The Student Accommodation Code

The University has signed-up to the UUK Student Accommodation Code. The code outlines everything you should expect from University accommodation - as well as your responsibilities as a tenant. The code covers 6 key areas including:

• the formal, contractual relationship with your landlord
• a healthy safe environment
• a clean, pleasant living environment
• timely repairs and maintenance
• access to health and wellbeing services
• a living environment free from anti-social behaviour

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Room allocations

Student accommodation is allocated by the Residential Community Team. The Residential Community Co-ordinators assign students to a specified room in a residence. Students must comply with the decision of the Residential Community Co-ordinators regarding the allocation of rooms. The Residential Community Co-ordinators shall have the right to change the room allocation at their discretion - at any time - as they think fit.

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Period of residence

Your accommodation fees entitle you to occupy your room from the first day of the contract, until 10.00 am on the last day of the letting period.

Please cooperate with the domestic staff by vacating your room promptly and leaving it in a clean and tidy condition.

You need to remove all cooking utensils from the kitchen and dispose of old/unwanted food and other debris in the plastic bin bags provided, ensuring that you recycle where you can.

Any items left behind at the end of a letting period will be disposed of.

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Room changes and transfers

At the start of the academic year it is difficult to know which rooms are vacant since students may continue to arrive on campus after the start of autumn term. Transfer requests will be considered from Monday of week 3 at the start of the academic year. Please be aware that if you decide to make a transfer request then your name may be placed on a transfer request list until a suitable room becomes available.

If you want to transfer to another room you should contact a member of the Residential Community Team. All room changes must be approved by the Residential Community Co-ordinators.

There will be an administrative fee of £35 for 2022/23 academic year (rising to £50 for the 2023/24 academic year). This additional administration fee reflects the cost of processing the room transfer and the subsequent collection of payment.

Transferring within your Hall

If the Residential Community Team believe you should be permitted to move they will contact the Residential Community Co-ordinators to confirm the change. You will then need to liaise with Warwick Accommodation to complete the paperwork to update your accommodation contract.

Transferring to another Hall

If there are no suitable rooms available in your hall or you wish to transfer to another University hall of residence you must apply directly to Warwick Accommodation.

If there are no vacant rooms in the hall where you wish to transfer then you may need to wait for a suitable vacancy.

You are not permitted to make your own arrangements and swap rooms without the prior agreement of Warwick Accommodation. Unauthorised room transfers will incur a financial penalty and/or disciplinary action.

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Paying your accommodation fees

Accommodation fees are due at the start of each term and can be paid in a variety of ways. Full details on how to pay your accommodation fees can be found on the Student Finance site. Please note that when a payment is overdue, late payment penalties may apply.

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Furniture and fittings

Please do not remove furniture, fittings or any other University property from your room or residence. You are responsible for the furniture or any other University property and will subsequently be charged for any loss or damage.

You must not:

• take furniture outside
• bring any additional furniture or kitchen appliances - such as a fridge - into campus residences
• place anything on the ceiling lights - this will prevent heat from escaping, potentially causing a fire and damage
• remove or tamper with any fittings such as electrical sockets, tap outlets, shower heads etc.
• deactivate the safety restrictors on your windows
• exit or enter your room through the windows

If bedroom furniture is rearranged, please allow access for cleaning of the window area and return the furniture in the room to the original position at the end of the letting period.

Burns, spillages and other damage to carpets or fittings will incur a charge for cleaning or replacement.

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Bedding

You need to provide your own duvet, pillows and bed linen and you are responsible for making your own bed. To find out what size bedding you need for your hall please check the Warwick Accommodation pages.

Do not remove mattresses or the mattress protectors from the beds.

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Electrical equipment and voltage difference in the UK

All of the electrical equipment provided by the University is fitted with a plug that has a fuse. If you intend to use your own equipment, which was not originally designed for use in the UK, then you will need to use an adaptor with a fuse.

