Our house, in the middle of our terrace

I’ve been back at uni for a couple of weeks now, after a month-long Christmas break. And yes, I know, my posts have been pathetically non-existent. I may have had a month off for Christmas, but that doesn’t mean they stopped piling on the work!

Anyway, two major essays, one piece of French language coursework and a bit of English reading later, I was back into the swing of things.  And at the top of the agenda was finding somewhere to live next year.

Indeed, it may be a whole nine months until the start of the next academic year, but a lot of people had already found their perfect house for the next couple of years, as far back as November. This, despite the University pleading us not to panic.

It’s hardly surprising, though, that very few chose to heed their advice, given that this year they completely underestimated how many new students were likely to meet the entrance requirements, forcing them to cram bunk beds into some single rooms in order to fulfull their accommodation guarantee.

While the University was telling us not to rush, my four new housemates and I (all girls; there is a strong possibility I will die) were ringing up landlords left right and centre to see if any property was left. Almost every house we enquired about had been snapped up. Fortunately though, after- at one point of desperation- simply wandering the streets in search of ‘To Let’ signs, we discovered a house that hadn’t been taken (and that was close to perfect).

I read somewhere recently that the Student Housing sector is massive business, making far more money than renting to your standard couple, or family. It’s regular income for the landlord, who knows that if there’s a University in the city, there will be a regular stream of students gagging to move out of Halls and into a real house.

These landlords are extra keen if they know there are students worried about a shortage of housing. Some houses were being advertised back in October; with many typical terraced houses (who needs a living room when you can replace it with another bedroom?) going for £100 per person per week or more, exclusive of bills. Admittedly, many landlords do attempt to make their houses appealing, with fancy decor and double beds, but many don’t bother.

Happily, our find is really quite underpriced, and absolutley huge. It has a very large living room, three toilets, a shower and a seperate bath and a back garden with a lawn. We may have had to pay a £400 ‘application’ fee to the estate agents (I’m not sure what we’re ‘applying’ for), but it will certainly make a change from the unhomely self-shutting firedoors and sick stained corridors of Halls.

Advertisement