Accommodation at Essex

Yes! We are fully intending to be in a position to start our courses in October so students are encouraged to apply for accommodation as usual.

We understand that planning for October might be difficult with so much being unknown. If you do want to stay in university managed accommodation this academic year, it is really important that you apply for a room. 

All full-time fully-registered undergraduate students living at our Colchester or Southend Campus in October, are entitled to accommodation for the first year of study.

The accommodation guarantee deadline has now passed, so we can no longer guarantee you accommodation for your first year, but you can still apply for accommodation on your myEssex portal, and we will offer you a room if possible. If we can’t offer you campus accommodation then we’ll put you in touch with SU Homes, an agency run by our Students’ Union.

Applications can be made via your myEssex portal. If you apply after this date, we may still be able to offer you accommodation, but we will no longer be able to guarantee you a room.

Our university accommodation guarantee is still in place for our applicants and we have quite late deadlines in comparison to most other universities.

Undergraduate applicants are guaranteed a room for their first year if they meet the relevant criteria and submit their accommodation application by 11.59pm on Friday 28 August 2020.

Postgraduate applicants are guaranteed a room if they submit their accommodation application by 11.59pm on 31 July 2020.

If you’re a new applicant and apply after this date, we will still offer you a room if possible. If we do not have a room for you, we’ll put you in touch with SU Home, an agency run by our Students’ Union.

Please note, we do not have student accommodation at our Loughton Campus.

We are aware that a small number of students might want to study remotely at first so we are looking at different scenarios and making plans to be as flexible as possible. If you plan to arrive to campus on a date later than your accommodation allocation, or you have decided to delay your arrival until the Spring term, our accommodation team will do our best to provide you with a room, subject to availability. It is important that you communicate any changes to your arrival to enable the accommodation team to work with you to come up with solutions, and avoid you having to incur unnecessary charges. 

Please let the accommodation team know of any changes as soon as possible by completing the online form.

If you are travelling to campus from outside of the UK, you can arrive at your accommodation two weeks early for no additional cost in order to quarantine (either because you are arriving from a country where quarantine on arrival in the UK is required, or because you either wish to self-isolate on arrival as an extra precaution or have concerns your country may be placed on the UK quarantine list between now and the beginning of the academic term).

For a full list of countries which currently require quarantine on arrival please visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-travel-corridors

The countries on this list are subject to change.

Your self-isolating accommodation will consist of a single bedroom within a cluster flat, where some facilities will be shared with other students in your household. 

In order for you to complete your self-isolation period in time for welcome week, your accommodation booking will start on either the 17th, 18th 19th or 20th September.  To make a booking please complete the booking form.  The accommodation team will then be in touch with your allocation and key collection information.

You must submit your booking request before Tuesday 15th September in order for us to accept your booking.

If your circumstances change and you have to cancel your quarantine booking, please notify us by emailing askthehub@essex.ac.uk as soon as possible.

Please note, this only applies to our Colchester and Southend Campuses.

The University has been working hard to ensure that your course can be delivered as flexibly as possible, and our accommodation offer has been designed to reflect this.

Therefore, the accommodation team will release students from their tenancy, or pause rental payments, if students are required by their government, the UK government or the University to leave their University accommodation due to matters relating to COVID-19.

If you live in University accommodation and need to self-isolate due to COVID-19, appropriate arrangements will be made by our dedicated Residence Life team to provide you with advice and practical support. Information regarding how to self-isolate, who to inform and how we can further support you will be made available in your welcome pack.

We’re hoping to make your experience of living with us as normal as possible, but recognise we may have to do things a little differently this year.  

On arrival into your accommodation, we expect you will form a social bubble with students in your flat (who are staying in the rooms around you). This means that you’ll be able to spend time with your flatmates without the need for keeping socially distanced from each other.  

Current guidance states that, at least initially, you won’t be able to have other people from outside your household visiting your flat. But all our accommodation is surrounded by award winning green spaces, and with social facilities close by where you can easily meet with people from outside your household whilst following the social distancing guidelines.  

We also have a dedicated team who are developing a variety of social distancing events and virtual events to attend to make sure you have every opportunity to meet new people, safely. More details of these will follow in due course.

Our housekeeping team will be busy undertaking enhanced cleaning, to ensure your accommodation is as hygienic as possible. All kitchens will be cleaned weekly, and shared bathrooms cleaned 3 times a week. We will be regularly cleaning all high level touchpoints in accommodation entrances and communal areas. We will also clean all lifts daily (the maximum number of people per lift will be limited to help maintain social distancing).

Hygiene is a key factor in controlling the virus, therefore it is important that all residents play their part in ensuring your accommodation remains safe. To help with this, we will also provide you with how-to guides and advice on hygiene. 

The University takes the health and wellbeing of our students and staff very seriously and this has been one of the focuses to ensure students can start on campus – safely – in October.

To protect our community on campus once the academic year starts again in October, we will be looking to introduce the following measures:

• Enhanced cleaning and sterilising regimes
• Social distancing in line with international guidance
• Signage and floor markings in key locations to help you move around our campuses safely

We’re asking you to wear face coverings in all public campus areas where social distancing is difficult to maintain or in specifically designated locations. We’ll be supporting you by giving two washable face coverings to all students and staff.

We’ll also be introducing training for all students, to make it easier for everyone to understand our expectations.