Pictures of accommodation

I have a friend in Robertson's Close and that's really nice. Very central and she has a swishy new kitchen, although her room is a tad small.

I've also been to Darroch Court and that's quite nice, rooms much bigger than Robertson's close... but the kitchen was a bit older and a bit more shabby, although the flat felt a bit more spacious.

Ive also been to one in Kincaids (sp?) court... that wasnt so nice I didn't think.. might have been cos it was a boy's flat and there was dirty pots all over the place and the floor was sticky with spilt beer.. it just seemed a bit more pokey than others i'd been to.

That's all the experience i've had of uni flats... I'm a 1st year in a private flat and i have the huuuugest room ever, it's great!

I pay £275 a month... then there's gas, elec and phone/internet to pay also... which when split up between us prob average £10-15 a month extra.

I think £275 is about average for Ed... It's a really nice flat.. newly furnished and decorated, new kitchen and bathroom!

Sounds OK, but still a bit expensive for me......where did you find such a good flat? ...how easily can you get a decent part-time job in Edinburgh and how much can you earn? living costs will be quite an issue for me, my parents' income is low (I am a student from a new EU country) and I cannot get access to any hardship/AAA scholarships, since I've been studying here only since September 2004 (I'm on 100% scholarship right now)...

I ended up with such a good flat because the I came thru clearing and the uni didn't have any rooms for me, anywhere. So i came up to Ed a few days before term started in sept and found 3 other people in a similar situation and we went flat hunting together. The only reason this was on the market so late into the year was because the developers had only just done it up.

as truth_is_normal says, this flat is advertised as being 3 bedded with lounge... but at £1100 a month, it isn't really practical to have it three bedded... so i have the "lounge" as my room. It's huge! the other 3 rooms are a tad smaller, but not by much. Our kitchen is small though. We've got no table in there and our only communal area is the hall, which is fairly wide but we're not allowed any permanent furniture in there.. fire regulations or something. But we have a few beanbags and it does the job!

As for part time jobs.. i can't really help you. I know someone working for tesco and there are job vacancies advertised in various places. I think if you go out looking for one you shouldnt be too disappointed



Apparently the Uni was after our flat just before we took out the lease... but they said they wouldn't take it because it's too expensive as a 3 person and they couldnt take it as a 4 person because a communal living space was needed.

Some pics, i'll do some department ones and other accommodation soon (maybe)...

The accommodation offerred by the acommodation service is typically overpriced and basic and and, for about everyone, adequate and sometimes a little better, some of the flats being basically coolish and suited to cat like living. Or not, you may find they are just basic and adequate.

By comparison the accommodation offered in the rental market place in the city of Edinburgh which is taken by students is typically quite nice or either cosy, spacious, or pleasant at least and quite some beter than adequate.

It is most common for market let flats to be without a living room or with this room used as a bedroom, though to have a kitchen which is spacious enough, maybe just, for living in, with T.V. stereo and chairs at the table for lounging, or extra more comfortable chairs. I think all of the university's flats, with very, very few exceptions, have no living room.

There is nothing else to say about the university flats except that they are usually made up of typical, basic bits of living space, never bad, but most often not really inspiring, with fluffy, strange coloured lino squares on the floor. The only other thing to say is that there are a few places, like the student flats in Warrender Park Road or Terrace or something in Marchment, I can't remember which, which are in a converted school building have large foyer coridors which sometimes get noisy and students have parties in them. Elsewhere like at the flats at Sciennes and New Arthur Place, there may be some noise of students coming in and out at night especially in the coridor, but the coridors are not large or pleasant enough for most people to stay around in.

The halls rooms are fine. I liked them. They are smaller than many and bigger than some, but typical and otherwise sympathetically plain and conducive of relaxing. But the rooms are close to the same size of the smallest B&B single room you have ever stayed in and it would be for nearly nine months as a full adult, though it is easy to move out to a room in a nice flat with people you have never met before. (Rather than friends you meet which is always a decent idea.) The student rooms in shared student city market flats are advertised constantly in the halls and all over the place.

As the university was no good at all though, halls were a headache regarding working. I could hardly do any, sometimes even the basic requirements. After a while it felt like communism and I wanted, need like you need air, very much to be independent of the company regarding my living arrangements.