FAQs

Nansen Village accommodation is designed for couples with a maximum of two children. We may consider applications from lone parents wishing to bring a parent to look after children in place of a partner. We will not consider applications from people wishing to bring a nanny to the village.

Yes. All properties are connected to the internet which can be used from the day of arrival. For the security of our residents each home has a unique Wi-Fi access point and up to 62 devices can be connected, each access point also has four hard wired ethernet ports.

This service is included in the rent, with a standard internet service of up to 250Mbps.

We allow a maximum of six-week consecutive absence limit each year. Any longer than this will be considered a breach of your tenancy agreement and your tenancy will be terminated. If your studies require you to be absent on field studies for longer than six weeks you can apply to re-join Nansen Village when you are due to return, subject to availability of housing. Please see our Lettings Policy page for more information.

No. Our Lettings Policy is that the partner of the student must also be resident for the duration of the tenancy. Partner absences are limited to a maximum of six consecutive weeks each year.

Provided you meet our criteria (see our Application page for more information), your application will be submitted to our Tenancy Committee (comprised of members of the Board of Trustees and Tenant Representatives) for approval. Prospective tenants are then placed on our list of candidates eligible for accommodation, and you will be contacted in the event a suitable property becomes available at the time you have stated you are seeking accommodation. Owing to the high number of applications, and the limited number of properties for families in particular, there is no guarantee that every applicant will be offered accommodation at Nansen Village and we encourage applicants to look at all their housing options during their studies.

We will only consider you for housing at the time you have stated accommodation is required on your application form. If you wish to maintain your application longer and you are a Masters student, we will only consider you for housing for up to three months after the commencement date of your course, in most cases this will be up until the end of the year.

In the case of PhD students, we will retain your application for up to a year from the commencement date of your course. We routinely ask applicants with more than nine months remaining on their degrees at the beginning of each year to reconfirm their interest and if there is no response the application is removed to an inactive file.

To comply with General Data Protection Regulations, we will retain applications and supporting documentation from unsuccessful applicants for no longer than one year.

No. Accommodation at Nansen Village is for couples with or without children. The one exception is applicants who are single parents with no more than one child.

Pets are not permitted at Nansen Village.

A designated tenant will hold the key for you; all information will be sent to you in advance together with the names and house/flat number of the Tenant Representatives who will be able to help you on arrival.

We hold a small stock at affordable prices for people that are new to the country; all information will be sent to the new prospective tenant upon acceptance of property offer. Otherwise, linen/bedding can be purchase at the nearby High Road where you will find a selection of shops and supermarkets.

We are happy to accept online deliveries of non-perishable items prior to your arrival during normal office hours. However, we cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to and goods we accept on your behalf.

Nansen Village is a not-for-profit organisation with a specific aim of creating a vibrant multicultural community and lifelong friendships across the world. Students are encouraged to participate and help with organising the social calendar. A number of social events are organised for and by the students during the year (some of which can be funded by Nansen Village).

Nansen Village has a long history of resident involvement and Resident Representatives are elected to represent the residents at Board of Trustee meetings.

We allocate flats and houses when they become available and therefore choice is limited to the property vacant at the time. The home you are offered will be dependent on the size of your household. Internal moves can be arranged if your circumstances change and there is a more suitable property available. There is a charge if you wish to move property because of a preference you have.

Tenants are not permitted to install satellite dishes on the exterior of the properties.

Council Tax is a charge made to most UK households for services provided by the local authority, for example schools, refuse collections and leisure and cultural services.

Most student residents living at Nansen Village will be exempt from Council Tax, however there will be some circumstances, for example where the student or another household member has a full or part time job, which may mean you may have to pay some Council Tax.

You can find out more about Council Tax at https://www.barnet.gov.uk/council-tax/pay-council-tax

You are required to give a minimum of one calendar month’s notice. This must be provided to the office in writing.

You may withdraw your notice at any time, however if an offer of accommodation has been made and accepted by another applicant it may not be possible to accept your withdrawal request. Any decision to accept a withdrawal of notice will be dependent on the availability of accommodation in the village.

The term of your tenancy agreement is one year. Each year your agreement will be extended by one year (or less if you request this) up to a maximum of four years. An extension will be dependent on evidence from your university of your continuing studies and the conduct of your tenancy by you and other members of your household.

It is your responsibility to ensure you provide all of the documentation required for Nansen Village to grant an extension in a timely way. If you do not provide the information your tenancy will come to an end.

If you are offered accommodation, you will be required to pay a Reservation Fee of £100 within 14 days of an offer of accommodation being made. This will be returned to you three months after the date your tenancy commences. If you choose not take up your tenancy or you terminate your tenancy and are at the village for less than three months, the Reservation Fee will not be refunded. If you do not pay the Reservation Fee within 14 days we will offer the property to another applicant.

Providing you have met the terms and conditions of being offered accommodation and the terms of your tenancy agreement your Reservation Fee will be refunded three months after the date your tenancy commences, and your Tenant Deposit will be returned in full shortly after your tenancy comes to an end, (deductions may be made from your deposit where there has been unreasonable damage to the property). We aim to process refunds Reservation Fees and Tenant Deposits on the 21st of each month.

Nansen Village welcomes relatives and guests to the village. During their visit they are your responsibility and their conduct must be consistent with the ethos of the village and the terms of your tenancy agreement.

We are able to supply additional mattresses, at no charge, should you wish to accommodate guests in your own home. Guests are permitted to stay up to two weeks.

We also have a self-contained guest room, the Nansen Room, which is available for former tenants, visiting academics and relatives of people currently living in the village. Relatives are limited to parents and parents-in-law, brothers and sisters and children (who are over the age of 18) of tenants.

Other guests, who are not relatives, are welcome to the village but are not permitted to stay overnight.

Nansen Village is designed for young families with children up to the age of seven. Applications from people with children will be considered on the basis of the age of the child and the duration of studies, for example an applicant with a seven-year-old child studying a four-year PhD is unlikely to be offered accommodation at the village.