Student accommodation

The Housing Act 2004 introduced licensing for houses in multiple occupation in England and Wales. Higher education institutions are exempt from licensing provisions providing they sign up to a code of practice that has been approved by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Three codes of practice for the higher education sector were approved by Parliament in April 2006. These are:

• The Universities UK Code of Practice for University Managed Student Accommodation
• The Accreditation Network UK Code of Practice for Student Accommodation managed by higher education institutions
• The Accreditation Network UK Code of Practice for student accommodation managed by undertaking subject to HMO licensing (in effect this means private suppliers of student accommodation)

In addition to Universities and HE colleges, the codes are also open to FE colleges with residential accommodation and to private higher education providers, providing these institutions have the necessary mechanisms in place to fall within the code.

To join visit the Universities UK code.

This page was last updated on 15 December 2011