Private halls - PBSA
PBSA is housing specifically built for university students by private developers. Moving into a private hall is an exciting time with the prospect of making new friends from both Nottingham universities – a great way to meet people when moving to a new city! There are many private halls of residence in Nottingham so you’ll have plenty of choice, and it’s an option whether you’re in your first year or studying for your Masters.
Before you start your search, you should think about:
- The sort of accommodation you’re looking for
- The location you want to live in
- What you can afford - budgeting is key!
- Asking to view the property before you book.
Private halls typically offer studios or bedrooms in cluster flats, which means the room may be ensuite or have shared facilities. They often offer additional facilities like gyms, games rooms and study spaces.
Your contract would be with the private provider and not NTU, so all bookings, rent payments along with compliments and complaints would be dealt with directly with the private provider.
Private accommodation options
If you’d prefer to rent a room in a private hall of residence, we have a wide selection of private providers we recommend – they’re not affiliated with the University, but are registered on our PBSA accreditation scheme, so can offer suitable accommodation for our students.
Search private hallsShared housing
Shared housing is a popular option for student wanting to live with a small group, usually in their second or third year of study.
There’s loads of private properties suitable for students in Nottingham, so you’ll have plenty of choice.
Before you being your search you should consider:
- Whether you’ll be renting directly from the landlord or through a letting agent
- Who you want to live with and how many bedrooms you'll need
- Who you’ll agree to be lead tenant
- Location
- Budget
- Viewing plenty of different properties.
Use a reputable letting agent
We recommend you use a reputable letting agent such as Unipol - a charity that helps students find suitable housing.
Read Unipol's advice on Nottingham house hunting.
Choosing your new home
- How long is the contract for? Read through it thoroughly to make sure it fits your needs.
- Do you know how much the deposit is? It's normal for a deposit to be equal to 4-6 weeks of rent.
- Work out how much rent you will pay over the whole contract period so you know how much you are committing to paying.
- Avoid paying in cash and always get a receipt.
The majority of private accommodation aimed at students will now include some or all of your utility bills. However, its a really good idea to check that before you sign your agreement. You may have a fair usage policy, even if your bills are included.
If you will be responsible for the bills, make sure you know who the suppliers are, as you will need to set up an account and payment arrangement. You will also need to supply meter readings for gas and electricity.
If you're unsure about any of this, speak to your landlord/letting agency.
What is a guarantor?
A guarantor is someone that agrees to pay your accommodation charges in the event that you don't make the payments as agreed.
Usually, when you sign an agreement for a private rental or hall of residence, you will be required to provide the details of a guarantor in order to complete your booking.
More often than not, your guarantor will need to be:
- a UK resident,
- in full time employment,
- a homeowner.
The process may require a nominated person to agree to a credit check.
Usually a family member will be a guarantor, though it's not necessarily a requirement that you're related.
Guarantor services
There are also third-party guarantor services that can be used by people that can't provide one for whatever reason. For instance, international students might not have any friends of family in the UK that are eligible to be their guarantor. In these cases, for a fee, a company may be wiling to act as your guarantor.
Housing Hand
NTU has partnered with Housing Hand who can act as your guarantor, if you're not able to provide one for yourself. Apply to start you Housing Hand guarantor application. By using this link, you will received a reduced rate for your guarantor charges.
Care experienced and estranged students should follow this link, as the application process is a little bit different and doesn't require you to provide a co-signature - the University will do that for you. You can read more about what support we offer to Care experienced and estranged students here.
Please note, UPP and NTU halls of residence do not require you to provide a guarantor.
There are a few accreditation schemes that we recommend looking out for when you are house hunting.
The Nottingham Rental Standard is an accreditation scheme supported by Nottingham City Council. It's a quality mark for landlords to show they are members of either the Unipol Code or DASH.
All of these accreditation schemes will mean that your landlord/lettings agency are properly licenced and have passed audits to demonstrate they meet high property standards and management practices.
- Does the property come with furniture? Is the furniture in good condition? If not, will it be replaced before you move in?
- Does the accommodation need decorating? If so, will this be done before you move in?
- Does the property come with all the appliances you need, such as a washing machine? If not, is there easy access to a launderette?
- Is the property sufficiently double-glazed and heated?
- Is there a burglar alarm?
- Is there adequate outside lighting?
- Are there door and window locks? Are they good quality and in working order?
