Student Roost - has yr DC had rent and deposit returned yet on now unneeded accommodation?!

[JanFebAndOnwards]

They owe my DS over £1K, Sheffield.
I thought they seemed a bunch of sharks when he signed up for his ‘insurance’ accomm at Easter.
He emailed them on results day to explain he would be withdrawing from the contract as going elsewhere.
We have only managed to speak to seemingly clueless staff at the actual halls.
Does anyone have a central tel no for them?
Going to ring and probably FUME at them in my break tomorrow (alongside him so he can give me permission to speak.
We rung them a couple of weeks ago.
On Sat we found a specific form on the website for refund which no one had mentioned before, so we completed that.
Thanks.

The withdrawal terms are clearly on the website. £1k was a lot for the deposit.

Deposit plus first month’s rent, as in OP.
They aren’t following their policy.

If you read the terms which are on the website, it outlines the process and gives examples of when the deposit should be returned. In your son’s case, I am not sure that they do need to return it according to their policy.

That sounds like a scam if true. OP contact Martin Lewis.

Have you followed the terms of applying for a refund in the right timescale , for example if it was via Sheffield own accommodation Prestige then the following apply , not just an email to say you don’t need it anymore .

You may also be eligible to be released from this agreement if you are a prospective first year Undergraduate student and you choose to go to a different University because you have exceeded your expected grades. To apply to be released from this agreement in the circumstances referred to above, you will need to supply us with a copy of:

• a written or email confirmation that you wish to cancel your reservation, stating full name and full details of the property booked;
• a written rejection letter from your chosen university/college or UCAS, a screen shot of your UCAS status which confirms that the required results were not achieved, or a copy of the proof of acceptance of your new university by UCAS adjustment.

These document(s) must be received by us within 3 calendar days from the date your results are published. On receipt of the required documentation it will be verified and, provided we are satisfied, we will cancel your agreement and refund your deposit in full.

They certainly said they would when he paid it!

I’ve just rung and the guy we spoke to initially is chasing & getting back to me by the end of today… He didn’t apologise or anything.

Why did you book insurance accommodation? You are not usually meant to do that, unless direct with the uni.

cancellation policies are usually either on the website or within the tenancy agreement.

Yes, but your son may have misunderstood a phone conversation. Did you act as guarantor? He would have had to have a guarantor and they would have to give their ID. They can cancel if no guarantor. Also the money is only due to be taken by 1st October. Did he or you follow the procedures set out in their terms and conditions. It is not usual to book insurance accommodation at all.

Not all halls providers ask for a guarantor, most do, but my son is with Unipol who do not. it’s still a legal contract though.

is this Uni of or Hallam & did he book via the university or directly with Student Roost?

So, I’ve looked on both universities website & neither allow you to book for an insurance place. Hallam also don’t take a deposit until after results are confirmed. So OP must have booked private halls.

Student Roosts terms are that you can only cancel your tenancy if you fail to make the grades. If you change your mind, or go elsewhere they don’t have to cancel the contract, it’s at their discretion.

Student Roost obvs = private halls.
Sheffield Uni.
I had the convo at Easter not my son.
unis vary a lot as to whether you have to book insurance accomm, we discovered.
Yes he did everything he was told to do.

Did he get his money back? I don’t know anyone who’s ever booked insurance halls

Yeh I have never heard of anyone booking halls accomm for their insurance choice either.
Did you get the money back @JanFebAndOnwards ?

These halls are private so separate from the university and whilst Sheffield may have offered own accommodation to state preferences as insurance, no university would be advising booking private halls for an insurance.

Not "obvs" although they are a private provider I can name several universities who allocate their accommodation via one or more of these companies.

Sheffield Uni guarantee all freshers accommodation. Booking for those with Sheffield as their insurance choice is not until August. If you wanted to book private accommodation that is fine but you are not supposed to book for an insurance choice.

I think you must have misunderstood the phone conversation. Did you tell them on the phone that it would be a case of cancelling if your son got higher grades and went to his firm choice as the usual cancellation policy is only for if you do not get your grades.

You are not supposed to book accommodation for your insurance choice at Sheffield until AFTER you know you are definitely going.

From Sheffield Uni

When can I apply for accommodation?
If we’re your firm choice, it’s March. If we’re insurance choice, or you come through clearing, it’s August.

Am I guaranteed accommodation?
Yes – we guarantee University-owned and managed accommodation to all full-time students providing you apply by 31 August. You are also guaranteed to live with only other University of Sheffield students

From Student Roost

To submit a cancellation request, please send an email or letter directly to your Property Team with supporting evidence as set out below. The Property Team will respond as soon as possible with a decision or requesting additional information to support your request. Please note that failure to send any, or insufficient, official written evidence supporting the reason for your cancellation request may delay a decision being made.

We assess all cancellation requests on a case-by-case basis.

The following procedure applies to the below:

• Failed to receive the grades needed to take up your University place at the start of the 2025/26 academic year.

The following procedure applies to the below:

• Eviction from University
• Voluntary withdrawal from University

Cancelling your tenancy agreement for one of the above reasons is subject to approval at Student Roost’s sole discretion. We will consider cancellation requests for these reasons on a case-by-case basis.

The following procedure applies to the below:

• Change of mind.
• Booked different accommodation.
• Accepted onto a placement or exchange programme.
• Decide to commute to your University city.

If you do not wish to live at Student Roost for one or more of the above reasons you will be required to find a replacement person to take over your tenancy.

No sign of any money yet….

I had a missed call from a No Caller ID in the afternoon but no message left, and no email to DS. Will ring again today.

OK it may be unusual to book at insurance Uni, but have definitely read of other people doing it.

I think it all started bc best friend from school had Sheffield as firm and proposed sharing a twin studio if DS went there.

I remembered suddenly, I did (after pushing!) get written conf re this issue, here we are. DS sent them UCAS evidence iirc but I will check:

Here

That does not guarantee you a refund. It give you a 7 day cooling off period and then refunds will be given for particular circumstances as long as you send evidence. Your son's particular circumstance does not come under the guaranteed refund, it may come under the case by case basis or it may come under the tenancy takeover basis.

There are a very few universities that allow you to reserve accommodation as an insurance choice. It also only applies to university allocated accommodation, not private.

You should always read tenancy agreements thoroughly before signing.

Here is their first message which must be AI but does confirm for our circs.
of course I checked.

IMHO it doesn't tho – bc your son was not in the position of not being able to attend bc his grades were not good enough (they were, in fact they were good enough for his firm)) which as I understand it is the accepted reason for cancelling.

He wanted to go somewhere else - and there looks to be no guarantee of a refund.

If everyone booked insurance accomm as well as firm then double the amount of rooms needed would be booked - and in fact I imagine lots of firm choice students would be unable to book. It's not the same as the unis giving multiple offers – there's an algorithm for that and it usually works pretty well. But no one can use accomm at two unis at once.

Hopefully others will see this and realise you don’t need to book insurance halls, especially at Sheffield.

I hope they refund soon. My DS liked his Student Roosts one in Nottingham and I wouldn’t think of them as sharky. He got all his deposit back at the end of the contract.

I agree with Clary.

Evidence would mean something like a rejection email from Sheffield or an international student being denied a Visa.

A young person I know spent a year in Sheffield 3 with Student Roost. He highly recommends that accommodation.