The University’s founding principles are excellence, equality and opportunity for all. We believe that education offers a lifelong transformative impact and we want as many people as possible who can benefit from an education at York to do so. We have worked closely with the University of York Students' Union in developing a rent affordability policy that is underpinned by the following principles:
- Fairness
- Transparency
- Financial Sustainability
- Quality of Service
- Accountability
We appreciate that the major cost taken on by students at the University relates to their accommodation fees. This fact frames our approach to setting rents.
How we set fair and transparent rent
- Rents will be set annually that take into account issues of affordability both to our students and to the University.
- Rents will be set ahead of the opening of applications in the Spring of each year ahead of the next academic year.
- In setting rents, the University will need to meet its contractual obligations to its accommodation provider partners.
- Rents will be compared against the local York market and other Universities to inform the rent setting process.
- A structured ladder of rent offers will be provided with a transparent pricing structure that reflects the difference in those rental offers relating to room type.
Financial Sustainability
- Accommodation is run on a financially sustainable basis, continuing to provide a high-quality service throughout the life of the building, considering the full economic cost of the capital investment, current price of continued maintenance and management of services.
- Categorisation of room types will provide sufficiently detailed descriptions and budgeting tools in our marketing materials and on our website to allow students to make the most informed decisions.
Our accommodation offer to students
- Rental packages will be fully inclusive to include wifi, IT access, utility costs, security and welfare support.
- Catered packages in some Colleges, and College dining nights in other Colleges, will be offered as long as these are considered to be in demand, viable, good value for money and provide a sense of community.
The quality of our accommodation services
- Accommodation will be fit for purpose, appropriately maintained and with an annual audit of all rooms - whether owned outright, owned with others or owned by others – to identify and make any necessary improvements.
- Minimum standards for accommodation will be clearly explained and issues that are brought to the University’s attention will be rectified in a timely and professional manner, against published response timescales so that our residents know what to expect from us.
