I can't afford accommodation deposit?

Hi!
I'm going to study at a university in central London starting from September this year, and it's only now that If found out how much the deposit for the accommodation is. I indeed WAS expecting to pay something before uni starts, but not 500 quid :frown:

.
I also applied for quite a cheap option, nothing extravagant (en-suite, double room etc.)
Is this normal or am I exaggerating? I have some friends who attended uni from 2014 and their deposit was either 150/200 pounds.
There is no way I can pay 500 quid 3 days after results day and probably neither a month after results day. What advice do you have for me? Should I start looking into private accommodation with no deposit and lower rent fees? It would have been nice to stay in uni halls but it wouldn't bother me to share a flat with 2-3 students, either.
Any opinion would be useful :smile:

thanks!

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Reply 1

That_Clever_Guy

What uni is this?! I know UCL charge £500 for a deposit

Reply 2

eloisej

It's UCL. I thought it wouldn't be too relevant to state the name of the uni, but there you go :biggrin:

. I think King's charge 500 pounds as well, though

Reply 3

Scienceisgood

Is there a family member you can borrow the money from until you get your student loan and simply give them the money back?
Worst case scenario, go to the bank and say I need £500 just to pay for a deposite and my student loan comes in in say, 3 months. See if you can work something out?

Reply 4

That_Clever_Guy

Original post by eloisej

It's UCL. I thought it wouldn't be too relevant to state the name of the uni, but there you go :biggrin:

. I think King's charge 500 pounds as well, though

Have you already been allocated accommodation?! Ask your parents for some help with the deposit

Reply 5

eloisej

Original post by Scienceisgood

Oh, I'm sorry I forgot to mention! I'm not a UK student, I'm a EU citizen so I don't think I'm eligible for student loans/grants other than the 9,000 pounds that go directly to the uni. Probably not eligible for a standard student card either, as I have not lived in the UK for a minimum of 3 years.

Reply 6

Scienceisgood

Then I really don't know how international student loans work... sorry.
Try getting into contact with your home country and see what the best option is there?

Reply 7

eloisej

Original post by That_Clever_Guy

Have you already been allocated accommodation?! Ask your parents for some help with the deposit

Well not yet, but I'm pretty convinced I will meet the conditions of the offer, and I know they allocate accommodation just a bit after results day.
My parents would readily help me, but it's already too much of a burden on them with paying for the plane ticket, the startup costs in London etc. Let's just say I come from a poorer background and I would feel very guilty to ask for this much money on top of that.

Reply 8

jelly1000

Original post by eloisej

thanks!

Perfectly normal for London. You can try some private halls providers but afraid you are unlikely to find accomodation that doesn't require a deposit. All the private halls providers I've heard of expect a deposit and privately owned flats will usually require a deposit of one and a half -2 months rent.

Reply 9

Muttley79

Original post by eloisej

thanks!

You won't find any accommodation anywhere that won't want a deposit ... talk to the uni to find if there is a way to delay the payment.

Reply 10

Prodigy Living

Official Rep

Original post by jelly1000

London accommodation deposit for our residences is £250, which I imagine would be in line for other providers :smile:

Reply 11

username1513873

Exactly the same problem here with King's.
If I borrow the money and give it back when I get my student loan/grant I'll have -£5 left :-D ... (not funny at all tbh...). It's 25 mins by bus to get to uni from there so somehow I have to be able to afford transport as well. Going to give them a call tomorrow. Spent my day trying to calculate things, it just doesn't work out for me for the next few months no matter what I do :frown:

Reply 12

Dylank96

I'm having to pay an advanced payment of £300 pounds at York, not including college membership fees, and I really don't know how they expect us everyone to be able to afford it without our student loans.

Reply 13

2071067

Why are students so bad with money? How hard is it to research this before you signed up for the course?

Reply 14

nazmunali

Original post by Plutonian

Why are students so bad with money? How hard is it to research this before you signed up for the course?

All part of the experience xD

Reply 15

jelly1000

Original post by Plutonian

Why are students so bad with money? How hard is it to research this before you signed up for the course?

I agree that it shouldn't come as a shock, the information on deposits is all available online. However if you haven't started uni yet, haven't got a loan and haven't worked over summer how are you going to have a spare £300-£500 lying around? And if you are from a less well off background how are your parents going to have that money too? It's not a case of students being so bad with money.

Reply 16

2071067

Original post by jelly1000

If you don't have the money then apply elsewhere. Students are so entitled it's unbelievable. They set their deposit at £500, either pay up or go away it's not rocket science.

Reply 17

doodle_333

Original post by Plutonian

If you don't have the money then apply elsewhere. Students are so entitled it's unbelievable. They set their deposit at £500, either pay up or go away it's not rocket science.

you think people should base university decisions on accommodation deposits?

these sort of charges shouldn't make certain universities inaccessible to certain students, £500 is a lot of money (and is far from your full start up cost anyway once you've bought bedding, kitchen ware, first food shop etc), it's a lot to borrow from parents or to save from a Saturday job

don't get me wrong, people should be finding these things out in advance and trying to sort them out but it's not crazy that students assume that accommodation designed for students would take into account the typical funding a student receives and would be practical to live in

Reply 18

2071067

Original post by doodle_333

You already get thousands in loans you are just being needy now. "The loan comes too late!", "I can't possibly save up £500 from my part time job that I've been doing for an entire year while living rent-free with my mum!", "I can't look at the other thousands of non university owned accommodation on offer that is probably cheaper because I demand to live on campus for the full university experience!". This is how you sound, a complete whiner. The university must have their reasons for setting it at £500, maybe they struggle a lot with having to repair rooms damaged by students? If you are going to go through life with this entitled attitude you are not going to get very far.

Reply 19

doodle_333

Original post by Plutonian

I did work and save plenty to start university (which I did a few days before my loan came in) so I am in no way whining on my own account, I've been managing my own finances perfectly well for years. However university is meant to be accessible to anyone and having huge costs before student loans come in will hinder it in being so. Not everyone is able to find a part time job, some people may live too remotely or have to help at home or just be unlucky, other people might have other expenses e.g. travel while they live at home. Or they might have already had to pay out for all the things they need to move to university which can cost a substantial amount by themselves.

Even people who can find the £500 then have hundreds of pounds less to live on during the academic year as it's tied up in a deposit. For someone who doesn't receive financial help from parents this could put them in additional difficulty.

£500 is a large amount for a deposit, I find it difficult to believe that certain universities offer accommodation so superior that it justifies a deposit that big. Deposits for student places are usually £150-250, £500 is almost as much as I have paid for a deposit on the three bedroom house I am currently renting, it is far more than needs to be charged and makes life far more difficult than it needs to be for students from low income families.

It's not unreasonable for students to assume that financially things will be set up in a manageable way for them. They are told over and over that they will get student finance to help them cover the costs of university. Then they're told they have to find hundreds of pounds before their loan comes in (over a thousand for some people whose rent is due before SF) - universities should be helping students who are struggling or they should receive their student finance earlier to help with the costs of starting up.