Key Worker Housing: Frequently Asked Questions

20. What apartment type should I apply for?

If you are eligible to live at Eddington, you can express your preference for either a one bedroom, one bedroom with study, or a two bedroom property – you will be required to pay the appropriate rent for the property that you accept, and ensure that you can meet the running costs of your home, as you would in renting any other property.

There is high demand for one bedroom and one bedroom with study properties at Eddington. Currently these units are mainly being offered to the high priority applicants who are new to Cambridge. This means that many applicants will not be successful in being made an offer. With that in mind, you may wish to increase your chances of being offered accommodation by choosing a two bedroom property if your circumstances permit. To do this tick the box on the application system that says ‘Interested in larger properties.’ If you are offered a larger property you will have to pay the rent appropriate for that property.

If you are interested in a room in a four bedroom shared apartment, please email and the team will register your interest.

21. Who is eligible to apply for Key Worker Housing at Eddington?

To qualify for housing at Eddington, applicants must be employed by the University or Colleges or one of the following Affiliated Institutions:

• Babraham Institute
• British Antarctic Survey
• Cambridge Assessment Centre
• Cambridge University Press
• EBI – European Bioinformatics Institute (Hinxton)
• MRC – Medical Research Council
• Sanger Institute
• Wellcome Trust
• World Monitoring Conservation Centre
• University of Cambridge Primary School

Students (undergraduates, post graduates and any other further education) are not eligible to apply.

Applicants must have a contract of:

• at least 18 hours per week
• at least six months remaining on contract with an original minimum contract length of 12 months at the time an offer of a tenancy is made.

Upon application we will request a supporting offer letter stating your salary, working hours and contract length.

The eligibility criteria for Key Worker Housing at Eddington has been defined in the planning permission of the site which was agreed by the local authorities.

You must confirm that you earn below a certain threshold which is Spine Point 61 (currently from 2021, £61,823) or below (or equivalent for College/Affiliated Institution employees) and make a personal declaration that your household income is no greater than £80,000.

22. How are housing allocations prioritised?

Priority is automatically assessed and is based on the information that you provide in your application. It is assessed against others who are also applying at the time of application and allocation.
Allocations for the new residences will be based on point scoring:

1. Hard to fill post
2. New staff, new to Cambridge, coming from overseas
3. New staff, new to Cambridge, coming from the UK (outside of Cambridge)
4. New staff, prior knowledge of Cambridge, coming from overseas
5. New staff, prior knowledge of Cambridge, coming from UK (outside of Cambridge)
6. New staff, coming from the Cambridge area
7. University staff (not new starter)
8. Applicant working for an affiliated organisation

Applicants with a fellowship who are funded by a grant from elsewhere and not directly employed by the University of Cambridge are not University of Cambridge employees. These applicants will be treated with the same priority as those employed by Affiliated Institutions.

23. How do I apply for key worker housing at Eddington?

• Register with the University Accommodation Service. This will give you access to a range of properties, including privately rented accommodation and University homes. These are not just the homes at Eddington (North West Cambridge Development), which are managed by Lodge Property Services.
• Once registered, you may apply for University owned property by completing an online form. You may opt to select both market rent and key worker or only key worker accommodation. Please note that by opting only for key worker accommodation at Eddington, you may be limiting your chances of being made an offer by the University Accommodation Service elsewhere in Cambridge.
• The application form will ask you for personal and financial information to confirm that you are eligible to live at Eddington.
• You will be informed if you are eligible for housing upon completing the form.
• You will be asked to enter a preferred ‘move-in’ date which is used to match the start of your tenancy. If you have started a new job or are arriving from overseas you may want this to be similar to your employment start date. You need to ensure that your ‘move-in’ date is kept current as otherwise your name will be removed from the waiting list after 14 days of your stated move-in date.
• We currently have a waiting list in operation and there is high demand, especially for one bedroom apartments. The waiting list changes daily as people join and leave the list; we therefore will be unable to advise of your place on the waiting list and are not able to guarantee an offer until it is made.

24. How do I select the option to rent a room in a four bedroom shared apartment?

On the Lodge application system, we do not currently have a section where you can select a room in the four bedroom shared apartments. If you are interested please email Lodge Property Services and also join our University worker sharers Facebook page.

Rent for these properties will include utility and council tax bills.

25. When will I know if I will get an offer?

Offers are made to within 14 days either side of your “move in date”. They can be made as little as one week or up to 3 or 4 months ahead. We cannot indicate whether you will be made an offer as the waiting list and availability of properties changes daily.

Formal offers with property details are made via email. The offer will include a plan of the actual apartment layout and images of a typical property for that block.

26. What happens when I receive the formal offer?

When you are offered accommodation, you will have 48 hours to accept or decline the offer.

Your tenancy start date may differ to the move-in date you specified in your application due to the number of people moving to Eddington at a similar time. This does not mean you have to move in on your tenancy start date but you will be liable for rent from then on.

