Housing

How can Student Advice help

Student Advice are generalist advisors not housing specialists, but we can support you through the phases of seeking housing advice.

Shelter

You can go straight to Shelter (a specialist housing organisation with a housing advice arm) or you can come to Student Advice and we will see if we can help you. If not, we will signpost you to Shelter and invite you to share their advice with us so we can support you in the next steps you decide to take.

Find out more about Shelter

Student Advice can also help with the process of how to apply for exemption from Council Tax if this applies to you and your housemates. Common questions Student Advice are asked about housing range from finding a property, repairs, dealing with pests, negotiating with landlords, deposit return, and options for ending a contract early. We have written a resource for students looking for private accommodation and living out in the private rental sector.

Check out our Living Out guide

There is also a lot of information on Shelter's homepages about private renting. We are often asked about guarantors by students who do not have a guarantor with a UK based address. This can be a difficult issue to overcome as, currently, landlords and letting agencies require a guarantor with a UK based address and the University and Colleges do not currently offer to act a students' guarantors. This may of course change or your situation may be different so it would be worth talking to Student Advice to make sure you have looked into all the options for your individual situation.