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Coronavirus

Changes to the Wigram House tenancy

By UALHalls 14 Apr 2020

As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, urbanest, the housing provider which runs Wigram House, has made changes to tenancy lengths for next year's contract.   
 
Wigram House is a very popular hall amongst our students, and we therefore wanted to continue to offer accommodation there next year.  
 
In order to secure rooms for our students, we have agreed to the longer tenancy period of 47 weeks in 2020/21, instead of 42 weeks as previously stated.   

This will obviously have an impact on pricing and potentially on your application. To help you decide whether Wigram House is still the right hall for you, we've put together a list of frequently asked questions (FAQS). Please read through them carefully and then let us know by Wednesday 22 April whether you wish to change your application.





1) How does the change in tenancy affect the rent? 
The contract will start on Saturday 3 October 2020, and end on Saturday 28 August 2021. The weekly rates will remain the same, but the total cost will change:

  • Premium shared bathroom rooms - £279 per week; total cost £13,113  

  • Premium rooms - £299 per week; total cost £14,053  

  • Premium Studios - £430 per week; total cost £20,210  



2) How do I remove Wigram House from my application? 
Please email our team at accommodation@arts.ac.uk with the subject line Wigram House application change 

3) Can I replace Wigram House with another hall on my application? 

Yes, in the same email, please let us know which hall you would like to replace Wigram House and include the new order of your top five preferences.  



4) How long do I have before I need to let you know? 
You must let us know by Wednesday 22 April.  

5) Will there be a break clause in the tenancy agreement?  
Our tenancy agreements are for a fixed period and do not have a break clause. 

6) Will this affect my place in the queue? 
No, you will not lose your place in the queue as we will manually change your halls preferences on our records. 

7) My course only runs until June/July and I do not need accommodation for the summer. What should I do? 
London is a great place to be in the summer, so even if you have finished your studies, there are lots of things for you to enjoy in the city. There are a wide variety of festivals, indoor and outdoor activities, as well as the usual attractions – look at the halls life website for inspiration.  Many of our students get full or part time jobs over the summer too. There are lots of opportunities at UAL, including roles with the Social Programme.  

8) Can someone else take over my room if I want to leave early?  
If you wish to leave early you will need to find a replacement UAL student to take over the remainder of your agreement.  







9) I can’t afford the additional amount of rent, what help can you offer me? 
If you are worried about not being able to pay the difference in rent, please contact UAL’s Student Services team. They can offer support and advice on a number of things including money advice.  

10) Why haven't the tenancy lengths increased in all UAL halls 
As you may already know, unlike many universities, UAL does not own most of the rooms leased to students in halls of residence. This means we have to regularly negotiate contracts with our commercial landlords and partners. Urbanest is the only partner which has asked us to make changes to our contract for 2020-21. 



If these FAQs haven’t answered your question about the change in tenancy lengths at Wigram House, please email our team at accommodation@arts.ac.uk.