[xsmilesx]

From the very few students that are actually active in this forum, i havn't really been hearing good things about the Goldsmiths halls of residence. I don't know anyone who's been there before or seen them, but the pictures don't look so "nice" to me and they seem to be really pricey for standard looking single rooms (though, i'm sure all London accommodation is) lol.
Goldsmiths really isn't a big university at all and i'm still a bit nervous on the idea of moving to London to live on my own for the next 3/4 years lol. It would be a more wise decision to stay at halls, right? Plus, it seems as though a lot of students are going to opt for halls in the first year. Making friends easily shouldn't be a problem =].

I've been doing some research on Private accommodation with my 'googling abilities' and have found some really nice house/flat shares in South East London (near Goldsmiths) and most of them are nicer, double rooms and slightly cheaper (at around an average of £100 per week inc. bills).

Intercollegiate halls don't interest me to be honest and me being the lazy sod that i am, i think they're too far away from Goldsmiths (most of them are near UCL and Kings Cross).

The London student residences seem pretty cool! But if only i was rich lol. They're priced on average £200+ per week for double rooms and most of them don't allow you to share with anyone.

What do you guys think?

[peaches en regalia]

hi there,

i'm currently awaiting my reply for student accomodation at goldsmiths halls, and as i live in london its doubtful whether or not i will be offered a place. but i was wondering if you had any links from your searches on flats for rent in south east london, where you said the rent was £100 per week including bills etc?

Would be much useful! Thanks!

[Fernand089]

(Original post by peaches en regalia)
hi there,

i'm currently awaiting my reply for student accomodation at goldsmiths halls, and as i live in london its doubtful whether or not i will be offered a place. but i was wondering if you had any links from your searches on flats for rent in south east london, where you said the rent was £100 per week including bills etc?

Would be much useful! Thanks!

iam in the same boat as you really i've tried looking for private accomadation in case i dont get an offer for halls but i all the places i've looked at are way to expensive and the website goldsmiths gives you (ULH website) isn't much help cause i cant even access their database

[peaches en regalia]

i gave them a call the other day, goldsmiths that is, and they said that it was unlikely for them to give accomodation to londerners, but by second term more places would be available...

[xsmilesx]

Hello =]

There are various student residences in London, but they're fairly expensive lol... Try typing "London Student Residences" on Google.

The website that i've used to check up on private sector housing is www.intolondon.co.uk but they generally consist of house/flat-shares.

I decided to live in Halls of Residence for the first year since i don't live in London lol, thought it'd be a wiser decision for me.

x

[cubes]

Where did you ask for smiles?

+

A tardy response, but if anyone else is weighing this up, here's my 2d:

If you go for halls you will meet a lot of people very quickly, most of whom will be in the same situation as yourself and have very limited experience of and contacts in London and will want to hang out with wicked-new-halls-people.

If you're quite independent &/or if you're studying a course in which you have a substantial amount of contact with other students (i.e. studio based rather than lecture) then private accomodation isn't that terrible an option but have a good think on it.
I know a few people this situation worked out well for.

The Halls...

Loring = New and shiny but I wouldn't have enjoyed being there. Less a range of age in the students here, generally more school leavers than elsewhere (not the worst thing, there is a highly social atmosphere) and security seemed to give a lot more hassle than in Surrey House.

Surrey House, Hall: Massive kitchens shared with millions (16) of people. Some of whom you will never see and will spend their days surreptitiously stashing your Nutella in their rooms. Others wont wash up. If you can live with that you'll meet lots of people fast, some of whom might share their Nutella with you. Security (aka Tek) were up here quite a lot. I spent a lot of my social time in halls here though my room itself was in the annex.

Surrey House, House: I'm a big fan of this place, wonky staircase, bath and quite large rooms. Similar to the Hall but less hectic and slightly more private. I'm not sure how many people share the kitchen space etc here, I think its similar numbers to the halls, as far as I remember there is one large and one small kitchen.

Surrey House, Annex: Similar to Loring, fire-doors on kitchens etc. Can be a bit quiet, a lot of mature students with their own friend networks compared to the hall or house, but I still met lovely people here. There is 8 people per flat. I had some issues with washing up etc but it was always livable. En suite.

Chesterman: "Horrible, like a prison" says one happy customer. It was laid similar to Loring except without the open social feeling. So bad bits without the balance... Its probably not that bad really, I was only there twice.

Batavia: Similar to Surrey House-House but smaller. Heard there was mice/rats/goblins at various stages.


*I almost forgot: Halls are really, really close to college. You can roll out of bed and be in a lecture within a leisurely 10 minutes. Don't underestimate the luxury of this. You can easily go home for lunch and go back in again, you can go to the library on a whim! Use this privilege! Before you end up cycling/busing/running from Hackney/wherever.

[xsmilesx]

Wow! Thanks cubes! =]

[what-the-el]

I live in Surrey House at the moment, and can honestly say it's the best decision I made. I share a kitchen with 22 others, which while sometimes very messy makes for great parties, loads of people to chat to all the time, and very ambitious christmas dinners! The rooms are the biggest of all the halls, we have really great baths, and Tek, the security guard is a quality guy. Its a huge block and in the summer everyone from Surrey House and the annexe chill in the gardens. The nightbus drops you right opposite the halls, so no sketchy walks in the dark either.

