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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.
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 the new key (£25 in Chelmsford and £21-25 in Cambridge). 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.
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.