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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think University students without particular needs do not need an en-suite shower room?

506 replies

LindorDoubleChoc · 27/09/2023 19:57

I'm so surprised that University Halls of Residence now offer this as an option to more or less all their students. What the hell? How many of you are indulging your offspring with this poncery and why? (exceptional needs aside of course).

When I went to Uni in the dark ages of the 1980s no one had an ensuite. Almost no one had a wash basin either. Is it a money making exercise?

New build houses are the same. Not every bedroom needs separate washing/bathing facilities. The first world's gone mad!

OP posts:
KillswitchEngage · 27/09/2023 20:42

I do love a ‘I did something 40 years ago and it was fine so I don’t understand why anyone would do it differently’ thread 😂

Ladylalaboo1 · 27/09/2023 20:43

I went to uni in 2011 and my halls came with a private bathroom. It was the best, the halls I stayed in didn't offer communal bathrooms infact non of them did where I went to uni, I remember one time when I had severe gastroenteritis and having a bathroom very close to me when I could barely crawl was definitely needed and I'm sure if I was sharing I think I'd have been thrown out 🤣

jotunn · 27/09/2023 20:43

Student accommodation isn't built for students, it's for the letting market in the vacations so students don't need en suite accommodation but conferences definitely do.

G21 · 27/09/2023 20:43

They’ve had en-suite for ages! The early 00’s when I was at uni they were there.

Mountaineer0009 · 27/09/2023 20:44

LindorDoubleChoc · 27/09/2023 20:01

In my halls the showers and bathrooms were cleaned by cleaners. Toilet roll was provided in the toilets. You kept your shower gel in your room in your wash bag.

the simple answer, is some students are omg, eg using others equipment, soap etc, then the watersports in the showers etc

WombatChocolate · 27/09/2023 20:44

Do bear in mind too that many en-suite accommodations have a plastic shower pod in the corner of the room. It’s abit like the things used in caravans. They are tiny, remain damp are significantly reduce the size if the room.

Older unis like Oxford, Cambridge, Durham and some of the London accommodation tend to have lots of shared bathrooms and even sometimes shared rooms. They are still the most sought after places.

Of course en-suite is nice ….but a big question is whether it’s worth the cost.

Cupofteafortwo · 27/09/2023 20:44

ds is happy having a smaller room and his own bathroom. Didn’t pay any extra.

pepperminticecream · 27/09/2023 20:45

10 years ago when I was at Uni in London almost all of the halls had en-suites. I think there was only one hall that didn't. I don't see the outrage, people should have privacy when using the loo and showering. Our cleaners came once or twice per week but did not clean our individual bedrooms or bathrooms, they just cleaned the floors and took out rubbish in the communal areas and we had a hoover we could use and bought our own cleaning products and loo roll.

Porridgeislife · 27/09/2023 20:46

Most new student halls are private now so accommodation providers like UNITE are trying to make product that appeals to a wide range of students, particularly international students, who are used to modern buildings. The bathrooms are prefabricated “pods” (similar to Travelodge) and not at all expensive to install.

University owned accommodation is becoming scarcer and scarcer because universities can’t afford the capital costs of these older blocks. It’s more cost effective for them to guarantee to lease rooms from a private halls provider.

I’ve been in absolutely loads of private halls in a professional capacity and my main concern is always that they are the nicest accommodation the students will have for the next 10 years given most will go into a share house for the start of their working life!

pepperminticecream · 27/09/2023 20:46

Oh and we didn't pay extra.

openallday · 27/09/2023 20:46

I went to uni in the 90s . Wr had basins snd showers in our rooms but had to share a bog

Comedycook · 27/09/2023 20:46

I went to uni in the year 2000. My room had an ensuite shower room. It depended on which building/halls you were out in. Lots of them had shared toilets and showers but the rooms had a sink. All the boys used their sinks as toilets 😂

WombatChocolate · 27/09/2023 20:46

I understand that adults who are on their 2nd or 3rd property and who have moved up the career and property ladder like en-suites. Of course. But they cost a lot more. Where does budgeting and factoring in cost and trying to keep debt under control come in with this? It’s not just about what one might like best is it?

maddening · 27/09/2023 20:48

No-one NEEDS an ensuite - I very much like having one though

Lemons1571 · 27/09/2023 20:48

My eldest went through clearing last month. Guaranteed uni accommodation for clearing students.

Put down 7 choices, all the cheaper shared bathroom options at the top first. Got allocated an en suite at £30pw more - the cost makes me sob! No shared bathroom rooms were left. The Accommodation team advised us to accept the en suite or risk homelessness / living in a travelodge until someone dropped out. So it’s not always a choice.

MargaretThursday · 27/09/2023 20:48

They changed the standard rooms when I was at uni in the mid 90s to be en-suite. They were quite open that it was because they could charge conference guests over the summer a lot more money. I was very happy because my room that year had the nearest toilet was also the nearest toilet to the bar, so much nicer for me.

Both my dd's unis asked them for accommodation preference. One went for self-catering en-suite, the other went for catered, not en-suite. Both got their first choice accommodation-I don't know how common that was.

