Homestay
Homestays are a popular choice for international students visiting the UK. They offer the benefit of a family atmosphere, the chance to practice your English, and a chance to experience a different way of life.
You won’t just be renting a room, you will be treated like a member of the family. You will have full access to the home, and there will be a laundry service available. Our homestay hosts vary from a single host mother, a retired couple, a family with pets and children, to a professional couple who offer independent accommodation with self-catering facilities.
Homestay options are also good for those students looking for temporary accommodation for a few weeks or for those seeking more independent options in the longer term. The hosts reflect our multi-cultural society and English is always the main language spoken in the house.
As a general guide, most homestays live in residential locations around 30-45 minutes from the city centre/school. The price of public transport varies from city to city, with London travelcards costing approximately £6 per day (zone 1-3), and £3 per day in Birmingham. Please see our destination pages for more details.
Meal plans:
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- Bed and Breakfast
- Half board (breakfast and evening meal)
- Bed and Breakfast with use of kitchen
- Full board (breakfast, evening meal and packed lunch)
- Self-catering
Bed & breakfast includes a continental style breakfast consisting of cereal, toast, tea/coffee etc. Half board includes a continental breakfast and a cooked dinner consisting of a main course of meat or fish with pasta or rice and vegetables or salad, followed by a dessert, yoghurt or fruit.
Meals are usually eaten with the family unless otherwise arranged and special diets such as vegetarian, halal and other requirements can be catered for. There is a small daily supplement for vegan, gluten free, lactose free and halal diets to reflect the extra food that the host will provide. Please tell us if you have a special requirement when you request your accommodation.
We also offer a self-catering option, where you can prepare your own evening meal, and you will be given storage space in the kitchen and fridge for your own food and drink.
For group accommodation, our families also offer full board, which includes breakfast, dinner and a packed lunch containing a sandwich, fruit, drink, and a bag of crisps or a bar of chocolate.
With every family, you can be assured of:
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- A private bedroom or a twin shared room if you wish to share the room with another person travelling with you.
- A bedroom with natural light, with an adequately sized bed (bunk beds may be used students under 16 years old)
- Adequate heating and lighting
- Adequate hanging and drawer space and storage for clothes
- A table or desk and chair for studying (either in the bedroom or in the main part of the house)
- Laundry access once a week
- A key to the house (for adults only)
- A weekly change of towels and bed linens
- Daily access to a bathroom with a bath or shower
- Use of the family home
- English spoken as the main language in the family home
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Please note that we charge a small daily supplement for bookings at peak times (July and August) and over the Christmas holiday period.
Homestay destinations
Birmingham
Birmingham
Bristol
Bristol
Coventry
Coventry
Jersey
Jersey
London
London
Northampton
Northampton
Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Cambridge
Cambridge
Dublin
Dublin
Kent
Kent
Manchester
Manchester
Oxford
Oxford
Brighton
Brighton
Canterbury
Canterbury
Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Liverpool
Liverpool
Medway
Medway
York
York
Frequently asked questions
You will need to provide a spare bedroom for students with adequate storage, study facilities, and internet connection. You also must be willing to welcome international students at your home and provide them with meals as required, as well as a friendly and welcoming, interactive environment. There is also legal compliance, like suitability checks, that we may require before allocating any students with you. Our support team will assist you with this process.
This will depend on the student’s stay. Many students come only for short stays – usually from 3 days up to 4 weeks. The longer-term students stay with homestays over 4 weeks, sometimes the whole school semester or the entire year. It is will be your decision whether you will prefer a short stay or long-term students or a mixture of both.
Once you register with us and go through the registration process, we will activate your profile in our system and will be contacting you with potential bookings for your area. We will always provide you with all the information about the booking and it will be then up to your availability and preference if you accept it.. We aim to provide our homestays with bookings throughout the whole year.
Our booking rates are varying per booking and are based on whether the booking is an individual adult, junior group, facility, location, meal plan, room and sharing preferences. All our rates are pro-rata so you are paid for all the nights the student stays with you. You will be also provided with the exact price for each booking at the time of us confirming each booking. Hosts International pays all hosts regularly so you will have a security of regular payments for your students.
We pay our hosts regularly on a weekly basis by bank transfer or cheque. This means that you don’t have to worry about students paying or any financial arrangements with the students.
Our offices are open from Monday to Friday from 8.30 am until 6.00 pm. After these hours and in case of any emergency, you can call our emergency number +44 (0) 7799 693566.
Yes, having a pet is fine and many of our current hosts have pets. We will make a note on your profile that you have a pet to ensure that all the students interested in your accommodation are aware before they arrive to your home.
Lodgers are usually more independent. We ask our hometays to make sure that they communicate with their students on regular basis as this is the main reason why students chose homestay accommpodation. This enables them to experience living in local family and, in many cases, also to improve their English.
We work with many schools,colleges and universities and therefore can give you students year round especially in the summer busy period, to suit your avaibility. This gives you the flexibility to host year round or as you wish.