You need to check the labels on your electrical equipment to see how much power they use in watts. The label will have numbers followed by "w". For electrical equipment/appliances rated:

• up to 700w - you will need an adaptor with a 3 amp fuse
• between 700w and 1,000w - you will need an adaptor with a 5 amp fuse
• between 1,000w and 2,300w - you will need an adaptor with a 10 amp fuse
• over 2,300w - you will need an adaptor with a 13 amp fuse

Electrical safety is very important to the University. If an item is considered to be unsafe then the University will unplug and remove the equipment bringing the issue to your attention. This will enable you to make the equipment safe using an appropriately fused adaptor. It is important that you check that your plugs, equipment power ratings and your adaptors have the relevant fuses.

If you are going to use a plug adaptor please make sure it is compliant with European requirements for electrical equipment, which means that it should be CE marked (conformite europeenne), and must be suitable for use in the UK.

Do not leave wires or extension cables trailing across the floor. This creates a trip hazard.

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Heating

The heating systems are controlled centrally by the University to achieve a room temperature of 19°C to 20°C. Please do not use heating appliances other than those provided by the University.

In many residences, you can use the numbered radiator valve to adjust the temperature.

If your room is cold then:

• check the other radiators in your flat first - it may be that the heating is not due to come on
• check that your radiator valve is on it's highest setting - you might just need to turn this up

Please don't report a faulty radiator until you have checked that the other radiators in your flat are working.

If your room is too warm then please turn down the radiator valve in your room before opening the window to cool your room.

Due to the age and variety of our residential halls, the times when buildings are heated may vary. Not just throughout the day, but throughout the year in response to the changing seasons.

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Water

The cold water within your accommodation is suitable for drinking and you are encouraged to use this as it helps to maintain a fresh supply of water to the cold taps.

Hot water within your accommodation is heated to approximately 60oC to help washing of plates, pans and cutlery, accommodation cleaning and also helps control legionella bacteria therefore any local water heaters in kitchens must not have the temperature setting adjusted. You should quickly become familiar with your accommodation however care must be taken to check the temperature of the hot water to avoid scalding. Showers and areas of higher scald risk will have thermostatic control for user comfort but care should always be taken.

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Ventilation

Please be sure you keep your room well ventilated to reduce the risk of damp, condensation and mould. To do this, open windows and do not dry clothes on radiators.

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Domestic appliances

Household cooking and other domestic appliances that you purchase yourself - such as microwaves, toasters, kettles, heating units, washing machines, fridges and freezers are not allowed in halls. They are provided for you by the University.

Other household cooking and other domestic appliances that you purchase yourself - such as beverage makers (e.g. coffee machines), deep fat fryers, humidifiers, heating units, dishwashers, additional fridges and freezers are not allowed in halls.

You may bring your own iron.

You are not allowed to use any electrical items for cooking, heating your room or heating water in your study bedroom.

Domestic assistants will remove any electrical item which may be damaged or considered dangerous.

If you need a fridge in your study bedroom for medical reasons then the University would need a supporting medical certificate. Please contact Warwick Accommodation prior to your arrival or, if already on campus, talk to a member of your Residential Community Team.

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Lights

In order to help the University to keep rents as low as possible and to help the environment, please turn off unwanted lights and other electrical appliances.

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Televisions

If you want to bring a television to University or watch live television on a laptop/computer, tablet or mobile phone you will need to purchase a TV licence. If you are a student in Arden/Felden then there is a television provided in your study bedroom but you will still need to purchase a television licence to watch it. Please visit the TV Licencing Webpage to find out more information and for details on exceptions.

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Laundry

You will need to do your own laundry. There are a number of launderettes provided for student use close to halls and around the campus. If you are living in Rootes and Whitefields then the laundrette service is provided by Circuit Laundry. The other laundrettes on campus are serviced by WashPoint and these machines automatically add washing detergent and fabric conditioner to your wash so you don't need to buy any. You can find more information about the detergent and fabric conditioner from WashPoint. The machine loads in the laundrettes may be larger than a domestic machine which means that washes use less energy.

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Access to your room

University staff may require access to your room for:

• viewing - such as on open days
• inspection - such as checks to ensure your room is in a clean and tidy condition
• water flushing
• routine maintenance - such as PAT testing and fire safety checks
• repairs including emergencies
• emergency cleaning if required

The University - and anyone authorised by it - will give 24 hours notice to access the accommodation at reasonable times. No notice will be necessary in an emergency or where the need for a repair was reported by a student.

