Cancellation policy for the academic year 2023/24

The following text is taken from the Terms and Conditions of Residence for the 2023-24 academic year.

YOUR RIGHT TO END THIS AGREEMENT EARLY

32. Right to terminate  

a) You can request to terminate this Agreement if you find a suitable replacement occupier who is not already in accommodation provided by us and who will occupy the Accommodation immediately after you have left. (You must submit details of the replacement occupier to Accommodation Services who will consider the nominee's suitability before agreeing to the replacement.)  It is your responsibility to find a suitable replacement.

b) You may terminate this Agreement if you meet the criteria set out in clause 32(c) below AND provided you:

i) give Accommodation Services not less than 8 weeks written notice of your intention to terminate at the end of the notice period using the request to vacate form which can be found at:

https://www.york.ac.uk/students/accommodation/campus-accommodation/leaveor-change-room/

and in the notice, you specify the reasons for wishing to vacate

and the End Date;  

ii) Where you terminate without finding a replacement occupier then you must pay in full on or before the End Date, all of the Accommodation Fee due under this Agreement up to and including the End Date (including the meal charges where the Accommodation is catered) (whether or not you choose to vacate before that date)

c) You may terminate this Agreement under clause 32(b) above if you:

 i) withdraw from your programme of study or take Leave of Absence and you:

 (a) give to Accommodation Services not less than 8 weeks' written notice of your intention to terminate this Agreement at the end of that 8 week period; and

(b) pay in full on or before the date the 8 week notice period expires all of the Accommodation Fee (including where the Accommodation is catered the meal charges) due under this Agreement up to and including the end of the 8 week notice period (whether or not you choose to vacate before that date); or

ii) are undertaking research work for a period longer than 6 weeks as part of your postgraduate course which can only be carried out away from York and you:  

(a) give to Accommodation Services not less than 8 weeks' written notice of your intention to terminate this Agreement and, in the notice, you specify the End Date (which may not be any earlier than the date one week before the date the research placement starts); and

(b) pay in full on or before the End Date you have specified all of the Accommodation Fee due under this Agreement up to and including the End Date (including the meal charges where the Accommodation is catered) due under this Agreement (whether or not you choose to vacate before that date); and  

(c) return your keys to the College Reception and write to the Accommodation Services to confirm that you have vacated the Residence.  

d) If you withdraw from your programme of study or take Leave of Absence and you fail to give Accommodation Services the required notice under clause c)i)  you will be charged the Accommodation Fee for the period up to and including the date 8 weeks after the date that Accommodation Services are notified by the University Registry that your student record has been changed.

 e) You may apply to withdraw from this Agreement as a result of Covid-19 where the Government guidelines relating to Covid-19 require you to return to your place of main residence due to your personal circumstances, e.g. you are considered vulnerable and need to shield, and staying at your Accommodation safely is not possible. In these circumstances, you will need to notify Accommodation Services as to your circumstances and the reasons for your request to withdraw from this Agreement and Accommodation Services shall act reasonably in considering your request and will notify you as soon as possible whether you can withdraw. If you do so withdraw, the Accommodation Agreement will terminate on the date agreed with Accommodation Services.

f) The conditions set out in clause 32(c) do not apply where:

i) you are a returning student who has accepted Accommodation for the following academic year and between Accepting the Accommodation and the start of your contract you are offered a placement of more than 6 continuous weeks as part of your course away from York; and  

ii) you notify us of that in writing confirming that you wish to be released from the Agreement for the next academic year as soon as the placement is confirmed.  

In those circumstances we will release you from the Agreement and no charges will be made for the Accommodation.  If, however, you do not notify us before the start of your contract we will be under no obligation to release you from the Agreement and you will still be liable for the whole of the Accommodation Fee unless we are able to re-let the Accommodation.

g) If you give us the required period of notice under this clause 32 but fail to pay all of the Accommodation Fee due under this Agreement up to and including the End Date or the date the notice period ends (as the case may be) then you have not satisfied the requirements for termination and this Agreement will continue and you will remain liable the Accommodation Fee. 

