University owned accommodation might have a shorter lease length and save you money. Def look at what the cost across the whole year will be.
With uni owned accommodation you don’t usually need a financial guarantor or to pay deposits when you book, just pay rent once student loans have arrived.
Uni owned accomm won’t cost you any5u g if you don’t get the grades to go or pull out before starting. With private accommodation you might well forfeit at least the deposit if you don’t go, you’ll be signing the contract as you sign up, not post results as is the case with uni owned accommodation.
It depends on the uni. In some, most people are in uni owned accom in first year and if you’re not, you might miss out. In other places, far more go into private accommodation so it’s worth knowing what proportion do each at the place you want to go to.
The other thing is private owned halls often have lots of 2nd/3rd/post grads in them. For meeting other freshers, uni owned is possibly best,