Unconditional Student with No Halls

I have not even be told anything yet just that they will be in contact with me soon and that was on the 27th june so like two week ago..

Yeah will give them a ring tomorrow see what they say but by looks of it doubt i will get a place in halls as seen quite a few people saying they aint got in and looking for other places.. Let me know if anything happens with you..I will let you know what happens.

I don't really know what to suggest but I do know what you mean by the housing team being rude- my mate called up with a query and was given brief, un-helpful information and was hung up on. I wouldn't think your unconditional offer would make any difference: I don't think the university would give you priority over other applicants because of that. I know some universities also allocate accommodation based on how far your current address is from the uni..? Don't know if Portsmouth do that. But really, it's too late to get a place in halls now: I assume that the original places that were rejected have now been given out (hence, why someone I know got James Watson about a week ago, another got Greetham ect.) Private rented is great though- if I didn't want catered I would have gone for it! It can be a lot cheaper- my friend is paying just £66 for hers and it's a nice place! haha.

As a friendly suggestion to the housing department as I know they are on these threads- next year more communication would be greatly appreciated by future freshers. From my own experience, I had no idea why some halls were being released and others weren't: why Rees and Burell were taking longer and how long I was expected to wait. The twitter feed was useful as I could tweet and get a response quickly, however, it could be more useful to have tweets/ emails going out to everyone generally such as: "Within the next 2 weeks guildhall halls will be allocated, if you do not receive an email.. ect." I noticed that the twitter feed was frequently answering the same questions and this would make life easier for both us and the department! Similarly, a lot of people found the next step after receiving a room difficult and from the freshers' Facebook group I know many people were calling up and emailing with the same questions. Emails with step by step explanations could be useful in this instance.

With all that said, I was very happy to receive Rees hall and am so excited to move in in September! xD aha

Yeah i know haha just wait and see what they say would be totally surprised if they offered me a place in halls tho seeing the amount of people that have been told they have not got a place in them but fingers crossed eh.. Im bout send them an email now and hopefully i get a reply tomorrow if not then gonna ring but they seem to be very responsive when i emailed them before so will see. Will pm you when i know anything.

All I can suggest is look on gumtree and spareroom and see if you can find a room in a shared house or something. It's also cheaper than halls usually.

It's crap they did something like that but you can possibly sort something out.

Honestly until you're in the situation you have no idea how stressful it is to find somewhere at the last minute, especially when I thought I had done everything right!
Thank you for the suggestions, will take them on board!

I've been very upset and disappointed with the University of Portsmouth recently and have decided to post something on TSR to see if any other unconditonals have had the same problem.

After confirming my unconditional offer at the end of April and applying to housing in the middle of May I awaited my email to confirm that I had a place in halls. My friend, who does not have an unconditional offer, applied a few days later than me and got her email confirming that she had a place in Rees Hall three weeks ago. A week ago I got an email saying that there were no places left in halls and that I would have to stay in shared temporary accommodation for a while, yet this did still not guarantee that I would be able to stay in halls during my first year.

I have called the housing team multiple times and have had very condescending and mixed replies when I have asked what happened to my housing application - first saying that my application was too late (I then explained about my friend and others who had applied after me) and then blaming it on the 'faculty quotas', which also does not make any sense seeing as surely no matter what course you do all first years should be given the opportunity to stay in halls and be able to make new friends.

Portsmouth has been so unhelpful at this point that it is making me reconsider going to their university, which is a big decision to make seeing as how I have no insurance and this would mean dropping out of university entirely. I'd really like some answers as to why unconditionals don't get first priority when they're guaranteed to be going to the university, how these 'faculty quotas' mean I've not been given a place in halls and why the student housing team has done this to multiple people who have accepted unconditional offers - perhaps because they've already confirmed and there is no need to bribe them with the opportunity with halls?

I really wanted to get involved with university life but this whole situation gives me no hope for student life.

A week ago I got an email saying that there were no places left in halls and that I would have to stay in shared temporary accommodation for a while, yet this did still not guarantee that I would be able to stay in halls during my first year.

For 2016/17 at the University of Portsmouth we are able to offer at least 90% of new first year students who make us their firm choice a place in halls of residence. Students were able to apply for a place once they had firmly accepted a conditional or unconditional offer, with places being allocated in order of receipt of accommodation application within Faculty quotas. Students are informed from July onwards of the outcome of their application, earlier in some instances where we can. Any places that become available through cancellations are offered out in this same order.

Students who we are not able to place in halls of residence are given access to our housing portal where there is support and advice on house-hunting in the city and information on the properties registered for advertising with us through www.portsmouthstudentpad.co.uk We advise students to look at this site for student properties.

Students can also come to one of our house-hunting support events where we help students to meet each other and go out house-hunting together - we provide transport, contract checking and advice as you house-hunt. These days are usually very successful and we encourage any student looking to find accommodation in the city to attend one - they are bookable through the housing portal. Many of our students find they prefer living in the city in a student house as it can be cost effective and houses are normally close by and in easy access of the main University buildings. We will be contacting sophiehill to offer advice and support and would encourage any student with any concerns about their accommodation to contact the Student Housing team on [email protected] or 02392 843214.

Hi I'm going to be a first year studying computer science. I was wondering how I can book for the house-hunting support events?