Paying for your accommodation

Before you apply for university accommodation, it's important that you have a plan for how you will fund your living costs.

The majority of students pay for their accommodation via a maintenance loan, which is offered as part of the Government's student finance package. This loan is paid directly to the applicant, so it is their responsibility to budget for their costs while at university. It will only be repaid once the applicant is earning over the minimum amount.

We have a comprehensive guide to managing your university finances on our Fees and finance pages.

Maintenance loans

Read our guide to maintenance loans, including how to apply, supporting an applicant, and repayments.

Living costs

Get to grips with the costs you'll need to be factor into your budget for university life.

Paying your rent

If you are living in university-managed accommodation, all utility bills (with the exception of a personal TV licence) are included in your rent. For private rented accommodation, how and when you pay your rent, plus what is included will be decided between you and your landlord or lettings agency. 

The information on this page refers only to university managed accommodation.

Paying for university accommodation

Depending on which payment option you chose, you will either pay your rent all at once when you accept your offer, or in instalments throughout the academic year.

If you chose instalment, you'll pay a £250 pre-payment of rent to accept your offer. You'll pay the remaining balance over three instalments, which will all be broken down for you when you accept your offer. We time these payments to coincide with when student finance payments are made, to try and make budgeting as easy as possible.

If you have any questions about how, where or when to pay, where to get a copy of your invoice, or any other questions, please contact income@staffs.ac.uk

Changing how you pay

If you need to change the card you use to pay for your accommodation, you will need to do this via the Finance Department. Please fill in this form to change your accommodation payment details. This requires a payment of £20 from the new card but don’t worry, this is taken off your next instalment, so you don’t pay any more.

Getting support

We always encourage students to make and stick to a budget while at university, but we understand that sometimes, you may find yourself in financial hardship. We have a dedicated team of Money and Guidance advisors, and hardship funds available for eligible students.


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