You may, however, serve a further notice giving 8 weeks' notice to terminate the Agreement and provided you have paid all of the Accommodation Fee due to the end of that 8 week period and have given notice to Accommodation Services that you have left the Accommodation then the Agreement will terminate.

h) If you terminate this Agreement under either clauses 32(a), 32(c) and 32(e) and you move out of the Accommodation by the End Date or the date the relevant notice period expires (as the case may be), we will refund any Accommodation Fee that you have paid in respect of the period after the End Date,  

OUR RIGHT TO END THIS AGREEMENT EARLY

 33. Termination for breach

We may terminate this Agreement in any of the following circumstances:

a) If you have failed to pay the Accommodation Fee; or 

b) where you have committed a serious breach or have persistently breached the conditions of this Agreement and, having followed the procedure set out at clause 31 above, we have decided to terminate the Agreement; or

c) if you are made bankrupt.  

34. Termination for other reasons  

We may also terminate this Agreement by giving you notice in any of the following circumstances:

a) If we are unable to find you similar alternative accommodation (despite our reasonable efforts) and, through no fault of your own, either:

 i) your Accommodation has been severely damaged and, acting reasonably, we deem it unfit for occupation;  

ii) we are unable to provide the Accommodation as a result of events beyond our control; or

iii) due to Covid-19, we cannot provide you with suitably safe Accommodation.

b) If you are no longer pursuing a full time course of study at the University;  

c) Where we reasonably consider that, because:

i) of your behaviour; or  

ii) of any other reason (for example, an infestation by insects or an outbreak of an infectious disease)

it is necessary to move you from the Accommodation to protect your well-being or the wellbeing of others, or to prevent damage to the Accommodation;

d) If any information supplied by you, or on your behalf, in connection with your application to the University or for a place in the Accommodation is untrue, inaccurate or misleading, or if you fail to disclose relevant information which would amount to a misrepresentation, and we consider (acting reasonably) that the relevant information makes you unsuitable to live in the Accommodation; or

e) If for any reason you or (in the case of any couples accommodation) any other occupier of the Accommodation causes us to become liable for Council Tax (because you or any other occupier are in full time employment or claim social security benefits) for the Residence.

35. Notice and effect of termination

a) If we terminate the Agreement under clauses 33 and 34 we will give you reasonable notice (taking into account the circumstances) that we are terminating the Agreement.  The notice period will not normally be less than four weeks but may be as little as twenty four hours.

b) The termination of the Agreement will not affect our rights to claim against you for any loss or damage caused by any breach of the Agreement by you, anyone authorised by us to live with you and/or your invited guests.

c) If the Agreement is terminated and you do not move out of the Accommodation by the termination date, we will only be able to force you to move out if we obtain a court order. You will be obliged to pay our proper costs (including legal costs) that we incur in taking such action and we will ask the court to make an order requiring you to pay these costs.

d) If the Agreement is terminated in the circumstances set out in clause 34.a) and you have moved out of the Accommodation by the termination date:

 i) you will still be obliged to pay, to the extent you have not already paid, that part of the Accommodation Fee corresponding to the period up to and including the termination date; but

ii) we will refund any Accommodation Fee you have paid in advance, in respect of the period after the termination date.

e) If we terminate the Agreement in the circumstances set out in clauses 33, 34.b), 34.c)., 34.d) or 34.e):

i) you will still be obliged to pay, to the extent you have not already paid, that instalment (or instalments) of the Accommodation Fee that should have been paid before the Agreement was terminated, even if that sum covers a period which extends beyond the termination date (where you are paying by instalments this would include all instalments where the date on which the instalment was due to be paid was before the date the Agreement was terminated; but

ii) if we are able to re-let the Accommodation, we will refund any part of your Accommodation Fee you have paid in advance which corresponds to the period in which the Accommodation is re-let.