But as I have told my dc: times have changed for students. If we went away with a group, luxury was the village hall whose floor we were sleeping on having some heating in the evening, and perhaps providing a blanket.
Now they stay in hotels.🤣

WomblingTree86 · 27/09/2023 20:48

WombatChocolate · 27/09/2023 20:41

I think the issue is the extra cost.

Of course an en-suite is nice, but the question is whether it is worth the extra cost, given students are running up bigger and bigger debts or costing their parents more and more.

The difference in price for en-suite can be substantial. Likewise, the cost for a 3/4 size bed instead of single is staggering and would pay for the bed multiple times over. So is it worth paying the extra thousand or so per year for it…that really is the question in my mind?

Persoanlly, I’d be starting with a budget and working from that. DC can decide if they want to spend what’s available on bigger beds and en-suites or have more money for food, going out or possibly saving. I wouldn’t be starting from the price if whatever accommodation they fancy and then giving them the same amount of spending money regardless.

Many many 2nd and 3rd years say they over-rated en-suites and realised this once they arrived. What happens is that 17/18 year olds who’ve never lived with those not in their families have an unreasonable fear of sharing bathrooms and pooing etc. sometimes their parents have a horror about shared facilities too. Speak to a 21 year old who has done a couple of years in uni and in shared houses and you’ll get a different view and the focus instead becomes on whether it’s worth the price.

Unis certainly build them so they can use them for conferences in holidays and especially so they can charge students more and those rooms deliver more profit.

Start from looking at what the extra cost per year is for it and what % is that adding to accommodation costs. And then consider if it’s worth that price.

Many people share bathrooms at home and those in boarding schools share bathrooms and know it’s fine. I actually think those who are most desperate to avoid shared bathrooms are those who’s parents didn’t go to uni and share bathrooms or live in shared houses in early adulthood, and those who’ve had less experiences as teens such as DofE, scouting, other residentials where shared facilities and abit of roughing it are the norm and therefore no longer scary.

I think in many universities the ensuites aren't much more expensive because they pretty much just slot a shower/toilet pod into a room so space wise it’s the same. You often don't get to choose anyway. I was at university in the 80s and the shared showers and toilets were fine but it was all girls and I think the cleaner used to come every day. Plus we were relatively clean. DD was in halls with shared showers and toilets and they were absolutely filthy. She regretted not having an en suite.

Switcher · 27/09/2023 20:50

It actually puts me off new builds. I don't want to waste all the space on bathrooms.

mondaytosunday · 27/09/2023 20:51

I had to share a mixed sex shower/toilet gym style with 25 others. I would have been delighted with an en suite.
And yep, it's also great that they can type their essays/reports on a computer and edit it - I remember typing on an old typewriter having to first write it out longhand as you couldn't cut and paste or correct spelling mistakes (without messy Tippex). Is that poncey too?
They pay as much for halls as renting in the private sector - why not have nice facilities if you can?

pepperminticecream · 27/09/2023 20:51

@WombatChocolate I am not sure I understand. What does debt and budgeting have to do with bathrooms? Certainly, you shouldn't buy a house or rent a flat or house that you can't afford but that should go without saying right? I have three full bathrooms in my house but I am not in debt haha.

WombatChocolate · 27/09/2023 20:51

Yes, what about the shared accommodation in the 2nd and 3rd years when often 6-8 share an old Victorian house with 1 or 2 bathrooms? Or when they start work and can’t afford accommodation with en-suites?

Why is it students need or should have en-suites for that first year when they won’t have them again for a number of years?

Personally I’d rather spend that money on catered accommodation and know DC were socialising with a wide range of people than having a tiny, damp pod taking up 1/4 of their room.

PP is right that u is are not building them…it’s private accommodation suppliers who certainly have a profit motive and an eye in the international market. Given cost of living crisis and massive student debt and increasing time to lay it back, it surprises me that so many go for en-suite and aren’t more focused on the price and keeping costs down.

Duechristmas · 27/09/2023 20:52

It's not a race to the bottom. I had a sink, my husband didn't. My kid could only afford the rooms with separate bathrooms but they were minging. Why not have something nice, they'll be paying for it until they're 50!

JudgeRudy · 27/09/2023 20:52

It's a smallish thing that makes a massive difference to quality of life. I mean does anyone opt to stay in a B&B now that doesn't have a private bathroom/shower? This isn't for 1 night, it's for a year, sharing with people you haven't elected to have a close relationship. Having your own kitchen is perhaps a step too far moneywise but this is a decent compromise.
In the USA they frequently share bedrooms. That would absolutely deter me from studying.

RedToothBrush · 27/09/2023 20:52

MrsTerryPratchett · 27/09/2023 20:15

God help all these students who have to share a bathroom when they move out in the second year into a shared flat or house and for probably the next 10 years after that. Students aren't on holiday.

They'll know those people. And they can choose to share with only women.

What's a woman?

Do universities know?

Pretty good reason right there to go for the ensuite...

WanderlyWagonInWales · 27/09/2023 20:53

Things change. In the 80’s there were no mobile phones, no internet and far less channels on the telly. I am delighted that my DS has his own en-suite as it means he only has to worry about his own levels of cleanliness and hygiene in the bathroom. Having seen what some shared bathrooms are like, you’d never get into the cubicle naked, you’d be better off in a hazmat suit!

And surely as parents we should want better for our children instead of wishing for them to suffer through the same crap we did?