Is it cheaper to rent privately or live in uni halls?

Would it be cheaper to live in uni halls (rent per week is about £150-£200 for york university) or to get a flat/apartment with my friend and split the rent?

Reply 1

username5966560

Original post by turkeytown4

Would it be cheaper to live in uni halls (rent per week is about £150-£200 for york university) or to get a flat/apartment with my friend and split the rent?

I think that it is generally cheaper to rent private. One of the girls at my uni rented private and it costed her £400 a month, compared to £600-£700 a month in the halls. Of course, it wasn't an apartment, it was a shared house, but still she saved the money.

Reply 2

becausethenight

It can depend on the halls and where you rent, so I’d look at options in the area and compare prices.

That said, if you don’t plan to be in York over the summer, you’ll likely save 3-4 months rent staying in halls as most landlords will want a 1 year contract covering the summer holidays at a minimum.

Reply 3

londonmyst

Depends on: the area, accomodation provider and whether halls is all inclusive/the right contract duration for your circumstances.

Reply 4

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Usually halls are more expensive on a weekly/monthly cost basis, but as above bear in mind halls usually have different lease lengths which reflect term dates, whereas private rentals tend to be for block periods (usually 6 months then rolling month to month or sometimes a fixed 1 year lease that gets renewed). Finding somewhere that would rent month to month from the get to go might be hard. So the price differential from not paying rent in those months might make the two comparable anyway.

Also for living outside of halls, rent is usually not (although sometimes will be!) inclusive of bills and utilities, and of course you will have to "self cater" while living outside of halls so will need to account for food costs. Also usually private rentals will be further away from the uni and/or in less desirable areas otherwise, so there may be additional commute costs (or non-financial QoL costs) involved. So again, the difference may be smaller than it seems off the bat (especially if one of you isn't a student and you have to pay council tax!).

Reply 5

username5960917

York is an expensive city, and given the large increase in students, it will be more expensive (much more imo) to rent privately. On a month or week-by-week basis, it might seem that Halls are more expensive, but you'll only be paying for 38-44 weeks. Renting privately, you'll be paying for 52 weeks. Do you want to or have the capability to be paying for a house/apartment over the summer? This was one of the main reasons I chose to stay in Halls again in my second and third year. There was no way I was going to pay for a house that I was not going to be using.