2nd year accomodation problems

I've been hearing so much about finding 2nd year accomodation in Cardiff and honestly I'm so stressed about it. The one person I wanted to move in with has already made up her mind on a unite students accomodation which is unfortunate because I don't think it makes sense to sign for 51 weeks when I know I won't be staying that entire time. On top of that all my flat mates and friends in my course have either already signed or have a group they're going to viewings with. I don't know what to do and I'm worried about my accomodation arrangements for next year. Does anyone have a recommendation for good places to stay?

Reply 1

CardiffUni Rep 2

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

Hiya,

I totally get your struggle, I really struggled with finding flat/housemates for second year as well! Honestly houses are only really a good option when you have a group of friends that are definitely going to stay with you - if you're struggling for flatmates, I recommend possibly going for private student accommodation rather than housing.

In general though, housing contracts in Cardiff generally follows the whole year rather than the academic year, so you're also paying for months that you potentially won't be staying at as well. Most student accommodation places such as Unite Students do 44 week contracts I believe, so a bit shorter. Just like in first year, you book by the room, so if you don't mind living with different people again, then its quite a safe option. Some student accommodations will ask you what year you are in, and might pair you with people in a similar year group to you, but not all do this.

You could consider applying to the Residence Life Assistant Scheme. Its a scheme where you give up some of your time in the week to be a Resident Life Assistant, and get free accommodation for the year in exchange. You don't have to worry about flatmates here, since you'd be living with other RLAs. Applications are already open - just go to the student intranet and type "Residence Life Assistants" in the search bar.

I hope that's helped a little, wish you the best for your flat/house hunt!

~ Fatiha, Cardiff University Student Rep

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

do you know of any other prive student accomodation besides unite students? and if you know anything further, could you tell me a bit more about being an rla?

Reply 3

CardiffUni Rep 4

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

do you know of any other prive student accomodation besides unite students? and if you know anything further, could you tell me a bit more about being an rla?

Hi there,

Fatiha had a good idea with the RLA.

I stayed in private accommodation, the Fitzalan, and I enjoyed it. Some other are: Howard Gardens, Zenith, Crown Place, Eclipse, Lumis, Livin, and more. You can choose to live with others or alone in a studio in these and I enjoyed my time in private accommodation. I was also a bit worried about renting for 51 weeks, but from June I was able to swap my name and details to another girl who took over my tenancy which worked well for me. But also some of my other friends found it very useful to have over summer even just for storage (for friends to store stuff as well) if they didn't come back.
For the RLAs - i dont know much about it personally. But I would suggest even just checking out their instagram. I also found a youtube video here explaining a bit more.

Hope this helps and any other questions let me know!

Grace - Cardiff Uni Student Rep