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Student in the Laboratory, Lancaster University
Lancaster University
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Lancaster accomodation!

I needed some help with the accomodation for Lancaster... on their website it says that they will send invitations out to all students in june for accomodation but I currently haven't recieved any invitation whatsoever... it's kinda scaring me that I won't be able to get the accomodation I want... has anyone got invitations!?!?!?:confused :confused: :confused: :confused:

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They tend to do it in batches. Don't panic.
Student in the Laboratory, Lancaster University
Lancaster University
Lancaster
Visit website
Reply 2
I remember last year everyone was panicking too! Some got there emails early some got theres later, its not first come first serve dont worry!
Reply 3
Original post by Emmorz
I remember last year everyone was panicking too! Some got there emails early some got theres later, its not first come first serve dont worry!


they really should improve their student communication. i mean the amount of people asking stuff on here is mind blowing. god knows what the other lot are doing? panicing home alone or something. the uni needs to get better. and should be telling them its not first comes first serve and telling them when they applied when accommodation applications are. etc etc.
Just got mine through now.
Decision time...
Reply 5
Original post by J1mjam
they really should improve their student communication. i mean the amount of people asking stuff on here is mind blowing. god knows what the other lot are doing? panicing home alone or something. the uni needs to get better. and should be telling them its not first comes first serve and telling them when they applied when accommodation applications are. etc etc.


Tell me about it! Just mentioning simple things like that will make the whole accomodation application proccess a lot smoother for everybody... :ninja:
Reply 6
Check your junk folder, found mine in there... Stupid hotmail.
Original post by J1mjam
they really should improve their student communication. i mean the amount of people asking stuff on here is mind blowing. god knows what the other lot are doing? panicing home alone or something. the uni needs to get better. and should be telling them its not first comes first serve and telling them when they applied when accommodation applications are. etc etc.


Is it really not first-come-first-served? How is the accommodating allocated if it's oversubscribed? Yeah and you're right about student communication! They never even sent us accommodation brochures - like other unis do!
Reply 8
Original post by Mombasa Raha
Is it really not first-come-first-served? How is the accommodating allocated if it's oversubscribed? Yeah and you're right about student communication! They never even sent us accommodation brochures - like other unis do!


there is no accommodation brochures i dont think.. and no..keep saying this IT IS NOT FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. it is decided randomly in a 'first out of the hat' type manner for any oversubscribed colleges/accommodation types
Original post by J1mjam
there is no accommodation brochures i dont think.. and no..keep saying this IT IS NOT FIRST COME FIRST SERVE. it is decided randomly in a 'first out of the hat' type manner for any oversubscribed colleges/accommodation types


Haha. Good to know! :biggrin:
Reply 10
From the accommodation website:

Incoming Undergraduates for whom Lancaster is their first choice university, and who have firmly accepted an offer via UCAS, are guaranteed a place in residence if they apply before 15 August. We will endeavour to accommodate Insurance and Clearing students but are unable to guarantee this, though the Students' Union housing office is able to provide advice on accommodation off-campus.


More info here http://www.lancs.ac.uk/sbs/accommodation/
Reply 11
I did my accommodation on the 2nd. Now it's just a wait, and yes, accept Lancaster as a contact because if you have tonnes of security stuff on your account the email wont go to your inbox.


Original post by Mombasa Raha
Yeah and you're right about student communication! They never even sent us accommodation brochures - like other unis do!


I got accommodation/college brochures and the student accommodation handbook when I went up the visit on my post offer open day. You had to be proactive and actually find things out, head into a few rooms, ask around, then they'd give you the stuff.

If you expect them to hand everything to you on a silver platter then university really isn't for you.
Original post by Snikle
I did my accommodation on the 2nd. Now it's just a wait, and yes, accept Lancaster as a contact because if you have tonnes of security stuff on your account the email wont go to your inbox.




I got accommodation/college brochures and the student accommodation handbook when I went up the visit on my post offer open day. You had to be proactive and actually find things out, head into a few rooms, ask around, then they'd give you the stuff.

