Applying for Membership

To apply for membership of either of the National Codes, simply head to the registration page to start an application and follow the instructions after submitting your details. It is strongly recommended that before registering you consult the Code document in full, and also read through the Code Declaration form which can be found at appendix 6. 

Which Code Should I Apply to Join?

There are two Codes; one for accommodation owned or managed by educational establishments and one for accommodation owned or managed by non educational establishments. However, because in some situations - especially where student accommodation is provided in partnership between a provider of services and an educational establishment - it is not easy to decide which party is managing/controlling the accommodation, a framework of test questions has been developed to determine which of the two Codes is most appropriate.

Criteria for Joining the Code

For the non-educational Code, the criteria for membership requires:

• applicants to operate one or more open and occupied purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) building
• that each building must have a minimum of 15 bed spaces - please note that rooms that can be designated as dual occupancy (e.g. for couples) only count as one bed space - a couple sharing 1 bedspace does not constitute 2 bed spaces.
• where students live in one building in rooms off a central corridor, in cluster flats, or in self-contained flats.
• applicants must register all PBSA buildings in their portfolio that fit the above criteria with the Code 

Traditional off-street student housing (e.g. small HMO houses) are not eligible for membership of the National Code.

Membership Periods

Members of the Code for Educational Establishments are currently being invited to sign-up for a three year period, beginning on 15th January 2025 until 15th January 2028.

For the current Non-Educational Establishment Code, membership runs from January 1st 2026 until April 30th 2026, after which a revised Code will become operational and members will be given the opportunity to sign-up to that ahead of the end of April.

Fee

The membership fee varies depending on the number of bed spaces that are being managed and the way in which compliance with the Code is verified (for members of the Educational Establishments Code, only). The membership fees are payable on an annual basis and are set by the Unipol Student Homes Board.

For 2026 the fees are as follows (all figures are exclusive of VAT):

New Applicants 

All new applicants will be required to pay the following fees:

• £2000 application and administration fee, which covers access to the online training and pre-application support from the National Code team - Please note this fee is non-refundable even if your application is denied
• Dependent on the portfolio of sites being registered, either:
  • The minimum fee (if registering 750 bed spaces or less) £1,200
  • The per bed space fee (if registering 751 or more bed spaces) £1.60 per bed space

Existing Members

On an annual basis, existing members of the Code are required to pay:

• Existing members of both Codes (who are verified externally) with 750 or less bed spaces, £1,200;
• Existing members with 751 or more bed spaces, £1.60p per bed space; 
• Members of the Educational Establishment Code who are verified via a Peer to Peer System pay either the minimum fee of £1,200 OR at £1.07p a bed space if they have 1,121 or more bed spaces. 

Before applying you need to ensure that you apply for membership of the correct Code. Once your application (and fee payment) have been received then the National Codes Administrator will contact you with details of the assessment and verification procedures. 

In the first instance you will be asked to complete an Organisational self-assessment questionnaire (OSAQ). Once that has been returned then your membership application will be considered as being 'live' and, at that stage, it would only be possible for an applicant to withdraw from the membership process if they, a)cease to manage student accommodation that falls within the scope of the relevant Code; or b)are removed as a result of action taken through the complaints and tribunal procedures.

Membership will only then be granted following a successful verification visit to one or more of the developments that you manage, which will usually take place within 30 days of the SAQ being returned.