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Been allocated the smallest room in our year 2 flat

Hiya, yeah like the title says i’ve been allocated the smallest room in our flat despite being one of the two people who have been sorting it out. Bummer. I need help with how im gonna arrange this room?? https://sta.sh/0bh6o240sok I literally have no idea how to make this work and im kind of upset.

Reply 1

Muttly

If you spent time cleaning the place up with another student to make it habitable then I would argue that both of you should have a say in how rooms are allocated. Did you have a discussion beforehand as to how rooms were allocated prior to everyone taking up residence? It would seem not. How is your rent payment agreed? Are you each individually paying the landlord or is one of you having the responsibility to pay them and everyone pays that person? It sounds more like a free for all greedy grab which is not a good sign for the group of you sharing together going forward? Your only comeback is to ask for a rent reduction (unless it is there already) for the smaller room. My advice would be minimalistic living. The less you bring into the room the bigger it will seem.

Reply 2

University of Huddersfield

Official Rep

@Ascenic

How were the rooms decided? Did you draw rooms out of a hat?

I would definitely ask for a reduction in rent if the other rooms are significantly bigger. You can arrange this between your housemates who will hopefully be understanding and support you in this!

Try and see the positives.

You will be more inspired to keep your place clean and less cluttered.

You will have less stuff to move in/out.

You will be more inspired to hang out in the living room/kitchen (which are hopefully decent sizes) and to study at the library.

You will not need your radiator on as much.

Your room is close to the bathroom or the front door (which you may or may not see as a positive) or has a good view.

Look for the positives and talk to your housemates.

All the best,

Oluwatosin – 2nd year student – University of Huddersfield

Reply 3

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by Ascenic

Hi @Ascenic

I'm sorry you're unhappy with the room you're moving into. I would echo what has already been said- it's quite normal to negotiate reduced rent if you've got a much smaller room. In my house, we've come to an arrangement where I store things that I don't always need like suitcases in my flatmate's room because hers is much bigger.

Since you feel that the room allocation is unfair it would probably be worth talking to your flatmates about this again before you move in, so that you've not got resentment building up, as this could make the house dynamic very tense. They might not have realized that they haven't been pulling their weight, so things might get easier if you gently bring that to their attention.

On a more positive note, the smaller room might grow on you once you've moved in and made it your own, and you might find that it doesn't bother you as much after you've lived there for a few weeks. Your housemates may also find problems with their rooms once term has started- bigger rooms in student houses tend to be draughtier and seem to get mouldy more easily!

All the best for second year.

Nellie (Lancaster Student Ambassador)