Frequently asked questions

Your accommodation questions answered

Watch this short video where Kerry, one of our Hall Managers, answers your questions about halls of residence.

Your accommodation questions answered

View your accommod­ation questions answered video transcript

Frequently asked questions about our halls of residence

Only those with a firm offer from Derby (unconditional or conditional) can apply for halls. So once you've chosen Derby as your first choice University and accepted your offer, just wait 48 hours to apply for halls. We allocate rooms on a first come first served basis so we recommend you apply as soon as you can. However, don't worry if you're still waiting for an offer as we guarantee a room in halls to all students who apply by 31 July.

Apply for halls now

When to pay

You'll be asked to pay a £50 booking fee when you apply but that is then deducted off your first term's rent.

After that initial payment, most people pay for halls in instalments which coincide with when they receive their maintenance loan payments. The annual deadlines for the instalments are on these dates:

Payment 1 - 2 October

Payment 2 - 15 January

Payment 3 - 15 April

Extra nights

You'll also need to pay for any extra nights that you stay in halls outside your charging period.

All payments for halls fees need to be made online

Pay your hall fees online

There are two Sainsbury's Locals (on Nuns Street and Kedleston Road) and two Co-ops (on Ashbourne Road and at Five Lamps) as well as a Lidl store on Uttoxeter New Road.  All are just a short walk from halls. 

Halls fees are all-inclusive and fixed for the year, so you can budget more effectively knowing what your costs are. For 2023/2024 the weekly prices range from £115 - £163 a week for undergraduate accommodation.

All hall residents also benefit from free room contents insurance, access to lots of free and subsidised events, a free weekly cleaning service* and 24/7 staffing and support.

* except at Darley Bank and Flamsteed Court

Remember, in private sector accommodation, you may be charged for gas, electricity and water separately to your rent, so it's more unpredictable to estimate what your actual costs might be. 

Other things you may need to budget for, as well as accommodation, are laundry, food, toiletries, transport, course materials, social life and parking.

Glide Gigabit service is superfast and included in the hall’s fees. It’s possible to connect up to 25 devices with Glide’s free ‘Home Network’ service, which allows your devices to connect to each other, whilst remaining private from your neighbours. If you want to take advantage of this free service, just remember to add it to your basket when creating your Glide account!

Glide provides both wired and wireless internet access in your room. The Glide Gigabit service will deliver speeds of:

  • Up to 1Gbps on the wired connection
  • Up to 250Mbps on the wireless service

You can visit Glide’s help and support web page, which offers lots of useful guides to support you getting online 

It is easy to register and get connected, but if you need support at any stage, Glide’s Service Desk is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and will be happy to help. You can make contact via:

 

We aim to make our halls as safe as possible. There’s CCTV at every hall, each block is accessible by fob, each flat door locks by itself and each bedroom has a lock too. Security staff are on duty every night and there’s a 24 hour hall mobile number at every hall that you can phone in an emergency. There are also secure bike sheds at most halls which are free to use.

The University is aware of the draft Building Safety Bill which is likely to come before Parliament at some point in 2022. It takes its responsibility for the safety of all premises occupants very seriously and seeks to constantly improve its systems. With this in mind, the University appointed a new Head of Compliance and Sustainability in July 2020 and a new Fire Safety Manager to that department in May 2021. These posts will be working in conjunction with Student Living to create the systems that will meet the anticipated requirements of the forthcoming bill. It is intended that the university will align with the BS9997 accreditation which will meet the anticipated requirements of the bill and place the University in a forward position. This work will commence in the current academic year.

In the meantime, all residences are subject to regular fire safety maintenance and inspections and all incoming residents receive information regarding fire safety in their area through e-inductions and regular site update bulletins. Residents with particular needs are encouraged to share this information so that tailored evacuation plans can be agreed with them individually. All buildings contain fire safety boxes that the authorities are able to access in an emergency. Fire evacuation drills are completed at all residential properties to ensure familiarisation with the correct process in the event of an alarm activation.

To find out how far the university sites are from each hall, please take a look at our halls pages.

The Unibus is a bus service for all students and staff at the University. You'll need your student ID card when boarding the bus.

The Unibus provides a great service for everyone that links all the University of Derby sites, the main halls of residence, Derby city centre, Markeaton Park Park and Ride, Derby train station and supermarkets.

Yes, if you want to bring a TV for gaming that’s fine. However, for viewing TV programmes we recommend you use your PC or laptop – it will give you a better reception than a TV.