Also when you're hungover, being able to get to uni in 5 minutes flat is a god-send.

Other halls:

Loring: Shiny and new. We call it Boring-loring cos it seems less social than us, but I've heard it's ok

Batavia: Otherwise known as Ratavia. Very skanky, but then again, cheapest.

Chesterman: I have friends there, and it seems nice enough...kitchens of about 8.

The Surrey Annexe: this place kind of scares me! It seems a lot more quiet than us - mind you, anything does next to surrey house.


I would recommend Surrey House to anyone who enjoys parties all the time and doesn't mind a bit of mess.

[zJacob]

(Original post by what-the-el)
I live in Surrey House at the moment.

Thanks for all the information.

Do you know which of the halls is the most brightly lit?

I'm thinking of choosing Surrey House because it seemed to have large windows and high ceilings on the 'virtual tour' tool, but I don't know how well that reflects the place...

[Tel8]

I'm a masters student- I think I'd probably be put in Dean's house? I'm hoping though that it's a nice, friendly sort of place where I can meet lots of people! Anyone have any info on it?

[vassrbex]

Tel8, as an international masters student, I've been told I'm most likely to be put in Dean's House as well!! Looks quite close to the campus and pretty average in terms of space...

Was sooo spoiled by my Undergrad housing here in the states. I was shocked when I first saw pics of the halls at goldsmiths but after looking at Manchester, Exeter, and QUB...it didn't seem like Goldsmiths was much different!

[Tel8]

(Original post by vassrbex)
Tel8, as an international masters student, I've been told I'm most likely to be put in Dean's House as well!! Looks quite close to the campus and pretty average in terms of space...

Was sooo spoiled by my Undergrad housing here in the states. I was shocked when I first saw pics of the halls at goldsmiths but after looking at Manchester, Exeter, and QUB...it didn't seem like Goldsmiths was much different!

Ah! LOL I actually asked you about this in the other thread just a minute ago (I think we're currently the only ones frequenting this part of the forum atm?)

Anyways, I'm glad to find a fellow masters student! If we're both going to be in Dean's, we should totally meet up during move in! It can't hurt to know someone on our first day I think the forms for housing come out tomorrow? Or something does (I got an email asking that I wait until April 1 for housing information?) Blegh I hate all the hanging about waiting- I kind of want to skip ahead to September, but unfortunately I have to graduate first

[what-the-el]

(Original post by zJacob)
Thanks for all the information.

Do you know which of the halls is the most brightly lit?

I'm thinking of choosing Surrey House because it seemed to have large windows and high ceilings on the 'virtual tour' tool, but I don't know how well that reflects the place...

Well (and this is all personal opinion, I haven't visited every flat) Loring and Surrey House seem really light. Chesterman felt a little dingy to me, but that might just be because my friends live on ground floor. Surrey House is great for light, I have 2 windows (lucky me with an end room), and it's bright pretty much all day. The basement flat has huge french doors that look onto the garden in some of the rooms too.

[ambikahofa]

Hello There's a new postgraduate hall called Ewan Henderson house, which is supposed to be exclusively for Masters students. Anyone knows anything about that? Im planning to study MA in Contemporary Art Theory by the way.

[Tel8]

(Original post by ambikahofa)
Hello There's a new postgraduate hall called Ewan Henderson house, which is supposed to be exclusively for Masters students. Anyone knows anything about that? Im planning to study MA in Contemporary Art Theory by the way.

I think I saw it listed on the housing form- it looks quite nice! I'm a master's student as well (Journalism!) so it's good to see some others around here

[ambikahofa]

(Original post by Tel8)
I think I saw it listed on the housing form- it looks quite nice! I'm a master's student as well (Journalism!) so it's good to see some others around here

Have you applied to that as well? It does look nice and new so thats a good start.

[Tel8]

(Original post by ambikahofa)
Have you applied to that as well? It does look nice and new so thats a good start.

I did, I think I listed it as my 3rd or 4th choice- I can't quite remember which, but probably my third choice, as I put Deans and Chesterman as 1 and 2 I think. (I based most of my choice on the prices hopefully it's not too bad!)

[phycojim]

(Original post by cubes)
Loring = New and shiny but I wouldn't have enjoyed being there. Less a range of age in the students here, generally more school leavers than elsewhere (not the worst thing, there is a highly social atmosphere) and security seemed to give a lot more hassle than in Surrey House.

Just to say I live in Loring and it's about 50% of people at school leaving age. Granted, most people are at maximum 22, but it's not just full of happy-to-be-free 18 year olds! It's great and sociable though.

Security at Loring is strange, I buddied up to Francis (the main security guy, who wears a hat with his name on - he's so cool, I genuinely love him) and so he will never make me sign guests in at night (which is a standard procedure due to a long story about a girl who split up with her boyfriend who they had come to recognise as a regular, so they let him in and he beat her up... or something, anyway, that doesn't happen now).

Anyway, Loring's great! Chesterman's lovely too, but the rest are quite a mystery to me. Dean looks miserable as hell though I will say.