Student Money and Accommodation

The Student Money and Accommodation Advice team provides information, advice and guidance on undergraduate and postgraduate funding for Home students, and on accommodation for all our students.

The Student Money and Accommodation Advice team are all accredited members of the National Association of Student Money Advisers (NASMA). NASMA has members in all four countries in the UK and collectively are recognised as the leading authority on all matters relating to student advice and funding. NASMA acts as a focus for information exchange between practitioners in the field of student funding, bringing together professionals from across the sector and encouraging the free exchange of ideas. NASMA works closely with national decision makers and their influencers on student finance policy. In addition, NASMA work with other relevant sector organisations to promote the needs of students and its members.

The Student Money and Accommodation Advice team are also members of the Association for Student Residential Accommodation (ASRA).

We can help you:

• Make your funding application to Student Finance England (SFE)
• Resolve problems with your funding application
• Appeal funding decisions via reference to the Student Support regulations
• Advise on the interaction of benefit entitlement (where applicable) and student funding
• Find other avenues of funding
• Understand the funding implications of changing, suspending or withdrawing from your course
• Advice on finding accommodation in London

If you have any queries about the fees you have been charged, or if you need a change of circumstances notice and/or attendance/registration confirmation sent to Student Finance England, please contact the University's  – feequery@londonmet.ac.uk

If you need to set up a fee payment plan, please contact the University's Income Collection team – incomecollection@londonmet.ac.uk 

Please Note: If you have any queries about the fees you have been charged, or if you need a change of circumstances notice and/or attendance/registration confirmation sent to Student Finance England, please contact the University's  – feequery@londonmet.ac.uk or if you need to set up a fee payment plan or discuss payment options, please contact the University's Income Collection team – incomecollection@londonmet.ac.uk and not to request an appointment as the team does not deal with these queries.

All appointment requests for the Student Money and Accommodation Advice team can be made by completing the online request form. Please give as much detail as you can to your query as this will help the team to respond appropriately.

The Student Services team can then allocate you to the next available appointment, or refer your query to an appropriate University team to answer.

If you arrive more than 15 minutes late for an appointment you will be asked to rebook it.

July update: From August 2024, access to the Student Services office (TM1-33) will be via The Rocket Building entrance. After entering through the Rocket Building, proceed through the Yellow Zone towards the Highbury canteen and take the lift / stairs to TM1-33 on the First Floor.

Email

For all other Student Money and Accommodation Advice team queries please contact SMAA@londonmet.ac.uk using your London Met email account. It is University policy for us to communicate with students via your London Met email account. Any replies will be sent to this account.

Your School Office and other key services will also use your University email address. Please be sure to check your University email account regularly to avoid missing important messages.

Please note, due to the high volume of emails the service is receiving, it may take longer than normal to reply. For that reason, you are strongly advised to book an appointment with the team, as seeing or speaking direct with an adviser is likely to resolve your query quicker, and any follow-up questions can then be dealt with at the same time.

If you have any queries about the fees you have been charged, or if you need a change of circumstances notice and/or attendance/registration confirmation sent to Student Finance England, please contact the University's feequery@londonmet.ac.uk

If you need to set up a fee payment plan, please contact the University's Income Collection team – incomecollection@londonmet.ac.uk

Feedback

The Student Money and Accommodation Advice team is very keen to hear your views which can help us improve our service. Please complete our feedback form. 

Throughout the year the team run Student workshops on various funding support. Listed below are the current workshops that are open to book.

Coming Soon: Keep an eye on this page for when bookings open early in the academic year

Students with Children Network: Navigating Childcare Funding Support

Compelling Personal Reasons: How to apply and when is it relevant

Estranged Students: Applying and evidence

See below for some common questions you may have at the start of the 2024-25 academic year. 

Question: I have applied for my Student Finance how long will it take?

Answer: Full Time applications can take 5-6 weeks to process - please check the Government website for up to date processing times.

Question: I have not yet applied for my Finance, what should I do? 

