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You'll find this information useful if you're currently living in the Student Village, Peter Taylor House, Swinhoe, Anastasia House, Collier Road or any of our University houses.
If you live somewhere else, speak to staff in your accommodation or check your residents' handbook.
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on 22 February about the government’s roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions in England, all universities have been asked to continue to restrict the numbers of students who can return to campus for face to face teaching.
The government has advised that, from Monday 8 March, universities can resume face to face teaching for students who are studying practical or practice-based subjects that require access to specialist equipment or facilities on campus. Please visit our page about courses returning to campus to see the full list of courses that can now be taught face to face on campus.
If you’re a student who is studying a course which is returning to face to face teaching, and you are not currently living in your ARU owned accommodation, you can apply for a rent waiver to cover the period of 20 February 2021 to 7 March 2021.
From 8 March 2021, rent will be payable for the remainder of your tenancy in line with the terms of your tenancy agreement.
Please be aware, if you do not to return to your ARU-owned accommodation your rent waiver will still end on 7 March 2021. Your rent will be payable from 8 March 2021 in line with the terms of your tenancy agreement.
If you’re a student who is studying on a course which returned to face to face teaching before 8 March 2021, you can not apply for a rent waiver and your rent is payable in line with the terms of your tenancy agreement.
If you have been unable to return to campus for wellbeing reasons, we will continue to support you as fully as possible. Please contact our Residential Services team to discuss how we can best help.
If you are a student who is studying on a course which is being taught online only until at least Easter, and you are not currently living in your ARU-owned accommodation you can apply for a rent waiver to cover the period of 20 February 2021 to 11 April 2021.
If you are not going to be in your ARU-owned accommodation between 20 February 2021 and either 7 March 2021 or 11 April 2021 (depending on the course you are studying), as you are living elsewhere and studying online, please email cambaccom@aru.ac.uk (Cambridge based students) or essexaccom@aru.ac.uk (Chelmsford based students).
You will need to state that your room is vacant for the entire period (between 19 February 2021 and either 7 March 2021 or 11 April 2021) and you would like a rent waiver for this time period. You are not able to apply for a partial rent waiver. If this applies to you, please email us by 9am on Friday 5 March 2021 and we will credit your rental payments for this period.
Please note that you must confirm your accommodation is vacant. If you don’t contact us, we will assume you are living in your ARU accommodation and we will continue to charge rent in accordance with your tenancy agreement.
We will continue to monitor the national situation and we will review this arrangement on or before 11 April 2021 as the government restrictions change.
You should report any fault or repair requests straight away, even if you think it might just be a minor problem.
By making a repair request you’re granting maintenance staff access to your room. The repair will be carried out by trained staff or approved contractors during the working day, generally between 9.30am–5pm. You don't need to be in your room when the repair is being done.
In an emergency, access to your room may be required without prior notice, but this will be avoided if at all possible.
How quickly the repair is completed depends on how urgent it is. Here are some example timescales:
If you‘re not getting on with someone and talking it through with them hasn’t helped, contact the Housing Management team for help. You can also contact the Students’ Union who may also be able to offer advice and mediation.
If you’re being disturbed by noise, it’s important to report the noise to us while it’s happening. We can then work out who’s responsible and address the issue with them directly.
If you're locked out of your room, come to the Residential Service office to sign out a replacement key. If we're closed, you can contact your Residential Assistant or ARU Security. If it's not your first lock-out, you might be charged for staff to attend to let you back in.
If you don’t return your replacement key or can't find a key you’ve lost, you’ll be charged for a new key, costs will vary but may be in the region of £10 to £40. If we need to replace the lock, you’ll be charged for this too (up to £500).
Let us know you’ve lost your key straight away so we can take steps to make sure your home is secure. Never get the locks for your accommodation changed yourself.
For security reasons don’t mark your keys with your address and never give them to anyone else.
If you're late paying your rent, you might have to pay a late payment charge. Failing to pay your rent is a breach of your tenancy agreement and you may be asked to leave the accommodation, and be contacted by debt collectors. This is why it's really important not to ignore any problems affecting your finances.
If you're having difficulty paying your rent, contact the Finance Team as soon as possible. You can also speak to ARU's Money Advice Service to get you back on track.
We've arranged possessions insurance for your belongings. Most items in your room will be covered, but things like expensive electronics and bikes won’t be. Check whether the standard level of cover meets your requirements; you can enhance the policy if you need to. See the insurance policy and information leaflet for further details.
Student possessions insurance policy
Student possessions insurance leaflet
If you want to watch TV in your room, download or record live programmes or watch BBC iPlayer on any device, you'll need to get a TV licence. This covers you for watching through any device. You might need a portable aerial if you want to watch TV in your room. Anyone without a valid TV licence who watches or records television programmes as described above risks prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000.