Queen's University students within 40 miles 'unlikely' to get room

Queen's University Belfast (QUB) has said it is "unlikely" to offer a room to any student living less than 40 miles from the university.

They have told students living within that radius to make "alternative travel and accommodation arrangements".

But students living more than 40 miles away have also been told they may not get a room until mid-October.

It was laid out in an email sent to some students who had applied for rooms in halls of residence.

QUB had previously offered students a £1,500 deal to withdraw from its accommodation.

It said due to "unprecedented" demand, accommodation in its halls was oversubscribed.

About 3,500 students each year live in halls of residence run by the university.

Queen's previously offered students £1,500 to pull out of their accommodation offer

On Wednesday night, some students who had applied for QUB's rooms for the 2021/22 academic year received a further update by email.

The university apologised "for the upset caused by the uncertainty of the past few weeks" and said it was doing all it could "to find solutions".

'Make travel arrangements'

Queen's said the financial package to withdraw from accommodation had been accepted by "several hundred students" and they were still working to secure additional rooms, including at Ulster University's Jordanstown campus.

"In prior years, the 3,400 rooms provided by the university has been enough to meet all our requirements," QUB said.

"This year, despite securing an additional 770 rooms, we are still unable to meet demand which hopefully gives you some idea of the size of the challenge we have faced.

"We continue to work tirelessly to secure other options but it may be mid to late October before some of these become available.

"We will be allocating all available accommodation by distance lived from Queen's.

"Presently, it is unlikely we will be able to offer a room to anyone who lives within a 40 mile radius of the university."

However, students living more than 40 miles from QUB were not guaranteed a room for the start of term.

"We strongly advise students who have not yet received an accommodation offer and who live outside the 40-mile radius, to make travel arrangements for the first three to four weeks of term as it is unlikely you will be able to move into your accommodation before mid-October," the university email said.

• Students offered £1,500 not to take Queen's rooms

• Anger over Queen's withdrawal of halls offer

One QUB student from Londonderry who contacted BBC News NI said the move would mean they would have to take a bus to Belfast and back every day until then.

The university said it would start to make room offers by email from Monday 20 September.

However, if students did not accept within 24 hours their room would be offered to another student.

QUB also said, however, they were "working with a range of local hotels" to enable students to book rooms "for one or two nights per week" if necessary.