Answer: You must apply now via gov.uk, and check the processing times. Please try and budget according if your Student Finance does not come through at the start of the academic year.

Question: My SFE is taking longer than the processing times, what should I do?

Answer: We would advise you to book an appointment (in-person) with a specialist adviser to go through your circumstances, please complete the booking form.

Question: What to do if I have not received confirmation of funding before enrolment?

Answer: You will be allowed to provisionally enrol for up to 8 weeks while your funding is being assessed, so you must pre-enrol as early as you can.

Question: When can I apply to the University's Hardship Fund?

Answer: The Hardship Fund normally opens to fully enrolled students around the middle of October, so please keep an eye on the Hardship Fund webpage. 

The Student Money Manual is the essential guide to student finance and managing money at university. It is aimed mainly at post-16/college students considering going to uni as well as first-year students, but is relevant for all undergraduates. It covers everything from budgeting to student finance and fees to making your money stretch further as a student.

To download a copy visit The Money Charity website

If you receive a Tuition Fee Loan, Maintenance Loan, Maintenance Grant and/or Special Support Grant from Student Finance England (SFE) or the Tuition Fee Loan only from the EU Team, you may be eligible for full funding to repeat a year.

All SFE/EU-funded full-time students are eligible for one extra year of funding during their full-time undergraduate studies. SFE term this a Gift Year. If this is the first time you are repeating a year, and if you have never previously studied a full-time higher education course before starting on your current course, you will normally be eligible for full funding to repeat a year. This applies even if you are repeating your full-time degree on a part-time basis (PTR mode of study code) Assessment Only students are not eligible for repeat funding. 

Please refer to our information sheets on Repeat Funding and Previous study for detailed information, if you then require some advice please book an appointment with the team. 

• Get help with the cost of living from your local council.
• Universal Credit and students.
• Student Finance England's current timescales for processing funding applications.
• London Met has some rooms available in The Arcade student hall of residence (located half a mile from Holloway campus) for academic year 23-24. Single bedroom, shared bathroom and kitchen. The cost is £8,944 for the year. Please email the managing team for more information and booking enquiries.
  Top tips from Unipol on avoiding rental scams
• Articles by the Good Law Project on understanding your energy bill support and discounts and claiming welfare benefits (please note most full-time students are excluded from claiming means-tested benefits).
• Student Finance England's 'How to' guide – answers to the most common questions that undergraduate students are currently asking them.
• Discounts on broadband available for students in receipt of Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment & Support Allowance. 
• Advice on keeping warm and healthy in cold weather.
• The Mayor of London’s Warmer Homes programme provides free heating, insulation and ventilation improvements for low income Londoners who own their own homes or rent privately.
• Check out this reading list for tips on making simple, inexpensive and tasty meals.
• This is Us is a student-led community for all UK care experienced and estranged students, of any age.
• Download a free copy of The Student Money Manual which covers everything from budgeting to student finance and fees to making your money stretch further as a student.
• Struggling with energy and water bills? Financial support may be available to you.
• Worried about energy bills? Check out this Citizens Advice list of benefits, grants and help offered by the government and energy suppliers.
• Check to see if you're eligible for a £140 discount on your energy bill via the Warm Home Discount.
• Help to shape Student Services to meet your needs by completing the Student Services Survey.
• Student Space includes advice and practical tips to help with money worries.
• Benefits calculator
• The Albert Kennedy Trust is a charity offering crisis support, mentoring and emergency accommodation for LGBTQIA+ youth experiencing homelessness.  
• Changes to the Childcare Grant from 2019-20
• Mental health and debt booklet
• Struggling with a Student Finance England loan/grant overpayment? Check out their advice page.
• Choosing a student bank account
• National debtline Student funding and debt factsheet 

