Would stay clear from student houses- know a lot of people who have had very bad experiences, the chances of finding the people you really click with from the 4 others in your house is very low.
I have a friend in a student house, she is the only one who has been there since october, all the others have dropped out/moved into halls. Lots of them international or not very sociable. She says the problem is you just meet so few people, even going to society nights out or out with course friends is hard because at the end of the night theres no body to walk back with wheras if you're in halls you can always find someone from your hall to taxi it back or walk back with.
Would really reccomend Hawthorns from what i've heard, its small and near uni/the triangle but theres enough people to find people you really get on with. Before uni you assume you will get on with whoever but once youre here and past freshers people settle into friendships and you need people you really click with, not just accquaintances you can have fun with when drunk but not much to talk about when sober.