How does student accommodation actually work?
Through two distinct markets with very different legal positions — university-managed halls and the private rented sector — and the differences in contract, protection and cost are larger than students expect.
University halls. Allocated by the university, usually guaranteed for first years, with a contract for the academic year.
The characteristics: bills and internet usually included; a single contract covering a fixed period, frequently around 40 weeks; no deposit in many cases, or a small one; pastoral support and a warden or residential team; and release clauses that vary and are frequently restrictive.
Crucially, many hall contracts are licences rather than tenancies, which means deposit protection rules may not apply and the legal protections differ — a distinction students almost never notice.
Private rented accommodation, typically from second year.
The characteristics: usually a joint assured shorthold tenancy for 12 months, so you pay rent over the summer whether or not you are there; joint and several liability, meaning if one housemate does not pay, the others are legally liable for the whole rent — which is the single most consequential fact in student housing; deposits which must be protected in a scheme; bills usually separate; and a guarantor almost always required.
Purpose-built student accommodation, run commercially, sitting between the two with hall-like facilities and private-sector pricing.
What students most commonly get wrong:
Signing too early. Pressure to commit in the autumn for the following September is a market practice, not a necessity, and it forces decisions about housemates before you know people.
Not reading the joint liability clause.
Assuming the deposit is protected, without checking which scheme.
Not doing an inventory, with photographs, which is what determines deposit disputes.
Not knowing that students are generally exempt from council tax — a household of all full-time students should pay none, and the exemption must be claimed.
Where to get help: the students' union, which usually runs a housing advice service and sometimes an accreditation scheme for landlords.
General information, not legal advice.