Moving out of halls due to coronavirus - how can I get released from my contract?

I have more or less moved out of my flat due to the virus at the moment and am now at home. However I do not have physical exams in May anymore as they have all been moved online and so don’t have any reason to be staying there again. The accomodation services have asked us to fill out a form on whether or not we will be living there whilst the coronavirus pandemic is occurring; I have said I won’t be. However what I want to find out is whether or not the accomodation services will release us from the contracts as a result meaning that the loan we receive in April won’t be used for rent on housing that I will not be living in.
Is there anyone that can help with this? Where do I get my information from and who do I speak to?

Hey. I am currently in the same situation as yourself. I am currently trying to get a response from my universities accommodation services.
It's all so confusing surely we shouldn't have to pay for something when we aren't living there.

1. Thats up to the uni. They dont have to release you.
2. If they do release you and you are living at home then you need to inform SFE, although I doubt they will care in the current environment.

do you think there is a possibility of it changing and they release people? because majority of my friends on my campus have moved out and lots of the flats are currently empty.

You don't know what's going to happen though, do you? Perhaps universities will be able to resume after Easter, or a bit later? And also, you can still live there, even if uni classes aren't on. You've rented accommodation, in a contract, and can still use it. I'm not sure this will be refunded, to be honest.

If I were the university I would not, unless the government ordered me to.
There may be an argument of force majeure, which is when an event so big happens it makes the contract unable to be completed, but I dont think this applies as the accommodation is still there for you to occupy. I would take it as slightly encouraging they are asking so they must be assessing the situation.

I know! I don’t understand it at all and I’m getting no responses from my accomodation services either. Which uni are you at?

From personal experience, we have been sent an email advising us to leave the accommodation and stay at home to self-isolate, unless we are international students with no way of getting home. Yes we signed a contract - that also stated we would receive full terms worth of lectures and examination - with all these cancellations the contract has already been broken. So surely paying the last term for accommodation isn't required? So there is hope.

But the issue is that student accommodations are advising students not to stay there. So there is an argument whether the accommodation is able to occupy.

You don't know what's going to happen though, do you? Perhaps universities will be able to resume after Easter, or a bit later? And also, you can still live there, even if uni classes aren't on. You've rented accommodation, in a contract, and can still use it. I'm not sure this will be refunded, to be honest.

If they are telling you to leave, then they should also be offering a refund.

Show me the exact part of your accommodation contract where it promised you a full term of lectures and examinations.

Yes!! thank you this is exactly my point. It's for health and safety reasons as in shared accommodation you can't completely self-isolate having to use shared facilities - kitchens, bathrooms etc.

You will have to see what the uni says, am sure other students are in the same situation. What have accommodation said?

From personal experience, we have been sent an email advising us to leave the accommodation and stay at home to self-isolate, unless we are international students with no way of getting home. Yes we signed a contract - that also stated we would receive full terms worth of lectures and examination - with all these cancellations the contract has already been broken. So surely paying the last term for accommodation isn't required? So there is hope.

I am at the University of Leicester, Where are you at?
We have been advised to move out and our whole campus has been closed. It's all crazy.

(Not really sure where your getting with this as your clearly not a student in this situation, and you seem to be very small-minded, clearly cant understand the situation but what if it was you?) So if you were a student, you would receive student loans, which cover funds for 3 full terms at university, including accommodation funds. So with being in university accommodation - it's kind of self explanatory really... I signed a contract to full university terms which include fulls terms in accommodation..