Finding accommodation after getting a university place in Clearing 2024

When you find a university place through Clearing, you'll need to make some fairly quick decisions about where you're going to live.

Clearing, which opened on 5 July 2024 and runs until 21 October 2024, is used by universities to advertise spaces on courses that have not yet filled up.

Most universities will guarantee accommodation for all first year students - so whether you've come through Clearing or not, they should have somewhere for you to live.

Even if a university doesn't make an accommodation guarantee, it may still have enough places for Clearing students. 

Still, when you're speaking to universities in Clearing, one of your questions should always be whether they make a first-year accommodation guarantee - and what accommodation it covers.

You can also check this before you even get on the phone. Take a look at the website of each university, and in particular its Clearing pages where you should find relevant information about accommodation options for Clearing applicants. 

You'll probably get information about the accommodation (and prices), as well as perhaps further detail such as the halls that still have rooms available.

Find out everything you can about the available accommodation

Reading about accommodation in a prospectus or on a website is one thing, but speaking to students who've actually lived in the accommodation could give you a very different perspective. 

On The Student Room we've got specific university forums as well as a student accommodation forum, where you can see what other students are saying about their accommodation or ask any questions you might have about what it's really like to live there. 

If you're able to get to one of the university's Clearing open days, you could see the accommodation first hand. Failing that, check whether there are virtual tours on the uni's website.

Choosing the accommodation you'll take after getting a place through Clearing

Once you've got your uni place sorted in Clearing and you've accepted it on Ucas Hub, you can confirm where you'll be living.  

The uni will give you access to its accommodation application process - you'll be able to pick the options you want from those available and put them in order of preference.

There are likely to be various options. The Student Room member Charlotte's Web says, "generally you'll get something at any university, but it might be a private let or private halls rather than uni halls if they're already full."

And you never know – you could even end up living somewhere better than your first choice would have been. 

"I was able to get into accommodation when I went through Clearing. It wasn't my first choice but it ended up being for the best because lots of people transferred over from my first choice of accommodation to the accommodation I was assigned to because apparently my first choice wasn't too nice to live in," shares madders94.

What happens if there are no spaces in halls?

If there aren't very many free spaces, you may end up on a waiting list. 

If, in the end, your university can't offer you a place in any of its university halls, they may offer a space in private halls or be able to put you in touch with approved landlords.

Private halls are owned and run by a private business, rather than the university itself. 

They're often very similar to university halls – you can expect to get your own room and access to shared communal areas. Everyone you live with will be a student, although they might be studying at a variety of different universities in the area, rather than all being at the same uni. 

Other private accommodation covers houses or flats rented privately from a local landlord or letting agent.

"Even if you don't get accommodation (which is unlikely), there are still a load of people with spare rooms looking for potential housemates around," says l1lvink.

If you're still stuck, get housing advice from your university

If you run into any trouble finding accommodation, remember to talk to your university's housing office (and even the student union) about what to do, and get their advice because they know the local housing market really well.

They should be able to point you in the direction of private landlords and letting agents who they either work with or come recommended from previous years' students, as well as giving you advice on what to look out for when viewing a property and even matching you up with potential housemates from their pool of other students in the same situation as you. 

Ask what measures they have in place to help you link up with others in the same situation, plus anything extra they can do to help you feel more settled and comfortable in your first few weeks. 

The Student Room's Find a Flatmate forum is a good place to look for a private rental, as are sites such as Gumtree, Rightmove and Spareroom. 

"Phoning the accommodation office is the best bet. [I] phoned the office for Exeter’s Penryn campus today. They were super helpful and advised me to make an application based on current vacancies they have and even told me what types of accommodation they currently have vacancies for and gave me advice on looking for private accommodation just in case," says HobbinsE.

Ask yourself what you can really afford 

According to Newcastle University, the average rent in 2024 for an undergraduate student is between £415 and £775 a month – with bills included if you're in university accommodation. 

So how can you cover this? From September 2024, maintenance loan payments are rising 2.5% for students in England. For an estimate of how much you could receive, use the student finance calculator on GOV.UK.

A lot of university rents now fall outside of the amount of money your average student gets through their student finance – so what do you do if you're not able to find additional money elsewhere?

Don't feel pressured to accept unaffordable accommodation. If you find yourself in that position, you might ask serious questions of your university about how they expect you to fund your rent. 

"I would say to go for the halls that you can afford and then still have money to live /eat/ go out after," says Eloise, a student at the University of Portsmouth. 

What if the accommodation I get after Clearing is terrible?

If you've ended up in university-managed accommodation, but when you arrive you find that you're really unhappy with your room, you might be able to apply to change your room or even the halls that you're in. 

The process for this will vary depending on the university, but you should be able to find more information on your university's website about how to get the ball rolling.

The Student Room member KaiserKhan shares their experience of applying for a room change: "I sent my application like 20-30 mins after applications were opened and I was told there were 100s of people ahead of me.

"The process involves you basically filling out a form where you have to choose your preferences and list specific places as your number 1-6 choice (similar to the one you get in Clearing). They would then contact you if a place at any of those became available, I had one after about a week if I remember correctly, which I declined after viewing the room, and then got another one a few days later.

"I asked them realistically if there were likely to be any spaces on my first choices and they said not really especially with my position in the queue, so I settled on the second offer I got and was pretty happy."

Remember, each uni will have their own specialist accommodation advisers who can help if you have any questions. Check the website for contact details

Get more tips on finding the right housing for you in our student accommodation hub.