Uni accommodation as a mature student

Hi everyone! I'm a mature student (26 with a relatively young-person lifestyle though not super 'mature' 😂) and considering applying for student accommodation as it seems like the best way to get fully involved in uni life - but does it actually make that much of a difference? (Compared to private renting locally)

Can my (non-student) partner live with me in student accommodation? (We usually rent standard single-person rooms and don't have kids/pets/access needs/anything else that would complicate things, I mean purely in terms of her being allowed to be resident there/use it as an official address). Can you rent student accommodation year-round or does it close during vacations? (I'm doing nursing so vacation times will be a bit more variable anyways, but we'll be relocating as a permanent home/not keeping a place anywhere else, I'll also be working in the local area year-round (partner works remotely)). Can you meet/chat to potential housemates before committing to renting a specific place or is it randomly allocated? (We get on with most people so not a huge issue but have always moved in with friends-of-friends/people we've met a bit first in the past and it just seems easier).

Reply 1

diligent-acclama

In terms of your partner living with you, it's unlikely that this will be permitted at any university, though you could enquire to double check this. Rooms tend to be single occupancy only and exceptions are only made for families (i.e parent(s) with children).

Assuming your nursing degree is a standard 3 years, accomodation is normally only provided for the duration of each academic year (September to June, approximately) so the likelihood is that you'd have to vacate the room for the summer months. Again, you can double check this with specific universities as they may have rooms available for longer rental periods. However, these rooms are normally reserved for postgraduate students.

In terms of meeting house mates before your move-in date, in my experience this isn't the norm. Unless the university has specified otherwise (e.g single gender accomodation) the rooms are randomly allocated. If you have any problems with your living conditions as a result of who you are sharing accomodation with you can talk to the support staff who may be able to resolve any issues or in the worst case help relocate you to alternative accomodation.

I hope this answer helps.

Reply 2

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post

by ArcticFox99

Hi everyone! I'm a mature student (26 with a relatively young-person lifestyle though not super 'mature' 😂) and considering applying for student accommodation as it seems like the best way to get fully involved in uni life - but does it actually make that much of a difference? (Compared to private renting locally)
Can my (non-student) partner live with me in student accommodation? (We usually rent standard single-person rooms and don't have kids/pets/access needs/anything else that would complicate things, I mean purely in terms of her being allowed to be resident there/use it as an official address). Can you rent student accommodation year-round or does it close during vacations? (I'm doing nursing so vacation times will be a bit more variable anyways, but we'll be relocating as a permanent home/not keeping a place anywhere else, I'll also be working in the local area year-round (partner works remotely)). Can you meet/chat to potential housemates before committing to renting a specific place or is it randomly allocated? (We get on with most people so not a huge issue but have always moved in with friends-of-friends/people we've met a bit first in the past and it just seems easier).

Whether it makes a difference is up to you and the effort you put in, but if you are coming with a partner, they won't be able to join in lots of the student things, so you won't be 100% immersed anyway.

Your non-student partner can only live with you if you ask for and get, 'couples accommodation'. They can't just bunk upon any room with you, because you both fit in the bed. That's one way to really p off flat mates!

Whether you can rent year round or just term times depend son the specific halls you get and uni rules. If they can hire out to tourists in vacations for more than they can get from students - then no. But if there's no tourism, no summer courses run, then most Unis will have some year-round - you might have to move blocks to achieve this though.

Generally, for uni accommodation, you turn up on the first day and those are your flatmates. There's no mechanism to 'approve' people, because they can't run a market is swapsies.

Sounds like you would be better off looking in the private market, but keeping it local if you can. That relies on the state of the local housing market, wherever you go to Uni, and that can be very variable.

Reply 3

ArcticFox99

Original post

by diligent-acclama

In terms of your partner living with you, it's unlikely that this will be permitted at any university, though you could enquire to double check this. Rooms tend to be single occupancy only and exceptions are only made for families (i.e parent(s) with children).
Assuming your nursing degree is a standard 3 years, accomodation is normally only provided for the duration of each academic year (September to June, approximately) so the likelihood is that you'd have to vacate the room for the summer months. Again, you can double check this with specific universities as they may have rooms available for longer rental periods. However, these rooms are normally reserved for postgraduate students.
In terms of meeting house mates before your move-in date, in my experience this isn't the norm. Unless the university has specified otherwise (e.g single gender accomodation) the rooms are randomly allocated. If you have any problems with your living conditions as a result of who you are sharing accomodation with you can talk to the support staff who may be able to resolve any issues or in the worst case help relocate you to alternative accomodation.
I hope this answer helps.

