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5.1 Accommodation

The College has a limited number of flats and houses for postgraduate students with families. Most married students, however, live in privately rented accommodation in the local area.

Only postgraduate students are eligible to apply for College family accommodation, and because of the limited number of properties the College cannot guarantee that this facility will be available to all interested students. It is therefore recommended that you apply online as early as possible, if you wish to be considered for family accommodation. The rent for family accommodation depends upon the size of the property. A two bedroom flat within a Hall of Residence cost approximately £5,000 per year and a one bedroom flat in the new Runnymede Hall is £7,500 per year. A College house costs about £6,500 per year. In addition to rent, you will also be responsible for paying the gas, electricity, water and telephone bills for your house, as well as council tax.

When budgeting, you can use the information on the budget sheet in Section 1.4, regarding local accommodation, as a guide. However, the cost of electricity, water and gas given on the sheet are based upon 4 people sharing these bills equally. When making your family budget, these figures should be multiplied by 4 to give the approximate cost for the full bill. Council Tax is only payable by non-students. If your spouse is not a student, you will have to pay Council Tax on any house which you rent. Council tax is assessed on the value of a house and therefore varies depending on the house. A 25% discount on Council Tax is available if one adult in the household is a full time student, so you should not have to pay the full Council Tax bill. For budgeting purposes, you should plan to pay about £80-£120 per month in Council Tax.

The College has no facilities for assisting students in finding family accommodation in the local area. In general, you will need to contact local estate agents in order to find appropriate family housing. The Student Housing Bureau has a list of estate agents in the local area, which is available upon request. Please keep in mind that the area around the College is relatively expensive, and house prices and rents have been rising steadily. As a guide, rent in March 2007 for a two bedroom flat in the local area was about £750-£1200 per month. A local two-bedroom house costs in the region of £950 - £1100 per month and a three-bedroom house between £1140 - £1450 per month.

Please be aware that there is no facility at the College to house families on a temporary basis. If you wish for your family to come with you before you have made arrangements for accommodation you will have to stay in a local hotel or Bed and Breakfast. Unaccompanied students may be housed in "vacation residence" prior to the start of the Session in September, to give them an opportunity to look for family housing. Information about local hotels and about the vacation residence facilities is available from the Student Housing Bureau.

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