If you expect them to hand everything to you on a silver platter then university really isn't for you.


But it's just accommodation brochures?! Lol. All the other unis I'd applied to sent those things out when they'd given me offers! No need for a 'don't expect things to be handed to you on a silver platter' talk.
Reply 13
Manchester sent me a couple of emails, which were useless, frankly.
York took me to see one of the rooms in one of their colleges.
UCL gave me nothing on their applicants' day. I found the address to their accommodation website myself, which has to be the most painstaking method of looking at what there is to offer.
And then I applied to Lancs twice, who gave me double the information. They gave me more than enough information, especially in comparison to how much I know my friends have recieved from theirs.


Actually I'm really confused now. Yes, accommodation brochures. Giving me the information about the colleges and accommodation offered. Isn't that enough? I am at a loss to think about what else they might need to give you. What else could you possibly need? A College dean to personally visit you and verbally present the information with the assistance of an interactive slideshow? A teleportation device to take you to the individual rooms to allow you to make a more informed decision?
Original post by Ehsan007
I needed some help with the accomodation for Lancaster... on their website it says that they will send invitations out to all students in june for accomodation but I currently haven't recieved any invitation whatsoever... it's kinda scaring me that I won't be able to get the accomodation I want... has anyone got invitations!?!?!?:confused :confused: :confused: :confused:

what u studyin' ?? im nosey :P
Reply 15
I'm still right on the fence with my accommodation choices, it's either Grizedale Townhouse or Lonsdale Ensuite, and I know I should really my my own informed choice, but I'll still be here in 2 weeks trying to decide :biggrin:

Townhouse Pros (for me)

- More (12) sharing
- Lounge area

Townhouse Cons

- No own bathroom
- Not the college I'd have first


Ensuite Pros

- Own bathroom
- College I'd want to be in

Ensuite Cons

- More expensive per week (first term struggle?) (though only £100 over the year, so not a biggie overall)
- Less and not certain of numbers sharing


I have a couple of questions that may help me decide.

1. Those that are/have stayed on campus and in ensuite, do you socialise with the other flats in the building, not just yours? - also Lonsdale Ensuites don't have a lounge area, right?

2. Considering I'll hopefully only have campus accommodation for the first year, is it worth choosing College over room?

Just as a quick one as well, how many weeks payment (total) are there in the first term?

Thanks :smile:
Original post by Oatcake
I'm still right on the fence with my accommodation choices, it's either Grizedale Townhouse or Lonsdale Ensuite, and I know I should really my my own informed choice, but I'll still be here in 2 weeks trying to decide :biggrin:

Townhouse Pros (for me)

- More (12) sharing - You don't really have more sharing. Yes there are more in your building than in a flat, but you're a single group in a building. In a regular block there are at least half a dozen flats, so more people in a smaller area.
- Lounge area - Yeah it's nice, but is it worth paying a lot more for a few sofas?

Townhouse Cons

- No own bathroom - Not a problem at all. Most people are sensible enough not to make a complete tip of the bathroom when they are having to share. Also, if you're sharing a bathroom the cleaners give them a clean once a week, in en-suite you have to do it yourself.
- Not the college I'd have first - How come? Are you choosing college by stereotype or by the useful criteria, location & cost?


Ensuite Pros

- Own bathroom - See above point about bathrooms. Also, if you share a bathroom you get a bigger bedroom as they are all the same size but you don't have the huge chunk taken our for the bathroom.
- College I'd want to be in - See above point about choosing colleges.

Ensuite Cons

- More expensive per week (first term struggle?) (though only £100 over the year, so not a biggie overall) - I'll put a bit about this at the bottom of the post.
- Less and not certain of numbers sharing - Less people in your flat but a lot more in close proximity.


I have a couple of questions that may help me decide.