Students may or may not be liable to pay Council Tax, depending on their status. If in doubt, you should seek advice from your local Council Tax office or your Students' Union Welfare Office.
- When you're ready to move in, you may want to consider contents insurance for personal possessions. Visit the Howden website.
The first flatmate I met, we were literally best friends from that moment onwards. We still live together now. You do learn to appreciate each other’s differences, sharing a space: there’s people around you who you wouldn’t expect to be friends with, but they all help you find your way.
Georgia Tew, private accommodation
Jargon buster for renting privately
You'll come across all sorts of jargon when searching for a new place to live. This can be confusing even if you’ve been through the process before, so always ask if you’re unsure what something means, especially before signing anything. Below are some of the common terms used by letting agents and landlords.
- A sum of money, no more than four-to-six weeks of the rent, that's paid to the landlord, owner or agent of a property before you move. This amount covers any damage that may have been caused during your tenancy, or any cleaning services required once you vacate the property.
- A deposit should not be used to cover normal wear and tear, and should be returned to you within four weeks of the end of the tenancy. Specific reasons should be given for any deductions, which you may be able to dispute.
- For assured shorthold tenancies, any deposit you pay must be protected by one of the three government backed tenancy deposit schemes within 30 days of you making payment. You should also receive your deposit back within 10 days under the tenancy deposit scheme.
- The full list of fees that the landlord or agent can charge can be found in the Tenant Fees Act 2019.
The contract should include the full contact details of the landlord/agent. If you are renting via an agency, make sure you also have the landlord's full contact details. You are legally entitled to this information. If you have just a name and telephone number, it could be very difficult to pursue the landlord/agent should a dispute arise. The contract should also make clear what rent payments are due and when. It should also be clear who is responsible for paying utility bills.
Before you sign a contract, check that the advertised rent is what is stated on the contract. Errors do occur and if you sign the contract, it may be difficult to argue later. Once a contract has been signed, the terms and conditions cannot be altered unless both parties agree.
- This is a non-returnable amount of money which is used to reserve the accommodation until your contract begins. For example, if you booked a room for the start of the academic year before the summer, you may be asked to pay a retainer to hold the room over the summer.
- A retainer does not give you the right to live in the property during this period.
- A refundable holding deposit (to reserve a property) should be capped at no more than one weeks rent.
For assured shorthold tenancies in which you are required to pay a deposit, your landlord must put your deposit in a tenancy deposit scheme within 30 days of them taking the payment. Your landlord must say which scheme your money is deposited in and how your deposit is protected. Always ask for a receipt from the landlord.
- If you and your housemates sign just one tenancy agreement between you, you are likely to be joint tenants. This means you are all liable for all the rent, bills and deposits.
- For example, if one tenant can’t or won’t pay their share of the rent, one or all of the others will be legally liable to pay. And if one person damages something in the property, the others may lose some of their deposits to cover the costs.
- If you and all other tenants sign individual contracts with the landlord, you are likely to be individual tenants. This means you are only liable for rent on your room and cannot be charged if any of your housemates don't pay the rent or leave before the end of the contract.
- You will be liable for any damage to your room and communal damage if the person responsible does not accept responsibility.
- Signing a contract for a fixed period means that you must adhere to the terms and conditions and pay rent for the entire duration of the agreement. You are required to pay rent even when you are not staying in the property, for example during the Christmas or Easter breaks. Some landlords make special arrangements to reduce rent over the summer, but they are not legally obliged to. Make sure any arrangement is confirmed in writing.
- If you choose to move out during the tenancy period, you will probably still be liable for rent.
- Occasionally, the contract contains a break clause that enables you to hand in your notice before the tenancy has ended. However, this is rare.
- If you wish to move out, and your tenancy does not contain a break clause, then you will probably have to try and negotiate a new agreement with your landlord. Often the landlord will allow you to leave, if you can find someone to replace you.
- If an agreement is not reached, and you decide to move out anyway, then the landlord may take court action to retrieve the unpaid rent for the remainder of the tenancy.
This is a scheme for large student housing developments which house over 15 students in one building. The most obvious reason for choosing to live in a development covered by one of the ANUK/Unipol National Codes is that they provide reassurance: Reassurance that the accommodation is safe and well managed; and reassurance that, should any problems arise, there exists a mechanism to help get them resolved. For more information about the scheme visit the national code website.