If you're already living in ARU student accommodation, you can download residents' handbooks here, which are full of helpful information. You can also find out what to do in an emergency; and who to contact with any routine queries.
Our FAQ pages answer many of the questions we're often asked about living at university, including paying for accommodation; personal possessions insurance and TV licences, and what to do if you get locked out or lose your key.
Find out who you can talk to about non-emergency issues you may experience while living in student accommodation. Includes information about reporting non-urgent repairs and internet issues.
Each of our properties comes with a handbook, which you can download below.
Your handbook will make it easier for you to know who to contact, how to keep things clean, how to request repairs, and ways you can be good to the environment while living with us. It will also include some rules we expect you to follow.
Read our our accommodation help guides to get tips on things like how to defrost a freezer and how to report a repair:
Our larger properties that are managed by ARU comply with the Universities UK (UUK) Code of Practice. It’s there to make sure accommodation managed by universities meets good management and physical standards.
The properties this applies to are: the Student Village, Peter Taylor House, Swinhoe Hall, Anastasia House and four of our larger shared houses in Cambridge (37 and 39 Tenison Road, 33 Collier Roadd and 29 Abbey Road). Please visit The Student Accommodation Code website for more details.
Below are our management plans that comply with the UK Code of Practice. You can read them to find out what we do when you need electrical maintenance, snow clearing and other things that keep you safe. If you have any questions, feel free to contact your Residential Service.
If you live in a property that is managed by an organisation we partner with (CB1, The Railyard, Sedley Court, YMCA and The Forum) please contact their management who will be happy to help with any questions about maintenance or management plans.
Related links
Cambridge City Council university accommodation standards guide is intended for landlords, may be a helpful resource to find out what you should be receiving in terms of amenities and standards, as a tenant in our halls and shared houses in Cambridge.
This information will help you if you're thinking about moving out of University halls or houses.
You’ll have signed a tenancy agreement for a certain length of time, and you’re legally obligated to pay the rent for the whole period.
However, we know that sometimes things happen while you’re at uni, and you might need to consider moving out even though your tenancy hasn’t ended.
If you’re thinking of leaving, please get in touch with us. We can help address any issues that are making you unhappy in your home, talk you through the process of finding an alternative tenant, or explain what would happen if you withdraw or intermit from university.
Generally we can’t offer room swaps within the first month of your tenancy. However, if you'd like to change rooms for any reason, come and talk to us to see if we have alternative rooms to offer. We might also be able to resolve the issue that's making you think about moving rooms.
You can also list your property under the ‘room swap’ section of the Studentpad message board for your campus to do a direct swap with another student. If you find someone you’d like to swap with, we ask you to both call in and see us in our office.
On the last day of your tenancy, you'll need to remove all your belongings, clean your room/communal areas and return your room key to us by 10am.
You can return keys to the Residential Service office when we’re open, or to Security if you leave when we’re closed.
Make sure you have changed your address with companies, family and friends who might send you post. You can set up a re-direction service through Royal Mail for a fee to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Any post we receive for you after you move out will be returned to the sender.
Every year in spring or summer, we usually collect good-quality unwanted items to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
ARU Students’ Union often collect things like unopened, non-perishable food and toiletries so keep an eye out for info about this.
Duvets and bedding have to go in the general waste as no local charities collect these. Please don’t leave any items in your room as you might be charged for removal.
If your accommodation contract ends and you want to stay at uni over summer – perhaps because you have a job, resits or just a longer course – we can offer you a summer let.
These are usually available from the end of your current contract until late August.
We’ll email you about summer lets in April with full details of locations and prices.
Most students live in accommodation booked via ARU for their first year (including Chelmsford Student Village and our properties in Cambridge).
We sometimes offer a small number of rooms for continuing students, and you’ll receive an email about this to your student email address (usually in January for the following September).
Students studying Medicine in Chelmsford from 2023 will only be able to book for the first year of study.
Students studying Medicine who started their courses prior to September 2023 will be given the opportunity to apply for the Student Village for subsequent years of study.
We also offer rooms to students who have a disability/medical requirement or are a care leaver, for the full duration of their course.
Most students move into private-sector accommodation.
We have a dedicated Tenancy Support Team who can help with your search, run House Hunting events each year, and offer advice if you encounter any issues once you’ve moved in to a private property.
We don’t advise you start looking for accommodation for the following September until around February/March. This is because landlords often don’t start advertising until around this time, so you’ll get a wider choice. Plus, of course, you need to be certain you actually want to live with your potential housemates and get to know them a bit first!
You can get prepped for your search by checking our private rented accommodation web pages.