The wired & wireless internet service provided by Glide throughout University residences will support use of third-party:

  • IPTV services such as SkyPlayer, iPlayer, All4 and others
  • Video on-demand platforms such as Netflix, Prime, Disney+ and other

Anyone who watches live TV broadcasts or BBC programmes on iPlayer (live, catch up or on demand) in their room requires a TV licence. It doesn’t matter what device you watch it on. If you don’t have a licence and you do watch TV in your room you risk a fine of up to £1000 plus court costs. More information on how to buy your licence

Yes, you can have a visitor stay for a maximum of two nights out of any seven. The only exception to this is on the first weekend when people move in as this can interfere with flatmates settling in together.

Before any visitor's stay, you should fill in a Visitor Form online. It is also polite to let your flatmates know if you have someone staying.

Your Hall Manager will email your Unimail account to let you know when there is post to collect. Simply pop into the hall office to collect post at the designated time.

There is so much you can do in Derby, and most of it is just a short walk away from your halls! There are shops, restaurants, bars, clubs, cinemas, a museum and places to visit on days out. Find out more about what Derby has to offer.

There are a lot of shops near our hall communities including two Sainsbury’s Local shops and two Cooperative supermarkets. Finally, the DERBION shopping centre is just a short walk away.

You can usually only leave halls at certain times for the year, but you may incur costs depending on the situation and how far through your course you are. Find out more about leaving halls part way through your contract.

A lot of people decide they want to change rooms for a number of reasons: room types, locations, flatmates, etc. Find out more information about room swaps here.

If someone's noise is causing you problems, you should contact the member of staff on duty either in person or by ringing the hall mobile. It's best to let them know at the time the noise is actually happening so they can check it out there and then. They will then take steps to stop the noise from happening again.

It's worth remembering that being considerate about noise works both ways. When you're listening to music use headphones to minimise the disturbance for others. Try not to slam doors or shout late at night when you are coming in. Also take extra care to keep noise levels down during key exam and revision periods.

If you would like to stay in halls over the summer, you can live in our summer hall.

Find out more about this summer's hall

We recommend you apply for a summer stay as soon as you know you need to stay during the summer. The closing date for summer applications is early June. If you already live in halls and you want to stay in halls over the summer, even if it is for only one day after your current contract finishes, you will still need to apply online.

You do not need to move out and empty your room for the Christmas and Easter holidays. However, if you are going home for the holidays, it makes sense to take any valuables with you.

You will need to move out at the end of your halls of residence contract. Please check your contract for details. On the last day of your contract, you will need to vacate your room by 10 am.

We understand there can be times when juggling your budget can leave you with money issues. It’s perfectly normal to have money issues from time to time. Just don’t ignore things - face them head on.

  • Contact the independent advice centre at the Union of Students on +44 (0)1332 591509. They will give you advice and support
  • It’s also best to let the University Finance Department know if you’re having problems with your hall fees. You can phone them on ext 2742 or +44 (0)1332 592742
  • Keep your Hall Manager in the picture too – it’s better all round if you’re up front and honest about your problems
  • Contact our accommodation team if you've got any questions

If you lose your keys, please report it to a member of staff either in person or on the hall mobile. They will replace your keys immediately. However, if after a week, you still haven’t found them, we will charge you for a new set.

One of the most important things you can do when you leave halls is make sure everything is clean and tidy. That way you'll avoid unnecessary charges. Use our moving out checklist to make sure you've done everything you need to.

If someone with a car is coming to help you move out, please be aware there is limited parking at each hall. Speak to your Hall Manager in advance, but it should be OK for them to come and temporarily park in any available space if there is one at the time.

When you move out, make sure you haven't left any of your property in your flat and try to leave your room clean and undamaged.

We'll check everything after you've left against the inventory you completed on arrival. If your room needs any extra cleaning or repairs we will have to charge you for them.

You MUST also make sure that all communal areas are clean and tidy before you leave and you may be charged if there is any damage or cleaning required once you have left. Student Living will base these charges on key return dates. 

Student Living is entitled to charge you under the terms outlined in the Licence Agreement.  Your Hall Manager will write and let you know if you have incurred any charges.

If you want to, you can live in halls again. Many second and third year students return to halls because they like the convenience, the all-inclusive price and the special offers for returners. Returners usually apply with a group of friends in November, so if you’ve got friends you’d like to move in with in the second year, you can all apply together.

If students want to live in private accommodation in their second and third years, we recommend they apply for properties from DASH (Decent and Safe Homes) approved landlords. Find out more about the DASH scheme.