Written evidence submitted by ANUK/Unipol National Codes of Standards [DPH 014]

About the ANUK/Unipol National Codes

Devised in 2003/04 as a result of the development of the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector, the Codes sought to set some benchmark standards for the day-to-day management of high density blocks of student accommodation. They are owned by a consortium consisting of the Accreditation Network UK (ANUK), the National Union of Students (NUS), and Unipol Student Homes – an educational charity based in Leeds. Unipol acts as the secretariat of the Codes

Whilst initially the intention was to concentrate only on privately managed developments, the decision was taken in 2006 to extend the focus of the Code to accommodation operated by educational establishments as well. However, in order to make this effective a separate (but related) Code was created.

Around the same time that the second ANUK/Unipol Code was created, the Government was in the process of completing the aspects of the 2004 Housing Act which related to the licensing of HMOs. As part of that the Secretary of State was awarded powers to ‘approve’ Codes of Practice for operators of private sector accommodation and both of the ANUK/Unipol Codes were awarded that status.

The ANUK/Unipol National Codes are voluntary accreditation schemes and they currently consist of 155 different provider members throughout the whole of the UK, who between them are managing somewhere in the region of £415,000 bed spaces.

Disabled Students and the National Codes

Whilst the Codes have always included a section covering equality and diversity, up until 2018 this mainly required members to ensure that they complied with appropriate legislation and did not discriminate against people when allocating accommodation. However, and following lobbying by the NUS’ Disabilities Officer at that time who had investigated the difficulties that students with disabilities were experiencing when renting rooms in the PBSA sector, the decision was taken to broaden out the requirements of the Code and to try and make a material difference for students with mobility impairments.

One of the key findings arising from the work undertaken by NUS was that students with mobility and ambulatory disabilities encountered significantly higher accommodation costs than their peers and this was because they were more likely to require adapted rooms. In most cases, PBSA providers were charging higher rents for these types of rooms, mainly because they are larger than their standard offering. These students also find themselves having to pay out transport costs to get themselves from their accommodation to their place of study, as PBSA developments are often not located as close to the institutions as the educational provider’s own accommodation.

In light of this, the owners of the Codes took the decision to adapt the requirements placed on members in such a way as to ensure that any student with a mobility/physical impairment should only be charged the lowest room rate for the building that they had booked to live in, regardless of the room type that they had selected. Initially this was included within the Code for Educational Establishments when it was revised in 2019, but then extended into the Code for Non-Educational Establishments when that was launched in 2022.

Having implemented this change across both of the Codes, some analysis of the impact that it has had on the number of disabled students living within the PBSA sector is to be undertaken shortly. An attempt will also be made to determine what savings this will have delivered for these students who are living in the private rented sector.


September 2023