How to find the perfect student house…

Moving into a house with your best mates is probably the dream you’ve always thought or spoken about growing up. When starting first year, the vast majority of students live in halls, either on or off campus.

What you don’t realise, or what not many people discuss, is that student housing for the next academic year goes ridiculously quickly; therefore, I’m here to tell you all about my top tips to finding the perfect house for you, and your pals, before all of the best places get taken.

This may sound a little strange but I’d advise that before you go on the lookout for housing, you have to be selfish.

By this I mean that you need to consider what will be best for you in the long run – are you living with people who are going to support you throughout your university experience? People who are going to respect your privacy? What if you’d prefer to live in a small 3 bed house rather than a large 10 house share? Write a list of all the things you want or require before you go on the hunt for your ideal house.

Next tip is to think about location. Once you’ve searched the current houses available via student housing, or roamed the local letting agencies, it’s time to decide which area of the city you want to live in. Is there available transport if you are living far from campus? How much will commuting cost if you decide to live far out? Will you have to wake up at the crack of dawn just so you can make it for a 9am lecture? These are all things that go through a student’s mind when considering whether the location of your first student house will be the right one. Pick a place that you feel comfortable, safe, fits your needs and a reasonable distance from the university campus.

Now we are onto the house hunting process. When you go for house viewings, it’s a good idea to prepare a list of things that you and your future housemates are looking for or questions that you want to ask. This could include (but isn’t limited to) stuff like –  making sure there is a desk in each room (an absolute essential for any university student), there’s enough room in the kitchen for you to all eat meals together (great way to bond with new people) and places for storage in the bedrooms/shared rooms. If you have that checklist installed in your memory or maybe a physical copy on someones phone may be handy to take on the day of a viewing, then hopefully you’ll be signing a contract for your future house in no time!

Have you started looking for a student house for next year yet? Are you looking forward to viewing houses?