Our homes

Utilities

Gas, electricity and water: If you live in one of the bungalows you will need to pay for your heating, hot water and electricity in addition to your rent. If you live in a flat or studio you only pay for your electricity (heating and hot water are included in the rent).

You can find out more about the options for energy suppliers here.

Water is included in your rent.

Energy performance: we are required by law to have an Energy Performance Certificate for every home in the village. This tells you how efficient your home is to heat and gives an indication about the cost for heating. However, the actual cost of heating your home is dependent on how frequently you turn on the heating.

If you live in a flat or studio the heating is managed by the staff team.

You can get a copy of the Energy Performance Certificate for your home from the Nansen Village office.

Over the next 10 years we will be making improvements which will make our homes more energy efficient.

Who we house

Nansen Village welcomes people from all over the world including the United Kingdom. We provide accommodation for full-time postgraduate students registered for a postgraduate degree in a recognised British higher education institution and meet all applicable visa requirements. Students must have a spouse/partner and/or a maximum of two children under the age of eight living with them.

We are committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive community and aim to limit the number of tenants from any one nationality to no more than five households at any given time. We prefer to accommodate people for a minimum of one year, although, from time to time, shorter tenancies may be available.

We recognise that students with families face greater challenges in securing suitable housing than single students who typically have more housing options available to them. Our community environment is specifically designed to meet the needs of young families, and our lettings policy reflects this focus.

Application process

We always receive more applications for accommodation than are available. Therefore, we encourage applicants to look at all housing options available to them.

The application form can be completed at any time. For applicants looking to join us between August and October we would encourage you to apply between April and May. We will assess these applications in June and July.

Applicants must be full-time post-graduate students registered at a recognised UK institution and meet all applicable visa requirements including for dependents. When applying for accommodation applicants must demonstrate their income is sufficient to cover rent and living expenses as well as provide details of how they are funding their studies.

It is the responsibility of applicants to complete the application form and submit supporting documentation including visas. If an application is not completed properly or the correct supporting documentation is not supplied your application will not be processed.

Lettings policy

You can find our lettings policy here.

Reservation Fee and Tenant Deposit

If you are offered accommodation at Nansen Village, you will be required to make two payments:

Holding Deposit: A payment equivalent to one weeks rent payable within 14 days of receiving an offer of accommodation. This fee will used against your first months rent when you start your tenancy. If you have made this payment and chose not to take up your tenancy the Holding Deposit will not be refunded.

Tenant Deposit: The amount of the tenant deposit will depend on the type of accommodation rented. The deposit will be refunded shortly after your tenancy ends, provided no damages or outstanding payments are due.

Tenancy agreement

Your Tenancy Agreement is a one-year fixed term short hold tenancy and sets out what you can expect from your landlord, Barnet Overseas Students Housing Association, which owns and runs Nansen Village, and what your landlord expects of you throughout the tenancy.

You can view an example of our tenancy agreement. This may vary slightly where tenants are responsible for heating their homes.

Your Tenancy Agreement is renewed annually and will be extended if you have conducted the tenancy well and you are continuing your studies. We will require evidence of your continuing studies each year.

Tenancy Agreement extensions are not usually granted beyond four years.

The Tenancy Agreement is between the person studying in the UK and the Association. We do not allow joint tenants.

Rent and what it pays for

Our main source of income are the rents received from tenants for our homes. Tenants are required to pay their rent monthly in advance on commencement of the tenancy.

Your rent pays for the maintenance and upkeep of the village (its grounds and homes), social events and activities organised by the Association or residents, staff salaries, insurances and utilities including broadband and Wi-Fi.

The Association is not-for-profit. Any surplus is invested in maintaining and improving homes for current and future residents.

Rents are reviewed each year and any changes are implemented from 1st January.

Contents insurance

During your stay your personal possessions will be covered by contents insurance. This includes portable devices such as laptops. A copy of the policy will be provided when you take up your tenancy.

Tenants’ legal protections

As a responsible landlord, the Association ensures tenants have the following legal protections in addition to the signed tenancy agreement:

Tenancy Deposit Scheme: Your deposit is protected by an independent organisation, ensuring its return even in the event of the Association’s insolvency. Find out more.

Social Housing Regulator: Barnet Overseas Students Housing Association is regulated by the UK Government’s Regulator of Social Housing, which sets financial, consumer, and governance standards that we are required to follow.

Housing Ombudsman and complaints: The Association is registered with the Housing Ombudsman, an independent UK Government-sponsored body. The Ombudsman sets standards for landlords in dealing with complaints from tenants. It also provides a dispute resolution service when disputes cannot be resolved through the landlord’s complaints procedure. As a requirement of the Housing Ombudsman, we publish a self-assessment on how we deal with complaints, a statement from our Board on their commitment to meeting the Housing Ombudsman Code of Complaint, and an annual complaints performance and service improvement report. 

Data Protection: We are required by law to explain how we use your data throughout your stay at Nansen Village and how we manage the data we collect. Please see our Privacy Policy for details of how your data is used and managed.

Safeguarding: The Association recognises that settling into a new country can be challenging, and we are committed to supporting tenants. If you or your family experience any concerns, we are here to help. In certain situations, we may be required to report concerns to statutory bodies. For more information, please refer to our Safeguarding Policy.

Equality and Diversity: The Association is committed to ensuring equality of treatment for all applicants, in compliance with the Equality Act 2010. No one will be treated less favourably due to ethnic origin, gender, disability, religion, sexual orientation, age, family circumstances, or any other protected characteristic We also aim to maintain a diverse and inclusive community. To support this, we limit the number of tenants from any one nationality to no more than five households at any given time, promoting a balanced and multicultural environment. Read our Equality and Diversity statement.