Generally, is it cheaper to live in halls or rent a flat/house privately with people

Since no one answered my last thread:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=44322235&highlight=

I have took the initiative and tried to apply for student accommodation, but apparently its too late so I emailed my university to find out what I can do. Hopefully there might be spare places left for 3rd year students.

Anyway, I was wondering if student accommodation is more expensive than renting a house or flat privately with people.

It is really hard to compare as student accommodation usually includes electricity, gas, etc.

From past experience, please answer.

Okay I'm looking for a long contract.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

SillyEddy

It massively depends on location and other factors, but I've been able to secure a decent student house (for 5 people) for about £75/week. Halls was £105 a week. Add in the extra costs associated with bills and we're still looking to make a pretty impressive saving each month.

In general, I'd say private is cheaper, but you may be stuck in a 12 month contract, so you'll be paying for longer (even if it's at a cheaper rate). I was able to get a 10 month contract, so my accommodation is incredibly competitive against halls.

Reply 2

Origami Bullets

It depends, but given that
- private lets are 52 weeks, compared with 40 weeks or so in halls (though some private lets give half rent over the summer)
- bills are usually around £50 a month

I found that it was actually cheaper to live in halls, when comparing like with like (self catered, shared bathroom)

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Reply 3

beccafairy

it depends on how much your uni is prepared to rip you off for halls. housing works out way cheaper for me, but my uni charges a lot more than average in terms of rent - £135pw is the cheapest and it's kinda far away from everything and shared with other unis, and the most expensive is over £200pw!
also generally speaking, the more people you share with the cheaper the rent works out - so if you were to share with say four/five people it would usually work out cheaper than getting just a two bedroom flat with a friend.