Refunds of Accommodation Fees

Accommodation fees paid for booking an address for a student to live in on arrival in the UK are subject to the Accommodation Fees Refund Policy.

| Accommodation in London

Upon a formal request and payment of necessary accommodation fees at the time, we will book accommodation for you for a month.  This is an emergency accommodation provision and we would ideally like you to start looking for another accommodation in good time for you to move in when the current term ends. The accommodation booking fee after 12 September 2009 is 700 pounds per person per month, which includes 500 pounds for one month's rent (for a bed in a shared room) or 600 pounds in a single bed room and the remaining 100 or 200 pounds for the deposit.  The fee does not include food, linen and cutlery - please bring or buy your own. We encourage students to bring their sleeping bag with them. The type of room depends on availability at the time and we are not able to offer you a choice. In most cases, we will book a dorm in a hostel around or a shared room with a local accommodation provider.

The provision of accommodation is a special facility provided to our students, and is not available to others at the moment. If you are bringing your spouse and wish us to book additional accommodation for them, you must clearly make the payment of 1400 pounds in advance, as we book our accommodations on per person basis. If we have booked accommodation for you and you decide to cancel it on arrival you will still need to pay the full booking fee for the accommodation allocated for you. You will however, receive the deposit of 100 or 200 pounds depending on the type of accommodation booked for you. This is to ensure that we will continue to have accommodation readily availablefor our students in future.

If you book accommodation before you apply for a student visa, and then cancel it later, you will receive only 200 pounds back if you have secured student visa, and 500 pounds if you were refused.  Therefore, you must understand this policy and why the service is provided this way.

In the UK, it is difficult to rent properties since estate agents go through a complex procedure of credit checking, completing various forms, and requiring a large sum up front - typically, one month's rent and up to two months deposit (or vice-versa).  This practice would normally bar our students from easily booking accommodation.

This is where our accommodation service comes in so useful.  Rather than needing to pay a few thousand pounds to pre-book accommodation, you get away with just paying 700 pounds to confirm that you will have somewhere to go to when you land at a UK port.  This is something that Immigration Officers are quite keen on ensuring!

Points to recap:

The accommodation service provided is only for the benefit of ACL's students and applicants, and no one else.  We are not an estate agent! Please do not book accommodation with us if you disagree with our terms or can not afford the cost.

If you decide to cancel the accommodation after you have booked it, you will only be entitled to a refund of GBP 200 if you secure a visa or GBP 500 if you are refused.  The charge is in addition to the administrative fee of GBP 200 payable to the College.

Booking accommodation through the College ensures that you have a guaranteed place to go to on arrival.

You do not have to use our service but can seek an alternative elsewhere if you wish.  Just please be certain that the accommodation will be available when you arrive.

You may continue to live in the accommodation if you and the landlord can agree or contract for a longer term.  Our Student Welfare Officer will try to help you understand any complex points of your new accommodation contract if you wish.  Please then bring it to our attention before you put your signature on it!  We are here to help you settle down and focus on your studies.