Due to severe shortage of residential hall places, taught course postgraduates do not normally get a place. These students are strongly advised to use the Housing Service to find their own accommodation outside the University.
All full-time research students who are registered for an MPhil or PhD degree at the University are eligible to apply for Swire Scholarships to reside in the Robert Black College, where about 9 Swire Scholars are accommodated alongside short-term overseas visitors to the University. Application for residence in the College is invited at time for admission in October every year, when there are vacancies. Enquiries about the scholarships should be addressed to Scholarships Office, The Registry. For details about accommodation, please contact the College Office (Tel: 2296 1771 or Email: rblack@hku.hk).
Graduate House provides 190 single rooms and 10 double rooms (for married couples only) for full-time postgraduate students of the University. All the rooms are fully furnished, air-conditioned and equipped with individual phone lines and fiber-optics computer networking facility.
Each double room has a self-contained bathroom while single rooms share a bathroom between two rooms. There is a student lounge and a pantry on every other floor. Other facilities include a computer room, study rooms, an audiovisual room, a fitness room and a reading room.
The monthly rental charges in Year 2019-2020 are HK$3,724 and HK$6,823 for a single room and a double room respectively. The charges are subject to review at the beginning of every residential year (from September 1 to August 31 of the following year).
The Graduate House rental charge does not include electricity expenses; residents have to pay for electricity charges based on actual consumption at the Residential Tariff Rates set by the Hong Kong Electric Holdings Limited.
The Management and Resident Committees of Graduate House organise a number of social activities throughout the residential year. All residents are encouraged to take part in these activities.
Residence application will normally begin around April or May of each year. All full-time registered postgraduates of the University are eligible to apply. For details, please refer to the website at hku.hk/gradhse, or contact the Graduate House Office at No. 3 University Drive, HKU (Tel: 3917 1810, Fax: 2546 1861 or Email: gradhse@hku.hk.)
The Wong Chik Ting Hall of St. John’s College was opened in September 1997 to provide accommodation for postgraduate students. The 116 single rooms each has a shower room, toilet, telephone, refrigerator, television and a link to the University’s central computer. The rooms are fully furnished with bed, desk, chair, bookcase and cupboards. The Hall has a laundry room for the use of the students. Students may eat in the College Dining Hall at a reasonable cost. The College welcomes both local students and students from mainland China and overseas. The monthly charge in the 2018-2019 academic year is $6,000 for a single room and $6,700 for a larger room. Lodging charges are subject to change in July 2019. 26 guest rooms are also available to visiting scholars and teachers at a reasonable rate.
Other than halls, there are four Residential Colleges in Jockey Club Student Village III on Lung Wah Street, Kennedy Town for 1,800 students, with around half of the places assigned to postgraduates in programmes funded by the Government. Students in the Residential Colleges are expected to take part in intellectual activities and community projects.
CEDARS has rented fully furnished private flats mainly in the vicinity of the University and we allocate these off-campus places directly. There are about 180 places for the first semester of 2019. Each flat can accommodate 6 students of the same gender in shared bedrooms with furniture for each student. There are also air-conditioners, communal bathroom and pantry facilities in each flat. Priority is given to newly arrived non-local students.
These off-campus flats are operated on a cost-recovery basis, with the University providing all the administrative and management support at no costs to students. The monthly charges for 2018-19 are around $5,040 per student. The charges are subject to review in July 2019. For more information and charge schedules of University-rented Off-campus Housing, please see: cedars.hku.hk/och.
CEDARS collects and compiles data on privately-owned rooms or flats in the vicinity of the university campus that are available for rental to students. Students can obtain such information from our intranet: cedars.hku.hk/sections/Accommodation/OffCampusHousing/onlineViewing.php or CEDARS Office. We also offer assistance in matters relating to the renting of rooms and flats.
Please note that private accommodation is extremely expensive. You are strongly advised to finalise arrangements before you arrive. A list of hostels managed by non-profit- making organizations is also available at the CEDARS website. You may make arrangements directly with these hostels for short-term accommodation.
Please write to cedars.housing@hku.hk for further enquiry.