Undergraduate
Full-time undergraduate funding 24/25 updated July 2024
Part-time undergraduate funding 24/25 updated September 2024
NHS Learning Support Fund - Nursing 2024-25 Information coming soon
NHS Learning Support Fund - AHP 2024-25 Information coming soon
February start undergraduate funding 2023/24 updated April 2024
Degrees with foundation years updated August 2023
Estranged Students updated August 2023
Students with children updated September 2022
Care leavers updated August 2023
BSc Social Work  2024-25 Information coming soon  
Previous study updated July 2023
Changing mode of study updated July 2023
Asylum seekers and refugees updated August 2023
Placements/Overseas exchange updated August 2023
Repeat Funding updated August 2024

Postgraduate
NHS Learning Support Fund - Nursing 2024-25 Information coming soon
NHS Learning Support Fund - AHP 2024-25 Information coming soon
Postgraduate payment options updated May 2024
Postgraduate funding updated May 2024
Postgraduate Loan and Doctoral Loan updated July 2024
PGCE and School Direct  2024-25 Information coming soon 
MSc Social Work 2024-25 Information coming soon 

General
Cost-cutting and sustainability updated October 2023
Student halls of residence updated June 2024
Private rented accommodation updated June 2024
Students and Benefits updated October 2023
Budget planner
Educational trusts and charities updated August 2024
Legal advice guide updated August 2023
Local information Aldgate updated August 2023
Local information Holloway updated August 2023
Planning your money when you graduate updated August 2023

Accommodation Information for Disabled Students - New October 2024

• Government cost of living payment
• Help with the cost of living from your local council
• Energy Bills Support Scheme
• Support with energy bills 
• Support with energy and water bills 
• Cost of living support 
• Islington foodbanks
• MoneySavingExpert
• SaveTheStudent Cost of Living Guide
  
• SaveTheStudent Energy Support Guide
• Study costs and budgeting 
• Compare supermarket prices
• Buy food that would otherwise be thrown away
• Buy refurbished laptops and desktop PCs 
• Buy refurbished PCs, laptops and tablets 

BRITE Box

Keep an eye out for our BRITE boxes!

Through this scheme, London Met will provide you with a box of foods and a recipe card. In your pack you will usually find fresh vegetables, meat, bread and dairy, as well as spices, dried and tinned goods. Enough to feed a family of five. A limited supply of vegetarian boxes will also be available. 

The boxes are completely free of charge and are part of a London Met partnership with Brite Box who run this successful scheme for a number of schools in London.   

We’ll let you know the date and location of the next collection here: To be confirmed

Any queries please contact: Dee Bhakta 

Please take a look at our accommodation pages for information on external student halls of residence, private rented accommodation, short-stay accommodation, summer accommodation, and landlord services. Alternatively, contact our advice team:

Email: SMAA@londonmet.ac.uk
Student Pad: londonmetstudentpad.co.uk/accommodation

Rooms in The Arcade 

London Met has some rooms available in The Arcade student hall of residence (located half a mile from Holloway campus) for academic year 23-24. Single bedroom, shared bathroom and kitchen. The cost is £8,944 for the year. Please email the managing team for more information and booking enquiries. Please check back here in September for 24-25 availability. 

Homelessness

If you are homeless or are about to become homeless you should contact Shelter and consult their guidance on homelessness.

You can call Shelter's free emergency helpline on 0808 800 4444. The helpline is open Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm | Weekends and bank holidays, 9am to 5pm.

Your local authority’s homelessness department will provide advice on the emergency accommodation they offer.

If you are at risk of being evicted from private rented accommodation you should familiarise yourself with the eviction procedures your landlord must follow. 

Help from London Met

You should also contact London Met's Student Money and Accommodation Advice team. You can book a face-to-face or telephone appointment with us or email SMAA@londonmet.ac.uk

London Met doesn't own or manage any accommodation of its own, but we may be able to provide you with some emergency financial support towards a short stay in temporary accommodation. 

If you need financial help towards a deposit and rent on a new property you should apply to the University's Hardship Support Fund.

Our web pages contain links to student halls of residence and private rental accommodation. 

