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

[LindorDoubleChoc]

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!

My halls had shared toilets/bathrooms between 14 of us in the 90s and I absolutely hated it. It was like school PE changing rooms. Institutional and depressing. (The food was also awful, I was a vegetarian in a catered hall and the veggie options were crap.)
I was so pleased when my kids went to Uni that they went into new build self-catered halls with en suites or shower rooms shared between two or three. I wouldn't want my kids to have the same experience I did, it put a real downer on Uni life for me.

We had 5 or 6 bathrooms between about 16 of us when I was at uni in the late 90’s. It was fine, I don’t remember them being particularly minging, we did have cleaners though. Oh and I also had to share a bedroom with another girl. It was cheaper to share and actually fine! Still good friends now.

Yes, xtra cost is often £30-50 per week. That’s up to £200 per month and given halls accommodation contracts are expanding over more weeks, you can be looking at over £2k more per year.

So it’s not just about ‘modern standards are en-suite and shared bathrooms are for 30 years ago’. It’s also about affordability. Many students do t have parental support and are budgeting. It’s really important that there are ways to save spending…going self catered and having single beds and shared bathrooms are big money savers and can save £3-4k per year in total. It’s a lot.

While you were showering for as long as you wanted other people were probably waiting desperately for you to finish! Which is why many people are perfectly happy to pay extra for a private shower.

Yes, sadly students who’ve had an en suite bathroom can literally never stay anywhere that doesn’t have one, it’s really unfortunate. Or maybe … they’ll just get on with it because they’re young and resilient?

@LindorDoubleChoc why do you care what other people spend their money on? Do you drink? Drive a car instead of walking? I take it from your user name you eat chocolate… that’s a luxury that could be done without.

I had an en-suite at university-it was very nice.

@WombatChocolate You know that you can spend your money how you wish, and others can do the same. No one is going to force you into an en-suite that you can't afford.

Of course it's not necessary but it means an extra £100 a month on the rent.

I lived two years in a halls with 12 rooms on our floor, four bathrooms, and we each had a tiny wash basin in our rooms. I loved it. Endless hot water !!

Everyone else used to go out on a Saturday night and I'd lie in a steamy bath with scented bubbles until my fingers went wrinkly.

At home we had one bathroom between seven, and luke warm water. Halls was the height of luxury 😁

Why do your children need catered accommodation? Can’t they manage to cook for themselves?… what will they do when they move into shared houses in 2nd/3rd year and don’t have someone to cook for them?!

Definitely not to " more or less all their students" - one of ours recently graduated and her first year halls were in an old tenement with the usual facilities you'd get in an old flat - ie shared bathroom.

Why be miserable when you can pay extra for the incredible luxury of not sharing your shower? Like in the real world.

I'm just glad I've never really had to live in halls/shared accommodations. I'm not sure if I really missed out on any life lessons.

I went to uni 18 years ago and en-suite rooms were the standard then in halls! When you have no choice over who you are sharing with, why would you not want a bathroom to yourself!
Completely different in 2nd/3rd year when you are living with friends.

@WombatChocolate · Today 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.

What an odd nonsensical post! 😆 Tiny damp pod. WTAF are you banging on about?!

You may not need something such as en-suite facilities, nothing wrong with desiring it.

I didn’t even have a bathroom in my building, just a loo. Glad current students have it better!

Some of the comments like @Horriblewoman's are funny, some less so.

You have to remember developers are building a hotel for guests with students allowed to live there some of the time. They are maximising the accommodation on all fronts- we have student halls with gyms built in, study areas and shops and cafes on the ground floor, super fancy, super expensive and absolutely packed out. If you build it, they will come, or whatever the phrase is...

I’ve no idea what this tiny damp pod is- my en-suite was a room, like all en-suite bathrooms I’ve ever seen (outside of caravans and bath-in-the-room-hotel suites etc).

Well, it's a bit crazy… But what we did, was work out what our budget was (less than the OP's, clearly), and then see what was available within that. There were compromises. For one child, having an ensuite meant not living on campus for example. And that's what he chose. There are downsides to not living on campus, though, and he's learning to negotiate those now - and deciding whether it was worth it.

It's kind of reductive to assume that it's all just about students being somehow more entitled these days. Especially as many of their parents got tuition for free.

No. Absolutely no wind up here. Why would you think that? Do you honestly think a 19 year old could not manage with sharing a bathroom for a year if they are not paying for their own rent? My DC are welcome to opt for having a sole use bathroom when they have the money to pay for it. In our house they have to slum it with three other users. What makes that impossible when they leave home for the first time?

Again, the assumption that everywhere is the same.
DD's "en-suite" is a tiny damp pod; an all-in-one plastic wet-room arrangement which is just about big enough to contain shower, loo, basin. She still prefers it to the shared bathroom in her first-year house.

The ensuite student rooms I've seen are fairly grim. It's basically just a small corner of the bedroom that's been partitioned off for you to shit in. No window in the ensuite/shit corner obvs, and the extractor fans are not great, so it's often a bit damp, the room doesn't always smell great.....

When I was in halls we had two shower rooms, one bathroom and also two separate loos at the end of the corridor, shared between 12 bedrooms. Yes, we had to learn how co-exist with other people. But at least it kept the shit out of the bedrooms 🤷‍♀️

Lucky you! My mid 80s halls had 1 working shower between about 30 of us. Toilet provision was more generous with one between 10.

DD opted for halls with shared bathrooms and regretted it. It isn't just about who cleans it but what state it gets left in after a few of your flatmates have thrown up in the shared bathroom.

DS halls last year had tiny bedrooms and 1 shower between 5. There was no cleaner unlike my days in halls 30 years ago and most in the flat didn't bother doing their share. He also had to take his toilet roll, cleaning spray etc back and forward from his room as he was the only one buying it. It really got him down. He loves his ensuite 'roost' this year and they have an agreed rota for kitchen cleaning etc. I'm happy to contribute a bit extra for this.

Ds had an en-suite in first year, his choice and I was fine with it. My 3rd year back on campus halls of residence had an en-suite, mid 1990s and it was bliss. Dh only had a sink in his, different uni.

There has been no sharing of a bathroom since as he went into private halls of residence, again with en-suite. He remained there for both 2nd and 3rd year.

At home he only shares a bathroom with his brother, I share an en-suite with Dh.

😂😂