When to apply for accommodation?

Hi @DerryDelaney!
If you've already accepted your offer and your university is currently accepting applications/opened its accommodation portal, I'd recommend applying for accommodation as soon as possible. Even if your university is one that guarantees all first-years a place in their halls of residence, certain halls might be more popular than others and a lot of universities work on a first-come, first-served basis.
As far as I know, you shouldn't need any confirmation from student finance to book a place in halls: as long as you pay the halls' required deposit/advanced payment, your room should be secured.
Eve (Kingston Rep).

Thank you for your fast response! I was worried that I'd have to pay a deposit on student accommodation before my student finance application went through.

Hey,
Unfortunately, most of the time you do have to pay an accommodation deposit before your student finance application comes through - even once you get confirmation back confirming your student finance payments, you won't receive any payments until you've enrolled on your course sometime in September/October.
Hopefully, your university shouldn't be asking for too large of a deposit - but nonetheless, if you need financial assistance in regard to paying the deposit, I'd recommend getting in contact with the accommodation team at your university. They should hopefully have some sort of procedure in place for assisting students in these scenarios.
Eve (Kingston Rep).