Which boards can I register to provide?
HFS London offers the below Homestay accommodation options to international students. As a Host Family you can select to offer any of the options below. On the Inspection Visit at your home, HFS London will record which of the options you are happy to offer.
Self Catering |
Guest prepares own meals and has a dedicated storage area for food in the
kitchen. Times for use of kitchen to be decided with host family. |
Bed and Breakfast
‘Light’ access to kitchen only |
Continental Breakfast
Cereal, Toast, Jam, Tea/Coffee, Juice
‘Light’ access includes use of the kitchen to make a sandwich and possibly use of the microwave. No access to the cooker/oven to prepare meals. |
Half Board (5 Nights)
Continental Breakfast 7 days in the week. Evening Meal Monday to Friday only. 'Light' access to kitchen on weekends. |
Continental Breakfast
Cereal, Toast, Jam, Tea/Coffee, Juice
Evening Meal
Main meal to include a meat or fish dish. To be eaten with host family.
‘Light’ access includes use of the kitchen to make a sandwich and possibly use of the microwave. No access to the cooker/oven to prepare meals.
|
Half Board (7 Nights)
Continental Breakfast and Evening Meal Monday to Sunday. |
Continental Breakfast
Cereal, Toast, Jam, Tea/Coffee, Juice
Evening Meal
Main meal to include a meat or fish dish. To be eaten with host family |
Half Board is the most popular package chosen by students and will account for approximately fifty per cent of all placements made with our Host Families. This is because the package provides more opportunity for students to interact and engage with you as their Host Family. Each Host Family’s personal circumstances will be different. Providing evening meals, for example, may not be suitable for everyone. Half Board tends to work well for families who regularly cook an evening meal, maybe because they have children in the home. In this scenario, adding an extra place at the table will be of little inconvenience.
Host Families are also offered the option of registering for the Half Board 5 Nights package. The student is provided with a continental breakfast every day, but an evening meal is only provided five nights in the week. Although we suggest that the evening meal is provided Monday to Friday, in practice the Host Family can come to an arrangement with the student directly as to which two days in any week they prefer not to have their evening meal. The student should be allowed ‘light’ access (see below) to the kitchen (on weekends only). This catered option allows for a little bit more flexibility to both the student and the Host Family.
Host Families who are unable to provide Half Board will usually register to offer Self-Catering and/or Bed & Continental Breakfast.
When on the Self-Catering package the student will have full access to the kitchen to prepare his/her own meals, with an allocated storage space in the fridge and cupboard. The host is not required to provide meals.
When on the Bed & Continental Breakfast option, the student should be provided with a Continental Breakfast but only allowed ‘light’ access to the kitchen. ‘Light’ access to the kitchen means that the student is allowed to make a sandwich or use the microwave, but will not require access to the oven and cooker. With Bed & Continental Breakfast, the Host Family provides the breakfast. It does not, however, need to be served to the student as they will help themselves in the morning. Students may request some storage space for basic food supplies.
The Self Catering and/or Bed & Continental Breakfast package can offer more flexibility to Host Families unable to cater for evening meals.
We also have many Host Families who prefer to retain control of their kitchen and, therefore, prefer to cater for students. If you fall into this category, you may only wish to register to offer Bed & Continental Breakfast and Half Board to students.
In general terms, the more flexible you are as regards board(s) offered, the more placements we will be able to contact you about. If, for example, you are in a position to register with HFS London to offer all three packages (Self-Catering, Bed & Continental Breakfast and Half Board), then your profile will be shortlisted by our Placements Team more frequently than if you only registered to offer Self-Catering.
HFS London will never ask you to provide an accommodation package that does not fit your personal circumstances.
If your circumstances change at any time after your registration and you wish to change the packages that you are able to offer, then please inform HFS London and we will amend our database accordingly.