Move-in Guide

1.1. Eligible persons

Persons are eligible to apply for and receive a place in a student residence if none of the exclusion criteria listed below apply to them and they have a current certificate of matriculation (Immatrikulationsbescheinigung/Studienbescheinigung) or a current letter of admission from one of the universities in the area of responsibility of the Studierendenwerk Würzburg, which, according to the regulation on the Bavarian Studierendenwerk organisations (Verordnung über die bayerischen Studierendenwerke), is currently responsible for students studying at the universities in Aschaffenburg, Bamberg, Schweinfurt and Würzburg.

Applicants can only apply for a place in a student residence which is located in the town where the university is located at which, according to their university, they complete all or most of their studies.

1.2. Exclusion criteria

The following persons are not eligible to apply:

1. Persons who are not enrolled at a university in the area of responsibility of the Studierendenwerk Würzburg or have not received a letter of admission from such a university yet or who have received a conditional letter of admission to a Bachelor’s programme
2. Persons whose tenancy has been terminated by the Studierendenwerk Würzburg
3. Persons who have been banned by the Studierendenwerk Würzburg from entering its premises
4. Persons who live or have lived in a student residence of the Studierendenwerk Würzburg without a valid rental contract or without the consent of the Studierendenwerk Würzburg, provided that it is or was not a typical visit given the type and duration
5. Persons who are overdue with their rent or have other financial liabilities to the Studierendenwerk Würzburg
6. Persons whose parents live in the same town in which their university is located
7. Persons whose parents do not live in the town in which their university is located but still live in the fare zone of the semester ticket - this applies to applicants studying in Bamberg or Würzburg
8. Persons whose monthly income is higher than the current BAföG maximum rate
9. Persons who have already completed a university degree in the Federal Republic of Germany, provided that it is not a Bachelor’s degree followed by a Master’s degree
10. Persons who will have exceeded the maximum funding term according to the BAföG Act at the date of moving in or the desired date of moving in
11. Persons who are enrolled in a part-time degree programme
12. Persons who are or will be a doctoral researcher or Ph.D. candidate or are or will be completing their Referendariat practical training at the date of moving in or the desired date of moving in
13. Persons who will be taking their final exams at the date of moving in or the desired date of moving in without being enrolled

2.1. Application

Applications must be submitted through the website of the Studierendenwerk Würzburg (https://www.swerk-wue.de/en/).

Applications must be accompanied by a current certificate of matriculation from a university in the area of responsibility of the Studierendenwerk Würzburg - or, in the case of applicants who are not enrolled yet, by a current letter of admission from a university in the area of responsibility of the Studierendenwerk Würzburg - plus a scan of an official identification document and, if needed, the documents required to receive wheelchair-accessible accommodation or accommodation for students with children.

Persons who cannot yet supply a certificate of matriculation at the time the apply must upload the certificate on the website of the Studierendenwerk Würzburg (www.swerk-wue.de/en) immediately after they receive it.

2.2. Expiration of applications

In the following cases, applications will expire without exception:

1. One or more exclusion criteria apply to the applicant
2. One or more exclusion criteria occur at a later date
3. The applicant submits more than one application; the Studierendenwerk Würzburg will always work with the most recent application
4. After an unsuccessful reminder due to the applicant not having uploaded their certificate of matriculation in time
5. 2.5 years after the date of receipt of the application
6. When the applicant is made an offer of a place in a student residence

2.3. Making changes to the application and personal details

Applicants who want to make changes to their personal details, for example their address, mobile number or email address, want to change their desired date of moving in or want to submit a new certificate of matriculation or letter of admission will have to email their contact person or send an email to wohnen@swerk-wue.de.

Applicants who want to make any other changes will have to submit a new application. The accumulated waiting period will be lost.

2.4. Waiting lists and deadlines

At irregular intervals, students will receive emails asking them to confirm that they are still interested in a place in a student residence. If they do not confirm their interest by clicking the link in the email within the specified time period, their application will be cancelled and they will be taken off the waiting list. 

Applicants must upload a current certificate of matriculation on the website of the Studierendenwerk Würzburg (www.swerk-wue.de/en) each semester for as long as their application is on the waiting list. The deadline for uploading the current certificate of matriculation is 1 November in the winter semester and 1 May in the summer semester.

The Studierendenwerk Würzburg will not be able to provide information about an applicant’s current position on the waiting list.

The available places in the student residences are usually allocated in the chronological order of receipt of applications (waiting list). To ensure a balanced tenant structure in the student residences, the Studierendenwerk Würzburg will use quotas and contingents when allocating the places.

