, you can only be advised about any issues you may encounter. You may wish to seek advice from our Students’ Union Advice service if you do.

if you are looking for accommodation through a third party, please ensure that you do not prematurely sign a tenancy agreement as this is a legally binding contract.

Living at home/commuting: 

This can be an option for some students who wish to live with their family during their time at university, which can be a way to save money and remain close to your support network should you choose. However, remember, if you are a full time student, you will need to live local to Leicester or within easy commuting distance during semester times as there are university expectations regarding attendance to your course.

• Ensure you have a copy of your tenancy agreement
• Have been given the keys you need to access the property
• Complete the inventory checklist you may be given and record state and condition of the property. By doing this you are keeping record of what the property was like upon you moving in. This may be helpful as evidence should your accommodation provider try to charge you for any damage to the property and it wasn’t you, therefore is good practice to do. So take photos of the property the day you move in and the day you move out to try to protect yourself from this happening.

You will likely be asked to sign a tenancy agreement when you move into a property. This is a legal agreement that outlines the terms of your stay and includes rights and responsibilities of the landlord and you as the tenant; it should also include information about rent price and your deposit. We would always advise that you read and understand your tenancy before you agree to the tenancy agreement. Important tip: Sometimes you may feel like to must rush to sign an agreement however, please make sure you understand what you are agreeing to. It can be difficult in leaving a tenancy once it has been agreed by both parties and it is a legally binding document.

Yes, we would always recommend that you go and physically visit the property to check you are happy with the state and condition it is in as well as happy with the local area. Once a student signs and agrees to their tenancy agreement it become a legally binding contract

Check your tenancy agreement and/or speak with your accommodation provider for details of how you should officially request help with maintenance or repair issues. You should be provided with details of how to report emergency or out of hours issues with the property also- keep this information stored where you can easily find it, should you need (e.g. useful telephone or contact details).

This is not something we would advise. Your obligation to pay rent is separate from the landlord’s obligation to carry out repairs. Your landlord can evict you if you withhold rent, even if there are repairs to be done. You should consider seeking advice.

For any guidance on this, do reach out to the Leicester Law School Free Legal Advice Clinic by clicking here or your Student Union Advice Service here

We would always advise in the first instance to speak with your landlord, letting agency or accommodation provider to try and resolve issues informally so that the issue can be hopefully resolved quickly. However, it there continues to be an issue you may wish to pursue a formal complaint with them. For university accommodation, there is an  Accommodation Complaints Procedure you can follow. If you have a private landlord or letting agency they may have their own procedure you should follow. We would advise that you find and familiarise yourself with your accommodation provider’s complaint process, if they have one (you can request this from staff or check out their information webpages). If you cannot find a complaints process, you could start by putting in writing your formal complaint to the landlord and seeking advice about your situation.

Remember to get in touch with them by email or whatsapp so that there is a documented paper trail

Escalated complaints if you have accommodation through a private letting agency: 

Letting agents are required to join a government regulatory body and/ or an authorised consumer redress scheme. The purpose of this is to give consumers an escalated complaints procedure if they are unhappy with how their complaint has been dealt with by the agent. The schemes give a good indication as to how a letting agency conducts its business, as they must pay a fee to be a part of one and comply a certain code of practice.

•  Association of Residential Letting Agencies (ARLA Property Mark)

•  The Property Ombudsman (TPO)

•  The Property Redress Scheme (PRS)

 Escalated complaints for private landlords: 

If you do not have luck with your formal complaint to your landlord, you may be able to complaint the Local Council. Your local council can only help with complaints about:

• repairs that cause a risk to your health and safety not being done (e.g faulty electrical wiring not being fixed)
• illegal eviction
• harassment
• dishonest or unfair trading behaviour

Unfortunately, it is not always as simply as deciding to leave the contract and property, if there is an agreed tenancy agreement. A tenancy agreement is a legally binding contract therefore you should seek advice about your situation before you act.

Your Student Union Advice Service runs a Housemate Finder where you can sign up and find another student to take over your tenancy. For more information on this, get in touch with the SU Advice Service by clicking here

If a student no longer wishes to live in their privately rented student property and they are unable to leave their tenancy agreement, their provider may agree to them finding a replacement tenant. This would be another student who agrees to live in the property and take over the contract for the remainder of the tenancy agreement. We would advise always speaking to your accommodation provider about this as there may be additional considerations and charges for this.

If you are a student in university accommodation you should speak to the university accommodation team about your concerns.

A guarantor is an individual who agrees to cover the cost of your rent (and perhaps other costs) if you are unable to pay. This may be something that an accommodation provider may ask for; the guarantor will need to agree and sign this agreement if they do. They will need to sign a guarantor agreement. Landlords will usually request a guarantor who lives in the UK, as it's easier for them to take legal action against a UK resident if they need to. This may present a problem for you if you're an international student, so if you cannot get a UK-based guarantor, you may be asked to pay more rent in advance. Being a guarantor is potentially risky – if you don’t pay your rent, the guarantor may be taken to court for it. However, as long as you always pay your rent on time, it shouldn’t cause your guarantor any problems. For more information from Citizens Advice, please read:  Using a guarantor - Citizens Advice

Full time enrolled students at university are exempt from paying council tax. Therefore, if you are full time student, you should inform the local council of this; they may require you provide evidence but you can simply provide them a university letter to prove you are in studies full time. For more details on how to get such a letter,you can obtain your certificate of registration on mystudentrecord and use this as proof as a full time student, head to the university webpage by clicking here However, if there is at least one non-student or part-time student in the property, the property will be liable for council tax.

You can contact our service in a number of ways: e-mail us, telephone, drop by our Advice Service desk, Percy Gee building or make contact through one of our online forms. Our link  here provides you our contact details and opening hours, should you have a housing query or need advice.

Don’t panic if you haven’t found a housemate. You can join our online Housemate Finder here!

The first stage of finding a house is often deciding who you would like to live with, your housemates can make or break your housing experience so it’s important to consider many aspects while making this decision.

Even if you currently live together, people and their priorities change, especially throughout University. Make sure to have an honest discussion with any potential housemates. It would be worth considering:

• Rent – how much are you willing to spend? It’s important to agree on an upper and lower limit that is manageable for you. 
• TV license – are you interested in buying a TV license? Would you want to split the cost?
• Cleaning – would you prefer to set a rota or take a more laidback approach?
• Cooking – would you like to cook meals and split food?
• Socialising – do you generally prefer your own company or others?
• Shopping - will you organise online shopping deliveries and split the cost? Would you prefer to arrange this yourself?
• Are you planning to spend a semester abroad or in industry? How will this impact bills and rent? 
• Appliances – will you split the cost for appliances like toasters, microwaves etc.?
• Guests/Partners - how often are you expecting your significant other to visit? 

Small things can cause big tensions so it’s important to have a general chat to get to know each other's housing habits.