How to apply for accommodation

Notification of room offers and instructions on how to accept your offer online will be sent to the email address you registered when applying.

To proceed with the offer, you have to follow all the instructions on the online process, including: 

• acceptance of Terms and Conditions
• a £250 non-refundable pre-payment is due when you accept the offer online (usually August for 40 week licences). This pre-payment is used towards your first payment (usually in September). For large studio/one bed flats, a further £250 will be requested before moving in. The total £500 will be taken off your first payment.
• pay all accommodation fees in full*, or set up a payment plan for 3 instalments to be paid in September, January and May.

After you have done this, you'll receive an online induction and your check-in details around 14 days before you are due to arrive.

*If you pay your full accommodation fees for the whole year before the start of the first term in September, or within 14 days of arrival, we will give you a £250 bonus for Catering and Food Court Services – student card, split into 3 instalments across the year.

Before you accept your offer, please make sure that you understand what you are signing up to by reading again the information above and then the information below:

We will start making the Accommodation Offers for new students in June. 

We aim to accommodate applicants in accordance with their preferences, but it will not always be possible to do so. 

Please read our Accommodation Allocation Policy.

Accommodation fees

During the online acceptance process of your accommodation offer, you will need to pay either:

• an initial £250 pre-payment if choosing to pay by 3 instalments.  When you select the instalment payment option and provide your card details, a payment plan is set up enabling recurring debit or credit card payments. This initial payment will automatically come off your first payment. Please note: if you select this option, you will need to provide a guarantor at the same time you accept the offer.

or

• one payment in full at time of acceptance (we will give you a £250* bonus to your student smartcard to use towards catering).

*Added over 3 dates - £100 October, £100 January & £50 April

Instalment Dates

Exact payment dates will be provided in your individual offer. Approximate dates for students on the most common 40 week contract are split into 3 instalments. 

• Instalment 1. fees due: 21 September 2018 - 35% to pay
• Instalment 2. fees due: 4 January 2019 - 35% to pay
• Instalment 3. fees due: 2 May 2019 - 30% to pay

Recurring Card Payments

If you are paying in instalments, your fees will be taken by Recurring Card Payment (RCP), from the bank and card details you enter when you accept the accommodation offer and contract.  

Your payment instalments will be automatically collected from the account linked to the card details provided, unless you notify the Finance team that you would like to change the card details. If you need to change the debit or credit card from which your instalments will be collected, you must contact the Finance team to update these details. The Finance team can be contacted by telephone: 01227 92 22 28 or 01227 92 33 77 Monday to Friday 8.30 to 5pm,

You must ensure that there are sufficient funds available to meet the payment on the due date. If you do not have the funds available or are experiencing problems with your Student Finance Loan Payment, please contact the Finance team before the payment is due. It is important that you explain your financial problems and how you intend to manage them.

EU or International students

If you are a self-paying student, then you will need to pay as per the details above. Please view your e-document for full payment details.

Students who are sponsored by their Agency/Provider, Home University or College do not need to pay directly to Canterbury Christ Church University, as your institution should pay us direct. Please check with them that they are doing this. 

If you are an EU or International student and do not hold a UK bank account the first instalment can be paid using debit/credit card or bank transfer. The remaining instalments are to be paid for by recurring card payment once you have opened a UK bank account.  All payments must be made in pounds sterling.

Cancellation Prior to Arrival 

Once you have accepted the accommodation contract (usually online), you have a 7-day cooling off period to cancel. You must contact accommodation@canterbury.ac.uk if you wish to cancel in this period.

We will cancel the agreement and refund £100 of the Accommodation pre-payment, if you cancel in this period.

There is no cancellation period after this, and the full fees are due, unless there is an acceptable replacement CCCU student to take your room, who is not already in our accommodation. Finding a replacement student cannot be guaranteed. For further information please refer to the Licence Agreement – Part E.

Prepayment

Your prepayment of £250 is automatically deducted from your 1^st instalment. The pre-payment is a payment towards the accommodation fees due. The pre-payment is not a refundable deposit.

Further information

For more detailed information, please refer to www.canterbury.ac.uk/payaccom.

Students with a medical condition or disability

Students with a medical condition or disability, and special requirements in their housing needs with regard to accommodation, will be considered as a priority.

To be allocated the most appropriate accommodation, students should note that they have a medical condition, disability or specific requirements, during the online application process, by ticking the Medical box under the Questions section of the Personal Preference Page of the application. A separate email will then be sent out advising you what to do next, including registering with our Disability Team. If a student fails to disclose this information, or only does so after they have been allocated accommodation, the Accommodation Team cannot guarantee the reallocation of more appropriate accommodation.

The University’s Student Disability Service works closely with Accommodation to identify the needs of students with medical conditions and disabilities, to ensure that the most suitable accommodation is allocated. Disabled students and students with special requirements are given priority in the allocation of accommodation, as long as they are can provide appropriate supporting medical evidence to the Disability Team, when required.

If a student has difficulty in finding suitable accommodation in the private sector, permission may be given for future lets within the University accommodation, usually with new first year undergraduates. The student must have previously kept all licence terms, including payment. 

Care leavers

Care leavers will be guaranteed accommodation in their first year of study.

Single sex accommodation

Students who wish to live in single sex flats should indicate this on their form, but it can’t always be guaranteed.

Students under 18 

Students under the age of 18 on 17 September (of year of entry) will be given priority allocation to the most appropriate accommodation at the selected Campus. The University does not take the place of parents’ responsibility (in loco parentis), and student accommodation is generally intended for the use of adults. 

Mature students (over 21 year olds)

Over 21s have the same eligibility as other Undergraduates. We will try to place mature students together where possible, but this can’t be guaranteed. 

International students

International students will be allocated with home and other students. 

Families

We do not have any specific family accommodation. Students with families are generally signposted to the private rented sector. Some UK based students with families on a low income, may be eligible for help with rent, through housing benefit or Universal Credit. We have a small number of 1 bed flats in Canterbury which are suitable for couples (no children). 

Alcohol free accommodation 

We are offering a small number of rooms in Vernon Place for students who want alcohol free accommodation. You must only request this property if you want alcohol free.

We will offer accommodation to insurance, clearing and late acceptances where possible, but this is subject to availability and is not guaranteed.

If CCCU is your insurance choice, you can apply for accommodation only when you have been through the insurance or clearing process, as you need to be released from the contract by the university who originally gave you a UF or CF place. If accommodation is not available, you can be added to a waiting list or given advice. There is a wide variety of rooms available for students in the private sector.

We will do our best to give you an offer of accommodation. When applying, please ensure your preference choices are mixed (not all en-suite) and make sure your maximum weekly budget is filled in.