• Be especially careful if using social media to search for properties as many scams are broadcast via social media platforms. 
• Avoid adverts with no photographs of the property, or where multiple adverts have the same photographs. 
• Look for telephone numbers that are based in the UK and check that landline numbers work. 
• Don’t pay a holding deposit, rent, or any money without visiting the property in person. 
• A contract should be signed before any money changes hands. 
• Obtain a receipt for any money paid. 
• Be aware what fees letting agents can/can’t charge. 

Accommodation for students with families

Useful housing links

Rent calculator

Not sure who is responsible for repairs and maintenance in your rented home? Check out the following guidance from Shelter.

Shelter also provides information on how to check if your tenancy deposit is protected, as well as on how to proceed if your landlord doesn't refund your deposit at the end of your tenancy.  

Local support

Crisis Skylight

Tower Hamlets Food Bank

Toynbee Hall

Whitechapel Mission

As a London Metropolitan student you have free access to Blackbullion's library of financial resources. The library includes articles and pathways on a range of financial topics such as bank accounts, budgeting, credit cards, insurance, and savings. You'll need to create a Blackbullion account in order to access the online library. You'll also be able to use this account to apply for the University's .

Care-experienced students

London Met is pleased to offer a Care Leaver Bursary of £1,500 for each progressive year of your undergraduate degree (full-time students only). This is intended to help towards accommodation set-up costs and basic living expenses.

Applications are automatically processed by Student Finance England. Please email cees@londonmet.ac.uk for further details.

London Met is also one of a small number of universities whose students are eligible to apply for a Unite Foundation Scholarship Scheme, which can provide care leavers with three years of free student accommodation. 

We will also help to check if you're eligible for additional financial help from external sources.

If you'd like to know more about the range of help available to you, please contact Isabel Patrick / Eloise Peters on cees@londonmet.ac.uk. 

Estranged students

London Met is committed to supporting estranged students during their time at university.

1. Do I qualify as an estranged student (for independent student status)?

Following the Student Finance England definition, a student might be defined as estranged if they can show they have little or no contact with their biological or adoptive parents and they receive no physical or financial support from them either.

To qualify for independent status through estrangement, the student will need to prove the lack of contact with their parents is permanent. We would normally expect the student to have had no contact with their parents for at least 12 months, although this may not apply in exceptional circumstances.

If a student wants to apply for independent status because they’re estranged from their parents, they must provide confirmation from a professional person, outside their family, who knows about their circumstances. That person must fill out an Estrangement Declaration form, which you can download from Student Finance England.

2. Checklist for sending evidence to Student Finance

Provide as many supporting statements as you can but make sure at least one of the statements is from an independent person with good standing in the community, who has known you for a substantial period of time and is not a relative or family friend.

Examples of evidence students could provide include:

• a letter from your social worker, if you have one

• if you claimed income support when you were under 18, a letter from your Jobcentre Plus office showing you were in receipt of benefits because of your situation

• if your relationship with your parents broke down while you were at school or college, a letter from advice worker, personal tutor or teacher, confirming your circumstances

• if you’ve visited your doctor because of problems relating to the breakdown of your relationship with your parents, a letter from your doctor to confirm your circumstances

You won’t be able to apply for independent status just because you don’t get on with your parents or because you don’t live with them. Similarly, you won’t automatically be able to apply for independent status because your parents refuse or don’t want to provide details of their income.

Accommodation Guarantors

Care Leavers needing a guarantor for accommodation, should reach out to their local authority initially for support. You might be able to look into this with your Personal Adviser or Social Worker. You can also contact Help at Hand to find out what Children’s Services should be doing to help you and whether they can act as a guarantor for you.

If your local authority is unable to be your guarantor, there are companies that offer a guarantor service such as Housing Hand and UK Guarantor. Please note there are fees for these services.

Useful links

Buttle UK: Provides thousands of grants to young people in the UK, often when there is no other source of help available to them. One particular grant that might be available to estranged young people is the Students and Trainees Programme. 

Brightside: Has some useful information for students whose parents are unwilling to provide their income details, as well as for estranged students finding it difficult to evidence their independence.

StandAlone: StandAlone is a charity set up to support people who are estranged from their family or children. They have produced a guide for students who are applying for independent status from Student Finance England and Wales.