Additionally, Community Safety and the Residential Community Team may enter your room to search for illegal drugs and/or prohibited items in circumstances where they reasonably suspect a criminal offence or a risk to the health, safety and wellbeing of others.

All holders of pass keys are authorised to enter a room if, having knocked on the door, there is no reply.

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Occupancy

Your accommodation contract is for you only. You cannot:

• share your room
• hand your keys over to someone else for them to use your room
• sublet your room whilst you are away
• allow someone to stay overnight without explicit permission from a member of the Residential Community Team
• swap rooms with someone else

All changes to your accommodation contract must be authorised by the University.

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Damage

A student shall immediately report to both the Campus Cleaning Services Manager and a member of the Residential Community Team any damage to or loss of property, fixtures, fittings or furnishings. You are responsible for your study bedroom and the communal areas you use such as the kitchen and local corridor.

Where such damage or loss is attributable to, or the responsibility of a student, they will be required to pay a fair and reasonable proportion of the cost of repairing the damage or reinstating the loss including an administration fee. Damage charges are included under Regulation 27, section 3.1.3 and are included as a clause in the campus accommodation contract (clause 1.9).

If a significant amount of damage has been incurred then this may be referred through the University's disciplinary processes under Regulation 23. Where damage or loss occurs and cannot be attributed directly to an individual student the Residential Community Co-ordinators may hold responsible the group of students living in the area. Each damage charge will include an administration fee for each student billed for damage or loss. The administration fee per student is £25 (this charge remains at the same level as the 2019-20 academic year). This additional administration fee reflects the cost of processing the damage charge and collection of payment.

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Insurance

Basic personal property insurance is included in your rent. Details of the insurance cover are available on the Student Accommodation website.

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Mail

Below is an example of a student address on main campus:

Mr A Smith
21XXXXX Residence flat number, room number
University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 7ES

It is important that you include your student ID number along with your address. This helps the Student Post Room should the address be incomplete e.g. Mr A Smith (2012345)

It may be tempting when using online deliveries - such as Amazon - to use the automatic address completion function based on the post code. This isn't helpful since the post code for student residences is CV4 7ES and all post goes to the central post room. Please don't use the auto-complete function. Instead enter your full address, line by line. If a parcel arrives with only "post room" on it then it will be returned marked "insufficient address".

If you have any post it will be delivered to your nearby Residences Hub on the day that it arrives - unless it is the weekend.

Parcels are not delivered to residences, instead you will receive a notification email and will need to take the reference in the email to your nearest Student Postal Hub to collect your parcel. You need to take your student ID card with you when collecting items.

The students postal hubs are located:

• Westside Postroom located on the ground floor of the SU building - Cryfield, Rootes, Benefactors, Whitefields, Bluebell
• Lakeside Village Postroom located in the Quiet Room of Lakeside block 1 - Sherbourne, Heronbank, Lakeside
• Eastside Postroom located in the Junction next to car park 8a - Arthur Vick, Tocil, Jack Martin, Claycroft
• Westwood Postroom located near to Bericote - Westwood

For further information regarding post at Warwick, please visit the Post Room website.

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Departure before end of your accommodation contract

Your accommodation contract lasts for the full duration stated in your contract - even if you move out of your room early (refer to section 4 of your contract). Your accommodation contract will not be cancelled unless you withdraw from your course, you are supported to be released from your accommodation contract by Wellbeing and Student Support, or you find an acceptable student replacement for your room.

If you find a student who is willing to take on your accommodation contract then you must liaise with Warwick Accommodation. The University must check that the replacement student is eligible and suitable to take on your contract in residential halls. You can advertise your room on the Warwick Accommodation website - or to find out more information about advertising your room - please contact Warwick Accommodation - accommodation at warwick dot ac dot uk.

If you intend to leave campus before the end of your contract please let Warwick Accommodation and your Residential Community Team know. You must ensure you follow the correct departure process by completing a campus departure form to formally log your departure.

If you are withdrawing from the University you need to let Warwick Accommodation know when you hand back your keys by completing a campus departure form.

It is important that you hand your keys back to the University and complete a campus departure form so that Warwick Accommodation know when you have left campus.

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