private first-year accomodation 2015

Hi,

I have tried the search function but not found any specific thread, so I decided to open one!

Has anyone else considered private accomodation in first year or lived in it in the past?

Would anyone be interested in sharing next year?

Is there any advice regarding this topic?

Greets!

Reply 1

TiriBelle

Hi,

I wouldn't recommend it personally because most of the friends you make are through your college initially. You would of course be able to hang out in your college and go to events but from my experience living in gives you the best opportunity to meet lots of new people and get to know them very well.

Private accommodation can be expensive in Durham depending on how close to the centre you want to be. I lived in college in my 1st and 3rd years and out in 2nd and during my MA.

It is of course your choice but if I had to do it all again I would definitely live in college first year.

Durham University

Durham

Visit website

Reply 2

zoechen

Thanks for the info!

I have contacted the college and it doesn't even seem to be easy to "get out".

I'll try to keep this thread updated, even though that rarely works :wink:

Reply 3

pianofluteftw

College really doesn't recommend 'living out' (ie. in privately rented accommodation) for the first year. In fact, in most colleges it is compulsory to 'live in' for the first year except in exceptional circumstances. This is because the college system is a huge part of life at Durham.

College lets you make friends really quickly, feel part of a community, join in lots of activities and generally help you settle in. It IS expensive, however a student protest on Monday is aiming to make the university reconsider it's escalating accommodation fees as students are very aware people are feeling a financial burden. That said, don't let financial worries put you off living in, as there are systems in place to support students.

If it's not finances you're worried about and more about whether you'd enjoy living in college - trust me you'll almost certainly love it. It really is the most amazing experience, most people adore their college and are painfully loyal to it. First year was honestly the best year of my life and college played a big part in that. I was terrified before going but I shouldn't have been worried!

Finally, you live out of college at least in second year, and most people live out for their final year too (although there is an option to return to college subject to space!). From a very practical standpoint, in the nicest way possible as you have never lived in Durham, if you were to try and find accommodation for yourself now you'd probably be ripped off and very unhappy. Lots of the accommodation has gone now as the main 'letting season' has passed. Durham is a city with a wide range of different accommodation options, but until you get here and experience the city for yourself and talk to older students, it is hard to know what sort of place to go for. Also, signing up to live with random people, especially in your first year is hugely risky. Having lived with some AWFUL housemates who effectively ruined a year for me I can tell you how important living with the right people is as it can have huge effects on your studies too.

My advice would be to go with college. If you have genuine specific needs that you are worried they can't fulfill, ask them, they're usually very good at helping people out. Why do you have reservations? Also what college were you allocated?

Hope this helps!

Reply 4

zoechen

It was primarily a financial consideration - I am trying to apply to some foundations, but what's the chance of getting something :frown:

.

Within the last week I have also found out that the usual housing situation in the UK seems to be completely different than where I come from! It is much more usual here to move out after school into your own flat. Most rental contract also don't have a timeframe, so there is no "rental season". You can just try to move anytime. If you don't like the place you can just cancel the rental contract. After someone leaves the flat, the open space is usually advertised online (there are homepages for that which contain hundreds of offers); afterwards everyone is interviewed to ensure the candidate fits. This system doesn't seem to exist in the UK.

I don't live with my parents anymore and I don't know where to put my furniture and belongings if I move to a small college room - I could leave them at various friends and family members, but that's not really what one wants, right? At the same time it seems to be completely impossible to find open flat shares, as everything seems to run on a yearly basis between friends.

I currently flat share and was very lucky with my flatmates. - I would be afraid of unsuitable flatmates, however, and probably the cost I could save on fees might be lost on extra travel in order to find a private rented place.

So finances put aside, I am really unsure, what would be the better choice - I believe, however, it might be pretty hard to find a suitable place!

As I wrote before I contacted the college for advice and options and am waiting for their reply.

Reply 5

RibenaRockstar

Original post by zoechen

Within the last week I have also found out that the usual housing situation in the UK seems to be completely different than where I come from! It is much more usual here to move out after school into your own flat. Most rental contract also don't have a timeframe, so there is no "rental season". You can just try to move anytime. If you don't like the place you can just cancel the rental contract. After someone leaves the flat, the open space is usually advertised online (there are homepages for that which contain hundreds of offers); afterwards everyone is interviewed to ensure the candidate fits. This system doesn't seem to exist in the UK.

This system does exist in the UK, but unfortunately not for student lettings which are on a year-by-year basis. It sucks but that's how it is because it's how the landlords can make the most money. (Cynical, me? Never.)

Reply 6

pianofluteftw

Ah, if you're an international student I see why it is more of a problem!

As the previous post says, those systems do exist in the UK, but not really for the student market. As Durham is a small city with a high proportion of students it is even worse, as most of the lettings are for students anyway, and other properties may not even allow students due to the reputation of students being messy etc. As such, in Durham there is very much a seasonal market, you have to look hard to find anything other that's close to lectures!

There are every year quite a few international students trying to find accommodation (particularly post grads who do not have to live in college) so it is possible, however usually landlords charge a lot as they know they can! As such, it is often not actually that much cheaper to live out, and you do miss out on the benefits of college!

Reply 7

UniversalStudentLiving

Hi

We are Universal Student Living and we are a provider of student accommodation in Durham (you can check us out here), we have a lot of international students live with us every year including a few first years. However to echo the words of others before me - it is not recommended for first year students to 'live out'.

Our rent is reasonably priced for Durham, and slightly cheaper than some of the colleges. We aim to make everything as simple as possible for our residents so all the bills are included in the rent (as well as some insurance for your belongings), we are situated close to the train and bus station as well as the town centre.

Feel free to contact us to have a chat to see if we can help with your accommodation for next year.

Rachel
Universal Student Living Team