The Student Room Group

Living in Leeds and Commuting to York?

I'm a first year living in York atm and looking for second year accommodation. All the second year accommodation in york is extremely expensive compared to leeds and I'm debating whether I should just pick an accomm in leeds which can go as low as £100pw to York's average of £175pw. Just asking if it's worth it factoring in travel costs and student life? The obvious answer is no but I'd rather live in leeds atp.
Reply 1
Original post by Fynite
I'm a first year living in York atm and looking for second year accommodation. All the second year accommodation in york is extremely expensive compared to leeds and I'm debating whether I should just pick an accomm in leeds which can go as low as £100pw to York's average of £175pw. Just asking if it's worth it factoring in travel costs and student life? The obvious answer is no but I'd rather live in leeds atp.

I feel you, I'm currently paying £200 a week which is ridiculous. In my first year York oversubscribed campus accommodation so sent some students to live in Leeds and Hull and commute to campus, so it definitely would be possible to live there. I think you should add up the costs of a year long rail and bus pass to see how much you would be spending on transport. I know the trains to and from Leeds are frequent and cheap but there is a risk of train strikes. It also depends on how many contact hours your degree has and if you can realistically be bothered getting the train to York and possibly multiple buses in a day or else your attendance will suffer and you may get burnt out. I'm sure if you were living in a house with Leeds students you would make friends with them easily and could see the friends you've made here during your breaks between seminars? You could also apply to transfer to one of the universities in Leeds for your second year if that's an option you'd consider? I know it's not an easy choice to make so let me know if you have any other questions or just want to vent about it 🙂
Reply 2
Original post by phh03
I feel you, I'm currently paying £200 a week which is ridiculous. In my first year York oversubscribed campus accommodation so sent some students to live in Leeds and Hull and commute to campus, so it definitely would be possible to live there. I think you should add up the costs of a year long rail and bus pass to see how much you would be spending on transport. I know the trains to and from Leeds are frequent and cheap but there is a risk of train strikes. It also depends on how many contact hours your degree has and if you can realistically be bothered getting the train to York and possibly multiple buses in a day or else your attendance will suffer and you may get burnt out. I'm sure if you were living in a house with Leeds students you would make friends with them easily and could see the friends you've made here during your breaks between seminars? You could also apply to transfer to one of the universities in Leeds for your second year if that's an option you'd consider? I know it's not an easy choice to make so let me know if you have any other questions or just want to vent about it 🙂

Thanks for the advice :biggrin:, I've calculated costs and living in leeds would be cheaper as I can find rent there for £3000-4000 compared to York's average of £8,0000-10,000. Travel costs would also be around £2,0000 for the year so I'm considering it. My main problem is the fact that I'd be spending around 2 hours a day just travelling everytime I need to go to York which I could do but it would be tiring. I've thought about transferring to leeds but I don't meet the requirements sadly and York is generally a good uni anyways.

Quick Reply