This is Us: Student-led community for all UK care experienced and estranged students, of any age.

Turn2Us: A free service that helps people in financial need access welfare benefits, charitable grants and other financial help. Their website has a free and easy to use benefits calculator and grants search. 

Named contacts for Care-experienced and Estranged Students – Isabel Patrick and Eloise Peters – cees@londonmet.ac.uk

A carer is defined as anyone who looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their physical or mental health and who cannot cope without that support. 

Many carers juggle their caring responsibilities with work, study and other family commitments. Some, in particular younger carers, are not known to be carers and may prefer not to disclose their caring responsibilities. 

The sort of roles and responsibilities that carers provide varies widely. It can range from help with everyday tasks such as getting out of bed and personal care such as bathing, to emotional support such as helping someone cope with mental illness.

To discuss what support might be available to you as a carer, please contact the Student Money and Accommodation Advice team - SMAA@londonmet.ac.uk 

At London Met, we understand the extra challenges faced by student parents. We know that balancing your studies alongside the demands of running a family, organising childcare and managing finances may at times feel overwhelming. We're here to offer support and can refer you on to our network of specialist contacts, where necessary.

We can help you with the following:

• Understanding the 30 hour and 15-hour childcare government requirements
• Navigating child tax credits and child benefit 
• Applying for Student Finance England - we can provide a spot check to make sure you are receiving all the grants 
• Debt referrals
• Support for understanding welfare benefits (Universal Credit/ Housing Benefit/ Income Support/ Jobseekers' Allowance)
• Advice on grants, bursaries and hardship funds
• Referral to our Counselling Team and Academic Support

We also offer quick financial spot checks to make sure you are receiving all the support available for your circumstances.

Our information sheet Students with children gives a good overview of all the funding available but if you still have questions, you can book an appointment with one of our Student Money and Accommodation Advisers.

Please complete the registration form so that the team can keep you updated with relevant information around money, support and events throughout the year.

London Met has a network of students with children, and we find you are some of our most committed and focused students. Watch this video of one our recent student parent graduates.

If you're looking for family-friendly student accommodation you might look at the following providers:

Muslim students and students of other faiths may be reluctant to take out products from the Student Loan Company because of the interest charged on student loans.

Though the UK Government has consulted on developing a possible model Alternative Finance product which would be Sharia-compliant and could potentially be offered alongside traditional loans to students wishing to attend Higher Education, this product is not currently available.

You might seek advice from a faith leader on whether Riba – the paying and receiving of a pre-determined additional payment for profit (usually in the form of interest) is mitigated by the fact that you will not have to repay either loan or interest if your earnings remain under the designated threshold, and that any outstanding balance will be wiped when 30 years (from the April after graduation) have passed.

You might also consider whether the loan can be taken out on the basis that you have no alternative method of paying for your course and will pay it back as soon as possible.

If you decide to take out the Maintenance Loan you might open an account with an Islamic bank and pay the loan into this account.

If you do not take out the Student Loan Company's funding package this may prevent you from receiving other forms of funding. For example, the University’s guidance notes state:

B.5.  Undergraduate, PGCE and Professional Diploma in Architecture students must be in receipt of the full means tested student support funding from Student Finance England (SFE) (ie you are in receipt of a student loan), and must take out your maximum student loan entitlement and tuition fee loan to be eligible for the Hardship Support Fund.

If you are entitled to claim income-assessed benefits, the assessment office will consider any student maintenance loan you’re entitled to receive as income regardless of whether you have taken it out or not.

If you are a UK undergraduate student planning on self-financing your studies because you're not eligible for funding from the Student Loan Company, you might find this video helpful. 

Funding advice for Undergraduate and taught Postgraduate students who take a break from their studies

If you are publicly supported (ie you receive funding from the Student Loan Company) any break in studies may have an impact on your student funding entitlement. In particular, you may have to repay some of your funding to Student Finance England now, your future entitlement to student funding may be reduced, and you may not be able to claim means-tested benefits while taking a break.