Thanks - I'll check with my uni but based on that I think we're better off sticking with private rental, we definitely wanna continue living together and having to find temporary accommodation/move every summer sounds like a pain. We've never had issues with housemates/needed to move, it's more a question of liking to be close with our housemates and wanting to pick people with similar backgrounds/interests/values to facilitate that, again it sounds like private would be better for that. I know this is very dependant on city/uni, but is student accommodation usually much cheaper? And is it easy enough to get involved in student life if you're living near the uni (we would be, I hate commuting) but not in student accommodation?

Reply 4

diligent-acclama

Original post

by ArcticFox99

It all depends on the location in all honesty. There are financial pros and cons to both university and private sector accomodation. I think one of the biggest benefits of university accomodation, apart from being more integrated, is that the weekly cost is normally all inclusive (bills included). That saves the hassle of arranging water, Internet, electric etc yourself. University accomodation usually also has a range of price options in terms of the standard of the rooms. For example, you will pay less per week for a room without an en suite compared to one with. On the other hand, private sector accomodation gives you a lot more choice and flexibility and it is definitely possible to live more frugally when arranging your own accomodation. I suppose it all comes down to convenience.

Reply 5

University of Salford Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post

by ArcticFox99

Hi everyone! I'm a mature student (26 with a relatively young-person lifestyle though not super 'mature' 😂) and considering applying for student accommodation as it seems like the best way to get fully involved in uni life - but does it actually make that much of a difference? (Compared to private renting locally)
Can my (non-student) partner live with me in student accommodation? (We usually rent standard single-person rooms and don't have kids/pets/access needs/anything else that would complicate things, I mean purely in terms of her being allowed to be resident there/use it as an official address). Can you rent student accommodation year-round or does it close during vacations? (I'm doing nursing so vacation times will be a bit more variable anyways, but we'll be relocating as a permanent home/not keeping a place anywhere else, I'll also be working in the local area year-round (partner works remotely)). Can you meet/chat to potential housemates before committing to renting a specific place or is it randomly allocated? (We get on with most people so not a huge issue but have always moved in with friends-of-friends/people we've met a bit first in the past and it just seems easier).

Hi @ArcticFox99

This is a great question!

I moved from down south to Salford to study in my thirties and wasn't sure whether to move into private rental or university halls of residence. I decided as I hadn't lived with my family for years that I didn't need the stepping stone that university accommodation can provide and it made sense to move into a private student house as it was cheaper too when I was looking. I now really like where I live, I am near enough to walk to university, but far enough away that I can switch off when I go home, I am near enough to Manchester that I can get involved with city life e.g., attending gigs or meeting friends for dinner, but I don't have to go in every day either, and because Salford is quite green there's plenty of nice walks near me.

As the others on this thread have already advised, if you are considering staying in university accommodation do check whether they offer 12-month contracts or if it is just for the academic year and what their policy on couples living there is. This can vary between universities. Some universities will only offer university accommodation to first-year students, so you may need to find somewhere else to live for your subsequent years of studying.

Again, where you attend university will affect the price of accommodation, but generally private student housing can be slightly cheaper than staying in halls of residence (university accommodation).

University Halls of Residence:

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These often (but not always) can be nearer to the university so costs less to get home from university and can mean a reduced commute time, but it can cost more in rent than student housing. For example, at the Uni of Salford, some of our halls of residence are on campus, so students studying on that campus only have a short walk to attend classes, or back home after attending one of the social events at the Students Union.

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It can be a great way to meet other students from outside of your course, many of my coursemates made such good friends with their first-year flatmates that they decided to get a student house together the following years.

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Depending on the accommodation provider there can be 24/7 support available whether that is reception staff who can look after any deliveries for you whilst you're out or help with any maintenance issues to on-site security.

Private Student Housing:

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This can be cheaper than halls of residence, but it may be further away from the university.

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It can be more difficult to decide where to live, but often universities like mine offer advice on who the local reputable housing agencies and landlords are.

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Living off campus/further away can allow some students to have a bit of peace and quiet in addition to separating their home life from university life.

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You can have more choices, this is because often halls of residence have set room standards, but sometimes you can find a bigger room in a private rental.

Whatever you decide to do I recommend going to look at the accommodation first, so you can check if it matches the description online, but also to get a feel for the place, and whether you'd be comfortable living there for a year or more.

If you're attending an Open Day you often get the opportunity to view the university accommodation options then and if you were considering private rentals you could organise viewing for these on the same day if you have time.

I hope this helps! Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Good luck with your course.

Lucy 😊
(Official Uni of Salford Student Rep)