1. Accommodation
  2. Applying
  3. Transfers and leaving
  4. End of your contract

End of your contract

Please read through this page carefully. It covers all the information you need to know about leaving your accommodation, including how to return your keys, how to leave your accommodation in a clean and tidy condition and how to request a refund of your deposit. 

Your room

On vacating your room, please ensure that you remove all of your belongings, including any personal furniture and wall posters. Take any rubbish to the outside bins so that you leave your room clean and tidy. Please do not throw away or take the mattress topper provided with your room as these are chargeable items – they can be left in your room when you move out. Any personal items left in your room after you have handed in your keys (even if that is before your contract end date) will be removed and may be disposed of. Please ensure you close the windows and lock the door when you leave.

Communal areas

Don't forget to remove your items from the kitchen and any other communal rooms too. This includes any food from the fridges and freezers. If you are leaving things for your flatmates, please ensure that you tell them. If everyone in your flat is leaving, then you should ensure that all the items in your communal area including vacuum cleaners, tables, chairs etc are left in the correct place and that the fridge freezers are left empty, clean, switched on, and with the doors closed. 

It would be a good idea to talk to the other residents who share your communal area in advance of you all departing to make sure you do not leave the last person with everything to clear up. Remember you are all responsible for leaving the accommodation in a clean and tidy state no matter whether you are the first or last to leave.   

Re-use with British Heart Foundation

Please do not throw away any items that could be of use to someone else. 

We work with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) who collect items for re-use and re-sale in the local community. BHF have retail shops located in Headingley and the city centre. If you cannot take items home with you, please gather them in the red BHF bags provided at your site (or any other clean bag) and place them in the red BHF communal collection bins located either near your site office, or externally on your site. To ensure items do not get damaged or dirty, tie each bag so that the contents are secure and will not fall out. 

Please check that any items you intend to donate are clean and in working or usable condition. Any broken items should be disposed of in your local waste and recycling facilities. 

These collection bins will be emptied on a regular basis, and the items taken to the local BHF shop for sorting, and subsequent re-sale. The income generated goes to support research into coronary heart disease, or towards the purchase of vital equipment required in local hospitals, such as Leeds General Infirmary. 

We can only collect the following items: 

  • Bedding (sheets, pillowcases, duvet covers only)
  • Clothes
  • Cookware, crockery & cutlery (no glass or sharp knives)
  • Homeware, including pictures & ornaments
  • Stationery
  • Toys
  • Electrical items which are undamaged and in good working order
  • Furniture
  • Unopened non-perishable food. These will be passed on to local food banks here in Leeds

Please DO NOT include:

  • Food waste
  • Cardboard
  • Duvets or pillows

For further information or queries on how to donate, please speak to the staff at your site office. A number of our partner sites also have external BHF bins or equivalent. 

Post

Make sure you check your post box and collect any parcels from the residence site office before you go. You will need to update your address with any companies/relatives/friends that send you mail as soon as possible, as we are unable to forward any mail onto your home address – any mail delivered to you after your contract end date will be returned to sender. 

Keys

You will need to return any keys/fobs/meal cards you were issued with. Please note that even if you leave your accommodation before the contract end date, you are still liable for the rent until the contract has come to an end. 

To return your keys, place them in an envelope (one can be collected from your residence site office), ensure that you write your name and room number clearly on the front and return this to your residence site office. If the office is closed, the keys can be placed through the letterbox. You are responsible for ensuring your keys are returned safely, so please do not rely on anyone else to return your keys for you. 

If any keys and/or fobs are not returned or are returned after your contract end date, you will continue to be charged rent until they are returned plus the cost of any replacement items (for example, a replacement door lock can cost anywhere between £50 and £80!).

Laundry

Students in residences which were credited with a certain number of free washes through the Circuit app are not required to do anything. 

If you used the mobile app, and topped up your account yourself, try to use up any remaining credit, as there is a small fee to refund unused credit. You can apply for a refund online, through the Circuit website. 

For full terms and conditions please see: www.circuit.co.uk/

Your deposit

Once the residence site office has received your keys, staff will then inspect your room (and any relevant communal areas). Remember that any missing or damaged items, rubbish or personal furniture that has been left, or any additional cleaning that might be required, will result in you being charged. 

At the end of your contract, the balance of your deposit will be refunded minus any charges where appropriate. Please note that if there is damage to your accommodation, it may take the residence site office some time to source the repair costs, and this may delay the return of your deposit. 

The instructions for claiming back your deposit are below. Please note that if you live in James Baillie Park or Clarence Dock Village you should claim your deposit back directly from Unite Students, who manage your residence. To do this email leeds@unitestudents.com and they will assist you. 

In order for us to process your refund for all other sites, you should provide us with your UK bank account details. Please follow the steps below so that you can request your deposit refund:

  1. Log into the Student Portal at http://minerva.leeds.ac.uk
  2. Click the ‘Access Student Services’ icon in the toolbar, in the top right corner of the screen (you may be asked to log in again)
  3. Click the ‘Payments and Financial Support’ tab
  4. Click the ‘Tuition and accommodation payments’ link halfway down the screen
  5. Click the ‘Make a payment’ button, even though you are requesting a refund
  6. From the online payment portal select ‘Request Refund’ from the left hand side menu and enter your bank details.
  7. If you do not have a UK bank account, please contact us for further information about requesting your refund accom@leeds.ac.uk.

We aim to refund all deposits within 4 weeks of the contract end date (not from the date keys were returned). We aim to process all refunds as quickly as possible and thank you in advance for your patience as we complete the necessary checks to ensure the correct amount is returned to you.  

Leave a review

We would really appreciate it if you took the time to leave a review for your residence. This helps future students to find which hall is right for them. You can review all our halls of residence on Google or on Rate Your Landlord – a website run in partnership between Unipol Student Homes and the University.