Student questions, answeredQUESTIONS,
ANSWERED.

No. The Campus Hearth app is free for students. Searching, saving, booking viewings, applying and accepting a lease cost you nothing from us.

Rent, deposits and any admin, viewing, registration or key fee are the residence's own charges, and you pay them to the residence directly. Campus Hearth never takes a payment from a student and holds no card or bank details for you.

If anyone asks you to pay Campus Hearth, or to pay money "through Campus Hearth", it is not us. Don't pay. Report the listing or the landlord in the app, or email info@campushearth.com.

Directly to your landlord, on the terms in your lease. Your landlord tells you how and where to pay.

The app shows you what to expect: the fees and deposit when you apply, the rent and deposit on your lease offer, and a month-by-month rent plan once you've accepted. It never collects any of it.

Before you pay anyone:

• View the place, in person if you can.
• Accept a lease offer from the residence in the app first, so you know the terms you are paying against.
• Check the bank details with the residence directly, not from a message forwarded by someone else.
• Keep proof of every payment.

Some residences charge a once-off admin fee to cover their own paperwork. It is set by the residence, not by Campus Hearth, and paid to them.

The app tells you before you book or apply whether there is one, how much it is, and when it applies: once per residence, once per viewing, or only when you apply. If an earlier viewing already covers it, the app says so; you don't owe it twice.

If you cancel a viewing and the fee hasn't been paid and isn't needed for another viewing, it is waived. A refund of a fee you already paid is between you and the residence.

A residence only appears in the app once a Campus Hearth reviewer has checked it. The reviewer looks at the listing's photos and address against a document showing the landlord owns the property or has the right to let it. A listing without photos or that document is not approved.

A landlord marked "Verified" has had their identity checked against a government ID document.

A review marked "Verified stay" was written by a student who booked and lived at that residence through Campus Hearth.

Verification is a check on paper, not an inspection. We don't visit every residence, so view it yourself before you sign or pay anything. If a listing doesn't match what you find, report it.

On a residence's page, tap Request a viewing and propose a time, between an hour and 90 days from now. You can add a note for the residence.

The residence confirms or declines it, and the app lets you know either way. A residence can also book a viewing for you; it shows up the same way.

Follow them all in Profile > My Viewings. To change the time, cancel the viewing and request a new one. You can have one request waiting at each residence and five upcoming viewings in all.

On a residence's page, choose a room and tap Book Now. Pick your move-in date and how long you'll stay, say how you're funding it, check the fees, and tap Proceed to apply. Applying is free.

Your application goes to the residence, and you can follow it, and everything that happens to it, in Profile > My Bookings. If the residence accepts you, they send you a lease offer.

When a residence offers you a lease, you get a notification and the offer appears in Profile > My Bookings. It shows the dates, the room, the monthly rent (and your share, if the room is shared) and the deposit.

Accept records that you agree to those exact terms. It isn't a signature: the residence will be in touch about signing and moving in. If they change the terms afterwards, your acceptance lapses and you answer again.

Decline turns the offer down and frees the room. You can't decline a lease that has already started, that the residence has marked signed, or that you share with other tenants. In those cases, message the residence.

If you turn on "Looking for a res", verified landlords can see an anonymised profile of you (no name or contact details) and send you an offer for a room.

Accepting an offer shares your details with that residence and sends them an application from you. Declining tells them no. You can turn Looking for a res off at any time.

Residences list on Campus Hearth for free. Three things you use after you move in are part of a residence's paid plan: maintenance requests, messaging the residence after move-in, and visitor logs.

If your residence is on the Free plan, the app tells you "Not available yet" instead of sending a request nobody can answer. This isn't something you've done.

Tap "Let my residence know" and we tell them you'd like it. Your residence can switch it on by upgrading.

Messaging is always open until you move in, so you can ask questions, arrange viewings and sort out your lease whatever plan the residence is on.

For anything urgent, contact your residence directly. In an emergency, call 10111.

If NSFAS or a bursary pays for your accommodation, add it in Profile > My Funding: the funder, and the amount for the year if you know it.

Campus Hearth checks it with the funder, sharing only what's needed to confirm it: who you are, your student number, and the amount and period it covers. You can follow it in My Funding: Waiting, We need more, Confirmed or Not confirmed.

Once it's confirmed, the fees you apply for show what your funding covers. We don't award funding and we don't pay it: your funder pays, and fees and deposits are still paid to the residence, not through Campus Hearth.

In the app, go to Profile and tap Request a copy of my data or Delete my account. You enter your password again to confirm it's you. My privacy requests shows where each request stands.

We answer within 30 days. A copy of your data is sent as a link to the email on your account, and the link works for 7 days.

Deleting your account removes your name, contact details, ID and photo, and closes your sign-in for good. Some records, such as leases and payments, are kept anonymised for the time the law requires. If you have a lease or booking still in progress, we finish your request once it ends and tell you why we're waiting.

You can also email info@campushearth.com from the address on your account. The student privacy notice has every detail.

On the residence's page, tap the ⋮ menu at the top and choose Report this listing or Report this landlord. You can also report a message, a conversation or a review from where you see it.

Our team reviews every report. Follow yours in Profile > My Reports.

Report anyone who asks you to pay Campus Hearth, pressures you to pay before a viewing or a lease, or whose listing doesn't match the place. If you'd rather write to us, email info@campushearth.com.