Student Accommodation – Private housing/renting

In the second year of uni, most people choose to move out of halls and find a flat or house to live in. This can be quite the learning curve… so here are my tips!

1. Timing

It’s important to know when the estate agents/landlords start looking for new tenants for the next academic year and this differs between different places. For example, in London it’s not worth looking for anywhere until May as this is when things start being advertised. On the other hand, if you’re studying in some places (eg Swansea) you need to start organising your housing much sooner with some areas even requiring you to organise housing before the Christmas holidays!

Check online or contact your universities housing services to find out exactly when you should start looking and don’t panic if you have friends at different unis who started the process much earlier!

2. Pick your flatmates carefully!

It can be tempting to agree to live with anyone when you’re desperate or terrified that you won’t have anyone to live with next year or if you haven’t had a chance to make many friends yet. Even if you have a group of friends that you’re really close to I’d just advise you to really genuinely imagine living with them and just make sure that they’re the type of person you think you can happily live with (be with 24/7) for a year.

I would also advise against agreeing to live with someone you haven’t met yet. This may sound obvious but many people decide to live together and then one of them asks if their friend ca join in too. I’ve seen this end in disaster so make sure you meet up before you agree to live with someone who drives you mad!

If you’re really panicking and can’t find anyone to live with, a lot of properties (especially in London) offer student accommodation on a “room to rent” basis. This is where a Landlord rents out each individual room in a flat to students rather than renting the whole flat to a group that already know each other. There’s also lots of message boards and Facebook groups where you can find or advertise places where a group of people at your uni need to find an extra flat mate or two to rent the house they’ve found.

3. Get on the same page

This is part of choosing you flatmates carefully but it’s no use trying to find a property if you’re looking with someone who’s budget or requirements are very different from your own. Make sure you all discuss what type of place your looking for (see below for my suggested requirements). It’s important to state the things that you absolutely can’t budge on (eg price) but be prepared to compromise a bit to cater for everyone!

4. Where to start

The best way to start is to look on sites such as Zoopla, Rightmove, Primelocation etc. Get an idea of what’s out there and then the best thing to do is to actually start viewing some properties so you can refine exactly what kind of property/area you’re looking for.

Arrannging viewings is also good because it means that estate agents will take your detail and contact you if anything meeting your criteria goes on the market. This is really important because many properties never actually get put online because they get taken so quickly! Being the first to know when something is put on the market is essential!

5. Viewings and what to check for

Here are the things I look for and ask about when viewing properties:

• Central heating

• Double glazing (not essential but should check)

• Noise

• Are utilities metred

• What furnishings are included

• Why are current tenants leaving

• Estate agent fees

• Price (and is this negotiable)

• Move in date

• Smoke alarm + carbon monoxide detector

• Washing machine

• Dishwasher (not essential but very handy!)

• What are the landlords like

• Look for maintenance problems (eg mould, cracks, broken things)

• Distance to uni / transport links

• Shops nearby

• Tenancy length

6. Securing a place

When you find somewhere you like, the first step is putting in an offer. This can be negotiable so decide what price you want t go in at. The next step will be agreeing an offer and putting down a holding deposit

Holding deposit: usually a weeks worth of rent. Means no one else can out an offer on the property and usually takes the property off the market but if you back out of your offer then you will lose the money.

Then you and your guarantors need reference checks. This is organised by the estate agents usually carried out by a third party.

Guarantor: Someone who agrees to pay you rent if you do not pay it (usually a parent/relative). Some estate agents require UK guarantors so if you are an international student you need to discuss this with the estate agent.

Lastly you need to pay the rest of your deposit (usually 6 weeks rent in total including the holding deposit), sign all the forms, pay an admin fee to the estate agents and usually pay 1 months rent in advance. You will have to pay an inventory fee too but this may be at the beginning or end of your tenancy so check that out.

7. Moving In

As soon as you get the keys you should go to the property and take picture of everything! This is so that you have a record and proof of the state of the property when you took over the tenancy so that you can’t be charged for any pre-existing damages etc. when you leave. Check that everything listed in the inventory is present too otherwise you may be charged for missing furniture.

Organise how you are going to buy saucepans etc so that you don’t end up with multiples of everything. Get some things to make your room more homey (fairlights are always good!) and decorate.

8. Set up a bank account

Some estate agents require all payments to come from one account. You don’t want to be in the situation where everyone transfers the rent to one person and then they transfer it to the estate agents in case someone forgets to transfer their portion. It’s also a lot easier to manage bills and buy household items (cleaning supplies, toilet roll,lightbubls etc) from a joint account.

9. Set up bills, utilities, wifi etc

Do you research and compare broadband, gas and electricity providers as it can save you £100s! USwitch is good you comparing utilities and a lot of broadband providers will advertise student offer when actually their normal packages are a better deal so don’t be fooled.

10. Final things

Have fun organising all your stuff and try not to burn down the building! Here’s a biggie: make a cleaning rota and make sure you sort out buying toilet roll (bring some with you when you first move in!) And I know this is a boring one but check/remember when to put the bins/recycling out otherwise you’ll end up with a mountain of rubbish and a swarm of fruit flies taking occupancy in the flat too!

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