[smz2011]

Hi,

I'm an international student planning to move to London this fall for a year, and my accomodation choice so far are the university halls. Could anyone who's lived there or is currently living in one of the six halls please advise which would be the best option for a postgrad student? I don't want to spend a lot of money, but I'd like all the basic facilites provided as I essentially don't know a thing about living in London-yet!

I'm a bit concerned about the contract lengths as well. Some of the halls offer contracts for 41 weeks only. Is there an option to extend the contract?

What kind of a lifestyle should I expect if I choose a single bedroom? Does a "cluster facility" refer to 5-6 single bedrooms in one apartment with a shared living room and kitchen?

I have lots of questions running through my head right now--would really appreciate if anyone could help asap!

p.s. I'd also like to get an idea of the average weekly expenses from a Londoner's point of view. Anyone?

[nimra20]

Hi,
I guess you are from Pakistan. I am myself from there but moved to England a couple of years ago. I dont live in London but would be starting uni in september. I have also decided to live in the halls but as I have got cousins there so I have got a slightly more idea than you.
ermmmmm... I think its better for u to call the student Services and ask them.
University offers studios which have obviouly got en suite and some of them have kitchens too so you wouldnt have to share However their prices do vary. Alliance House is the cheapest of all. I am myself an undergraduate so they have a slightly different criteria for the undergrads than the postgrads.
Apart from that, Uni does offer some 51 weeks contracts too. It depends on you, how long you want it for Here's the link for the accomodation prices.

http://www.city.ac.uk/study/why-stud...sidence/prices

The best thing about living in Halls is that you would be very close to uni and u can just walk to it. otherwise its really hard to find a nice accommodation in a reasonable prince in the central london. and if you stay in halls u would be putting urself at ease by not having to pay any bills which can be a headache while living at the expensive places like london. and try to apply asap. Like for mine, I applied in February so I would find a place. Sometimes it gets really hard to find a place in halls
and the average weekly expenses totally depend on ur social life if you are a kind of person who is not very out going and prefers cooking at home then of course you expenses would be low. but i m not sure if pakistani guys can cook or tend to cook :P well roughly I would say weekly expenses can be about 100 pounds or more.
like I am a shopaholic so 100 pounds wouldnt be enough for me but might be enough for you It totally depends on your interests and activities in the future.
I dont mean to scare you but when we convert pounds into pakistani rupees tau buhat zyada lagta hai :P

anyways I hope whatever information I gave did help if you have any other querries do let me know I'll try to help you with that

[smz2011]

Hi Nimra
I'm so sorry I took so many days to reply. I forgot about this thread and only just saw your reply! Besides, the last few have been absolutely crazy. Deadlines, correspondences with the universities, bank paperwork--you name it!

Anyway, thank you so much for writing in and giving all the advice.
I don't particularly want to rent a room/studio in the university halls because of obvious reasons, but everyone here seems to be bent on it. They think searching for a private flat to share would be next to impossible from all the way down here, and they might actually be right. Besides, I don't want to live outside zone 1. I know this probably sounds like I'm spoilt rotten, but I don't want to chase tubes early in the morning!
Right now I'm looking at cluster flats at Liberty Hall because I think it would be better to have some people around when i move to a foreign city. Wouldn't do to be all alone in my room living like a hermit! lol Derwent Point is my second option, but they only have single studios.

As far as lifestyle goes, well, I wouldn't call myself a party animal or an extravagant spender but I am fond of going out in the evenings and if nothing else, just walking around town and checking out new places...
Your living expense estimates are right on, btw. Hopefully what we have in mind will be enough in either case!

So which department will you be joining this Sept?

[nimra20]

Hi
No problem at all. I completely understand how busy you must be.
lol. its same for me. I too can't imagine myself chasing tubes every morning, its a headache and it gets worse in winter. You are so right to say that you really need to have people around when you are in a new city. so staying in student halls is the best option
I have also applied for the liberty halls. That's my first preference.
Oh! and yeah, I'll be studying LLB law. What about you ??

[WillowLeaves]

I don't know if this is still relevant, but I thought I'd just chip in and say that looking for a private flat/house share is better than halls. It's a lot cheaper than any if the halls City offers (unless you're adamant about living in the middle of Mayfair, obviously) and personally, I think it's nicer as well. The halls I've seen (which were the Liberty ones) seem to have pretty tiny rooms, they're quite restrictive about bringing friends over etc. I think of you're going to be sharing the kitchen and other areas with other people, you might as well do it for cheaper in a private house.

It's not impossible to secure a room in a private house or flat from abroad, I managed to do that once. Just go to a website like SpareRoom and try replying to some of those ads (I'd recommend focusing on ads by landlords and/or agents, as they seem to be a bit more pragmatic than if it's the tenants themselves advertising the room). Or you could try going through a real estate agency, but that will most likely attract agency fees and I'm not sure how that would fit with your budget.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[asatia]

How is Willen House??
to sum it up in 2 words...it sucks. completely and utterly sucks. why? oh ill tell you why

do you like living somewhere where no one knows you?
do you like living where nothing seems to work and no one cares that it doesnt?
do you want to keep asking over and over for a desk chair that isnt broken or smells bad?
do you want to pay some crazy ridiculous price of 200+ a WEEK for a room where you could easily lose your mind?
do you want to venture to the "games room" only to find that its a dingy scary basement where you may disappear never to be found again?

i didnt think so!

this place is not for everyone. it certainly is not for me. i crave conversation, people, noise. not solitude and loneliness. if you want to be in a room by yourself, then please. live here. you can try to meet the other people that live here, but its a challenge i will tell you that now. it is NOT a social dorm. had i known that, i wouldnt be here.

however, there are some good things about it. and by that, i mean 2 good things.
the location. VERY near uni and shoreditch etc. the location is great.
there are tables in the courtyard to enjoy having dinner at IF and when the weather is nice.

some people may like living here. why? i dont know. but that was not my experience and i just feel its my DUTY to warn incoming students.

the types of people who live here are basically ALL international (im from new york city) and kind of nerdy. a lot of the people here stick to their own groups. indian, asian, greek. lots of those here.

so, if this is your first time living in a dorm, it is not going to be what you think of when you think of dorm life (like in the movies or what your friends tell you) thats for undergrads. they dont have parties here, they dont have get togethers, nothing organised.

i mean, if thats your thing, then by all means. live here. but if you are like me and dont like to live where you dont know who lives next door to you...then you might not want to live here.

and if you want to leave, you have to contact the student center and have someone replace you. they are usually good about this. BUT the new person HAS to be a city uni POST grad student. thats the only catch.