students moving into halls

Making yourself at home

Whether you're living in our halls or private rented accommodation, we're on hand to help make moving in easier

We have a variety of halls of residence accommodation and an established private sector housing market in the city at various prices. We provide extensive housing support to all students.

If you've firmly accepted a place on a full-time course starting in September, you will receive an email inviting you to apply for accommodation via the Student Home Portal. Places are allocated subject to availability at the time we receive your application.

Student Housing will then advise you on the latest information on your hall application once you hold an unconditional offer of study with Portsmouth.

Please note that if you have not secured long term accommodation prior to your arrival you are required to book a hotel or bed and breakfast - the University does not have any temporary or emergency accommodation for students (and any dependants).

Please be aware that the University has no family or couple accommodation. Students who intend to bring dependants/family will need to find suitable accommodation via the private sector rental market. We would not recommend arriving to the city with family/dependants until you have secured suitable accommodation. You may need to widen your search outside of the main campus/city area to open up suitable housing options.

Our Student Housing Team can give you the latest information on housing options available.

Want to know more?

If you have questions about housing, please email student.housing@port.ac.uk or call +44(0)23 9284 3214.

Private rented accommodation

Private rented accommodation in the city is mostly in shared student houses or lodgings, and our housing team can help you find accommodation – and meet other students to share with too.

We recommend that you use our official private sector accommodation website, where landlords register their accommodation with our housing team.

Normally, if you share a house or flat you'll be living with three to five people, bedrooms are for sole use/single occupancy. Landlords will not let these rooms to more than one student, couples or students with families.

However you decide to find a house, please make sure you do not send money to a landlord or agency until you have seen, in person, the house or flat you want.

UK based guarantor

You will be asked to provide a UK based guarantor before the tenancy starts. If you cannot provide a guarantor, some Landlords may accept 6 or 12 months rent in advance. If you cannot get a UK-based guarantor, some landlords will then ask you to pay a whole academic year’s rent (or a very large portion of it) upfront to guarantee rental payments. There are also companies which provide a guarantor service for a small fee. You can contact Student Housing for further advice on guarantors if needed.

Contacts

If you have any questions about securing accommodation or would like your contract checked, our Student Housing team will be happy to help.

Where is the best place to live as a student?

To provide you with the best opportunity in succeeding on your course, the University of Portsmouth recommends that your term time address is no greater than a 30 minute journey away by public transport from the University.

This will enable you to attend your lectures and seminars and will provide you with the opportunity to regularly access the University’s support services.