1. Those that are/have stayed on campus and in ensuite, do you socialise with the other flats in the building, not just yours? - also Lonsdale Ensuites don't have a lounge area, right? - Don't know about the lounge area in Lonsdale, but I believe the buildings are the same layout as in Cartmel and we don't have lounge areas. Also, you will socialise with other flats a lot if you choose to.

2. Considering I'll hopefully only have campus accommodation for the first year, is it worth choosing College over room? - What I always say is that you need to decide what type of accommodation you want, then decide where on campus you want to be, and then choose your college based on that. Every college has a decent social side, you will have a good time in any of them, so choose by accommodation type and location rather than going by any college stereotypes.

Just as a quick one as well, how many weeks payment (total) are there in the first term? - Answer down below too.

Thanks :smile:


Now, what I was going to say about costs.

I'm in Cartmel En-suite, 36 week let, and my payments have been as follows:

1st term - £1176.00
2nd term - £1176.12
3rd term - £1142.93

So if you're taking a 40 week let then add about £130 onto each terms payment.

The problem that me and quite a few other people I know had is that the payments for accommodation are structured differently to your student finance loans. If you're intending to use your maintenance loan (and you're on the minimum loan) then you get less money in the first term than you owe, about equal in the second, and more in the third. This means that you need to be given a credit on your account, although the Uni are usually happy to do so.

My point is that you won't struggle to pay the accommodation, even if you can't pay it according to the schedule they set you can get them to extend it without a problem.

Hope I've helped a bit, if you've got any other questions just ask, I'll be happy to answer them. After all, this is keeping me away from revision and I'm quite happy with that :tongue:
Reply 17
Confused about the term thing. So would I have to move all mt stuff away when I;m going back during the term or something? Like during the christmas hoilday would I have to take everything back home etc? Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question... 8-)
Original post by b0l33
Confused about the term thing. So would I have to move all mt stuff away when I;m going back during the term or something? Like during the christmas hoilday would I have to take everything back home etc? Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question... 8-)


It depends on the length of your let.

You can either choose 36 or 40 week lets, although quite a lot of campus only has the option of 40 weeks.

For 40 week lets you have to fully clear out your room over the summer but can leave stuff behind over Easter and Christmas.
For 36 week lets you have to fully clear out over the summer and Easter but can leave stuff behind over Christmas.

Essentially you need to decide whether you can be bothered with the hassle of fully emptying your room out over Easter.

Personally I chose a 36 week let as I have my parents come and pick me up at the end of every term anyway and they bring the estate so I can easily pack all of my stuff into it. Saves me £400 in accommodation fees and I think the effort of packing up my room over Easter is worth it.
Original post by mackemforever
Now, what I was going to say about costs.

I'm in Cartmel En-suite, 36 week let, and my payments have been as follows:

1st term - £1176.00
2nd term - £1176.12
3rd term - £1142.93

So if you're taking a 40 week let then add about £130 onto each terms payment.

The problem that me and quite a few other people I know had is that the payments for accommodation are structured differently to your student finance loans. If you're intending to use your maintenance loan (and you're on the minimum loan) then you get less money in the first term than you owe, about equal in the second, and more in the third. This means that you need to be given a credit on your account, although the Uni are usually happy to do so.

My point is that you won't struggle to pay the accommodation, even if you can't pay it according to the schedule they set you can get them to extend it without a problem.

Hope I've helped a bit, if you've got any other questions just ask, I'll be happy to answer them. After all, this is keeping me away from revision and I'm quite happy with that :tongue:


Minor point. Townhouses do not have cleaners. At all. But, you only share the bathroom with one other person so you should be able to keep it nice. :smile:


Original post by b0l33
Confused about the term thing. So would I have to move all mt stuff away when I;m going back during the term or something? Like during the christmas hoilday would I have to take everything back home etc? Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question... 8-)


As described, everyone has to move out for summer. No one has to move out at Christmas. And only those on 36 week contracts move out for Easter. You don't have to worry about the holidays on a 40 week contract, which has been good for me as I've stayed up here in my uni accommodation all year for my job. :smile:

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