This article introduces typical accommodation options available and provides some tips for making the right choice for you.

Background

Once you have an offer of a place at university you will need to think about where you would like to live. If you decide that you want to live away from home, your chosen university typically offers a variety of accommodation options suited to different budget, group sizes and lifestyle preferences.

How could this affect me?

As you spend a lot of time in your accommodation, it is important that you make the right choice for you. You may be sharing facilities such as kitchen and social spaces with your flatmates. Everybody has their own way of living, socialising and thresholds for cleanliness and noise levels.

During our research, autistic students have told us things they liked and didn’t like about their accommodation. These were related to the size of rooms, noise levels, distance to shops, availability of quiet spaces, the study choices and maturity of fellow tenants, and more.

What to do next?

Find out more about the options available at your university and choose your accommodation

Practical tips

Accommodation Support for Disabled Students

UCL Accommodation work to ensure disabled students are allocated rooms that meet their access requirements. Students who require this will not be charged additional costs through UCL rent adjustment.

Accessible Accommodation

UCL Accommodation welcomes and supports applications from disabled students or those with medical and support needs. We are able to consider your access requirements to place you in a room that is suitable for you.

Your requirements could include accommodation that enables an accessible route to campus, en suite room, level access bedroom, individual kitchen etc.

Where necessary and possible, adaptions can be made to rooms to make a room more suitable for individual needs.

We would recommend that if you are likely to need adaptions to your room that you speak with a member of the Accommodation Team as soon as possible by email accommodation@ucl.ac.uk or call +44 (0)20 7679 6322.

If you are diagnosed with a medical condition after applying, please email the UCL Accommodation Office explaining how the condition affects your accommodation requirements.

The following residences offer accessible accommodation for students with restricted mobility:

Additionally, a limited number of accesible rooms will be available at the University of London’s College Hall and The Garden Halls.

Accommodation work to ensure disabled students are allocated rooms that meet their access requirements. Students who require this will not be charged additional costs through UCL rent adjustment.

Rent Adjustment

UCL offers students who require a higher specification room due to their access requirements a rent adjustment. This means that they will only be charged the standard room rate for the hall that they have been allocated.

For students applying to UCL and UCL nominated Unite locations, the adjustment will be applied as a credit to your accommodation account. For students allocated to an Intercollegiate Hall by UCL, UCL will make a payment directly to the University of London.

The rent adjustment will apply for the academic year for which you are applying for accommodation. The adjustment will be applied automatically where it is made clear that your need for that room is based on disability or medical grounds.

If you are provided with continued accommodation, the rent adjustment will be reconsidered for the new academic year. You may be required to provide recent and relevant medical evidence each year.

Questions to think about

Think about:

Whether you want to live in a lively place in the city centre, or if you would prefer a quieter location outside of the city?
Do you want accommodation that offers its own social calendar?
Do you need an en-suite room?
Do you want to be close to the University?
Think about how you will get to University? Will you walk, cycle, travel by public transport?
How many people you would be comfortable sharing with?

Additional information and links

For those starting at UCL, there is lots more information and virtual tours on our accommodation website. You can also attend tours of our accommodation at all Open Days and Applicant Days. Accommodation is allocated on a first come, first served basis and so it is beneficial to apply as early as possible and make the Accommodation Team aware of any specific requirements you have.

See the video below for more information:

About the author

This article was written by Lucy Balaam, Disability Advisor at UCL.