You will then:

• Meet the Lodge Property Services team
• Sign your tenancy agreement alongside your Core heating and hot water contract
• Provide Right to Rent documentation. Information on how to rent and the landlord’s code of practice is available online.
• Move into your new home with guidance from our support team at Eddington.

Our current standard tenancy agreement can be downloaded here.

27. How much is the security deposit and will I get it back?

A security deposit equivalent to 5 weeks rent is required. You are asked to make the payment when accepting the offer. This will be held separately with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS).

An inventory will be undertaken at both the start and the end of the tenancy and the amount of deposit returned to you will depend on the condition of the apartment upon vacating the property and any outstanding bills.

28. Can I refuse an offer for housing at Eddington?

Yes, however if you refuse three offers, this will prohibit further offers being made to you.

29. Can I apply for a two bedroom home if I find someone to share with?

You may apply to share with someone else who is not a partner or family member. Only member of the University, College or Affiliated Institutions is eligible to share on this basis, and each request will be considered individually.

The lead tenant is required to confirm that their employee salary is at or below spine point 61 on the University pay scale and that the household income (combined salary and income) is below £80,000 pa.

The University requires the name and details of the person who is sharing your home.
You would need to agree with that person how you share the bills and who has which bedroom.

It is up to you to find a sharer as Lodge Property Services cannot assist in the matching process.

1. How does the tenancy agreement work?

For four-bedroom apartments, each room has its own Tenancy Agreement which is independent to the other residents in the apartment. Your Tenancy Agreement is not affected by the tenancies of other residents in the apartment.

2. How are rooms allocated?

When deciding who is allocated a property, the priorities of different staff types apply. Allocations for the new residences will be based on point scoring:

1. Hard to fill post
2. New staff, new to Cambridge, coming from overseas
3. New staff, new to Cambridge, coming from the UK (outside of Cambridge)
4. New staff, prior knowledge of Cambridge, coming from overseas
5. New staff, prior knowledge of Cambridge, coming from UK (outside of Cambridge)
6. New staff, coming from the Cambridge area
7. University staff (not new starter)
8. Applicant working for an Affiliated Institute

The room allocations within apartments are done by a random ballot.

3. Can I pick which room I get?

It is not possible to choose which room is allocated to you.

4. Can I join a single-gender apartment?

We have a mix of male and female residents to each flat.

5. I have a smaller bedroom/bathroom – do I pay less rent?

All four-bedroom apartment rooms have a standardised rent, regardless of variations between individual rooms.

6. Can I move to a different apartment?

It is not possible to move residents from one apartment to another until the end of their Tenancy Agreement. If you decide that you want to move to a self-contained apartment and are lucky enough to be made an offer, you will be charged as an “early leaver”.

7. What happens if I need to move out?

You can express your wish to leave your tenancy early. You will be liable to pay rent until a new tenant is found or until your tenancy ends as per your tenancy agreement, whichever date occurs first. A non-refundable tenancy variation fee of £100 plus VAT will be charged once you have formally expressed your wish to leave early.

8. How are bills divided?

As the rent for four-bedroom sharer apartments includes bills (council tax, electricity, heating and hot water, broadband and water), there is no need to divide these further. However please see below for more information on TV licences.

9. Can we switch utility provider?

The landlord Lodge Property Services has already selected and arranged for the utility providers for 4-bedroom sharer apartments. This has already been factored in to the standardised rent. Therefore it is not possible to change utility providers unless Lodge Property Services approves the change.

10. Do I have to buy a TV Licence? Does my flatmate’s TV Licence cover my viewing?

Residents who have a TV in their room and/or who use a computer, games console, digital box or any other device to watch live TV on any channel or BBC programmes on iPlayer must, under UK law, obtain their own TV Licence. It is up to residents to arrange this and is not included in the rent.

However if residents wish to have a communal TV for all residents to watch they can buy one TV Licence between them to cover this. It is up to residents to arrange this and divide the cost between them. This does not cover any TV watched in individuals’ rooms.

Residents who do not watch or record television programmes as they are being shown on TV can register this with the TV Licensing Enforcement Division.

11. Can I have people to stay?

Sharer rooms in four-bedroom apartments are intended for single occupation. It is recognised that a resident may wish to have an occasional guest to stay overnight. As a broad guideline, you should not have an overnight guest to stay for more than two nights in any week.

Residents must accept full responsibility for their guests.

12. My flatmate is really messy/noisy/using my cupboard – what can you do to help?

Lodge Property Services is not able to intervene with disputes between flatmates, and rely on all residents behaving like respectful adults. We would recommend that all residents agree some house rules regarding noise, cleaning, guests, food storage and food preparation to minimise problems throughout the tenancy.

13. There is damage to the property, who pays for the cost of repairing it?

Any cost of any cleaning or damage within any communal areas will be automatically divided equally between all occupants in each apartment. If residents wish to divide this cost up differently between them they may do that themselves.

All residents are individually and wholly responsible for the cost of any cleaning or repairs required within their individual rooms.