Please note: If you are thinking of taking a break from or leaving your course and you are enrolled on a healthcare course (Dietetics/Nursing/Physiotherapy), we strongly advise you to seek funding advice prior to starting the process due to the complex nature of the funding you may be receiving.

Please read the following information carefully:

If you are in receipt of maintenance funding/supplementary grants/a postgraduate loan from Student Finance England (SFE) you may have to repay some of your funding now depending on your date of intermission and the date of your most recent payment(s). Any repayment may be reduced by up to 60 days' worth of funding if you notify SFE that you are taking a break due to ill health.

You are usually considered eligible for full full-time funding from Student Finance England for the length of your course plus one extra year minus any previous higher-education-level study you have. You should check with Student Finance England how your previous study history will affect your entitlement to the SFE funding package when you return to your course. If you started your course in January, and are thus on a January funding cycle, please make this clear to SFE when you speak to them.

If you are suspending your studies for compelling personal reasons eg ill health, you should notify Student Finance England of this fact and discuss with them putting in a Compelling Personal Reasons (CPR) application. This would potentially extend your student funding entitlement in the future.

If you are an undergraduate student and are not eligible for the full full-time funding package when you return to your course, you may still be able to receive both Tuition Fee Loan and a pro rata Maintenance Loan if you enrol part-time.

If you are in receipt of an NHS Training Grant, Social Work Bursary, or teaching bursary/scholarship, you should check with the grant/bursary/scholarship provider whether you would have to repay any money you have received, and what impact your intermission will have on future payments and entitlement.

While taking a break, full-time students will still be designated as such for benefits purposes, and thus ineligible to put in a claim for means-tested benefits unless you have a registered disability, are a single parent, or are a student parent whose partner is also a student.

Full-time students should check with your council tax office whether it will continue to regard you as a full-time student and thus exempt from council tax while you are taking a break. If your council tax office declares you are liable for council tax while taking a break please contact the Student Money and Accommodation Advice team.

If you are living in student halls of accommodation, you should check with your accommodation provider what impact taking a break will have on your tenancy.

Full Time Undergraduate Tuition Fees - September Start Course

If you suspend your studies on or before the 13th December 2024 then 25% of the Tuition Fees are liable, if you suspend you studies on or before 18th April 2025 then 50% of the fees are liable, if you suspend after this date then the full Tuition fees are liable. 

If you have any questions relating to finance or funding, please book an appointment with a Student Money and Accommodation Adviser.

Confidentiality is of great importance to our team and this is reflected in our operations and communication. Information relating to physical or mental health and financial data constitutes sensitive personal data. Under the General Data Protection Regulation (2018), explicit permission from the data subject (ie the student) must be sought before this type of information is passed on to a third party unless there is a legal obligation to do so.

Please note that we will not speak to your parents / legal guardian about you without your express written permission.

Who will you share my information with?

The Student Money and Accommodation Advice team may need to disclose information about you to certain people in order to help support you. This information will only be shared where necessary and on a 'need to know' basis. We define 'need to know' as sharing sufficient information to help set up support and only with people involved in that process. We always ask the people with whom we share your information to respect your confidentiality and not to share information with anyone else unless they are also involved in your support.

Those with whom the team may share your information subject to your consent may include (but is not strictly limited to):

• Your Local Authority
• Your support worker
• Your funding body (eg Student Finance England)

Only necessary information will be shared in order to support you during your time studying at London Metropolitan University. We respect your confidentiality and assure you that any information shared will be handled in a sensitive and discreet manner.

Confidentiality – talking to us

We are committed to ensuring that all communication of a personal, sensitive or confidential nature that takes place with you does so without fear or risk of disclosure.

Face-to-face appointments with a Student Money and Accommodation Adviser will take place in an appropriate private location on campus. Your adviser will be in a similarly suitable setting when speaking to you during a video or telephone appointment. For video or telephone appointments you are advised to choose a quiet location without distractions to ensure that discussions remain confidential.