The Studierendenwerk Würzburg reserves the right to deviate from the waiting list in individual cases in order to ensure that socially-stable tenant structures are created and maintained.

Subject to availability, preferential consideration will be given to former tenants who had terminated or not extended their rental contract because of a leave of absence, a study abroad period, an internship in another town that is relevant to their degree programme or because they had to go to another town to write their Bachelor’s, Master’s or Diplom thesis and would like to come back to the same student residence immediately afterwards or for the start of the following semester. However, this applies only if the application is submitted together with a document to serve as proof no later than three months before the desired date of moving in and if none of the exclusion criteria apply at the desired date of moving in.

3.1. Some of the places in the student residences are set aside each semester for students coming to the universities on an exchange programme.

3.2. Each winter semester, a contingent of available places in the student residences will be given to students studying in the first or second semester of an undergraduate programme. This is in order to account for the difficulties encountered by first-year students having to adjust to a new stage in their lives.

3.3. When allocating the places in the student residences, the Studierendenwerk Würzburg strives to achieve a balanced ratio of domestic and international students. 

3.4. The places in the student residences are usually allocated to applicants two to eight weeks before the start date of the rental contract. Allocations at shorter notice are also possible. If a place becomes available at short notice, another procedure may be used for its allocation (for example lottery, discretionary allocation, offers made to several applicants with the applicant who is first to make a binding acceptance within the specified time period receiving the place and the other applicants keeping their places on the waiting list).

A prerequisite for the acceptance of an offer of a place in a student residence is that the Studierendenwerk receives the rental contract signed by the future tenant within the prescribed deadline. The tenancy will not come into effect until the rental contract has also been signed by the Studierendenwerk Würzburg.

Students with special needs are eligible to apply for preferential consideration for places specifically designed for this group of tenants. 

The same applies to students with children. In this case, the prerequisite is that all persons who live in the same household with the child or children must be enrolled. Documents to serve as proof that this requirement is met must be submitted along with the application for a place in a student residence.

All rental contracts are fixed-term contracts. Their maximum duration is seven semesters or, in the case of students enrolled in a Master’s programme, four semesters. However, in cases where the maximum funding term according to the BAföG Act would be reached during this period, the contract will be for a fixed term to end on the respective end date of the funding (rounded up to full semesters). Persons who submitted a letter of admission to a higher semester or a conditional letter of admission to a Master’s programme along with their application and who have not yet submitted a certificate of matriculation will usually receive a rental contract with a duration of one semester.

Persons who are studying at the i-Campus in Schweinfurt, however, generally receive a rental contract with a duration of a maximum of two semesters when they start their studies.

Rental contracts for rooms or apartments that the Studierendenwerk Würzburg has rented will be for a fixed term to end at the latest on the agreed end date of the rental contract of the Studierendenwerk Würzburg or on the next possible date of termination by the Studierendenwerk Würzburg as the tenant or landlord.

Depending on their programme and university, exchange programme students will receive a rental contract with a duration of one or two semesters and, if needed and places are available, for an additional month for a language course/introductory course taken before their exchange programme starts.

Tenants can apply for an extension of their rental period up until the maximum funding term according to the BAföG Act, provided that none of the exclusion criteria listed under „Eligible persons“ apply to them. One change of subject can be recognised, provided that it is made before the end of the tenant’s fifth semester. In the case of tenants studying a Master’s programme, no change of subjects will be recognised, however.

In normal circumstances, it is not possible to move from one student residence to another or to another housing unit in the same student residence. There may be exceptions in cases where places designed specifically for special groups of tenants are concerned.
Tenants living in a housing unit designed specifically for a special group of tenants who are not a member of the group in question must move to another housing unit, which will be provided to them by the Studierendenwerk Würzburg.

Applications to move from one housing unit to another that were submitted before these rules and regulations went into force will remain valid and will be processed in accordance with the previous procedure.

The applicant/tenant must notify the Studierendenwerk Würzburg immediately of any changes to their name, (home) address, bank details, phone/mobile number and email address in the period between the submission of their application and the closure of their tenancy.

The applicant/tenant undertakes to ensure that they can be reached by email and, in particular, to ensure that emails from the landlord will not bounce because of a full mailbox or spam filter blocks etc.

These rules and regulations will enter into force effective 08 July 2025 and replace the allocation procedure previously used by the Studierendenwerk Würzburg unless there are other provisions on individual points.