To think the student housing system would be much better if you didn’t have to decide who to live with until the end of the first year

[Ihaveseenitallbefore]

The current system (especially in certain cities such as York, Manchester, Durham) requires 18 year olds living away from home for the first time to decide who they want to live with within only a few weeks/months of knowing them. Oftentimes the early stages of uni are a time of desperation with friendships where people won’t necessarily be being their authentic selves. It seems silly that in some cities students sign up in early November with a deposit and contact and then have to wait the entire rest of the academic year to see a different side/the true colours of their housemates. Obviously the situation is different for second years and/or in the rare situation where DC knew people from before uni to live with. Ainu to think it’s silly how early ‘housing season’ comes and that the system would be far better if it wasn’t until the end of the first year that deposits were put down on houses?

Also, to add I also think living in halls for the second year is an option that should be much more normalised as often it’s cheaper than a house, much more regulated/protected, far more services, no commute and it’s a lot easier to retreat to your room and avoid a nightmare flatmate than in a shared house.

Yes - it's ridiculous. The student unions or universities need to sort this out. It benefits no one except the landlords. Makes me furious!

That must be fairly new as I'm sure when I was at uni (admittedly many, many years ago!) you didn't have to decide that early.....

But regardless, its no different to real life, where you might often end up house sharing with virtual strangers, who seemed lovely when you first met them and then 3 weeks into your 12 month contract turn out to be absolute filthy nutters.

@Ihaveseenitallbefore Most universities don't have the hall's capacity for this.

Many already do offer it as an option, just not many take it up. I think it’s just an option that ought to be more normalised as there would definitely be advantages to it.

Its partly the competition aspect... you are made to feel if you don't get inquiry all the good stuff goes. It was the same 20 years ago!

Returning students are often only considered for uni halls if they sign up to be a warden or will wait until freshers' places are allocated, so find out late. Alternative are private halls who will take first come first served but cost more and are often full year contracts.

Exactly. It’s completely dishonest on the part of landlords and often whips up students, who let’s remember are usually teenagers in their first ever bit of true independence, into an absolute frenzy. I cannot see who it benefits (apart from landlords) to have students agree to share a house with someone, sometimes involving parents names being put on the line as guarantors and other financial commitment’s, within ten weeks of knowing somebody.

Yes, several young people I know started the second year living with their best-ever-buddies and ended it living with their worst-ever-enemies.

But its not "a system", it is just the landlords doing what most benefits themselves. Its private rental agreements, not run by uni or students unions.
I agree that accomodation is a huge issue for many students. Universities should consider the quality of the whole student experience before putting more bums on seats. But theyve no influence over private landlords (who could rent to anyone or airbnb if they chose).

I started university in 1988 and it was the same then! Mass panic trying to find people to get a house with and then mass panic trying to get a ( rubbish) house!

Yes it's crazy. My dd has already been upset by some girls promising her that she could have a room in a shared house then gave it away to someone else ! As she is doing a foundation year I am hoping she can stay in halls for year 1 as well next year. Not sure how it works really. It's a lot for a not long turned 18 year old to deal with.

Yes, i agree.
When I was at University in the 80s it wasn't like this. Admittedly there were far fewer students then, but I was in a city that at the time had one of the biggest student populations in the country so there were still a lot of us looking for housing. For a start, the University owned halls not only accomodated every first year who wanted it, but lots of others too. I spent my first 2 years in halls and I know plenty of people who spent their whole course there. We didn't have to decide until the Summer term. There was far less pressure. And those who wanted to move into privately rented houses didn't start looking until the Summer term either. Some people didn't finalise arrangements until part way through the Summer holidays.
I was therefore shocked when my DS, currently in his second year, was coming under some pressure to sign a contract for this year's house before Christmas in his first year. He barely knew his prospective housemates but they were being told by the landlord that they had to commit by a certain date and panicking because "everyone else" already had 2nd year housing sorted.
In some ways it's better - the standard of student housing seems to be higher than what was common in my day - but I think it's also more expensive in real terms and this rush to sort out second year when they have barely finished Freshers' Week is nuts.

Where are they supposed to live for the first year at uni then? You won't get to live in halls with people you know either.
Besides, learning to get along with people you don't know if part of growing up. We don't get to only live with people we like in adulthood.

I’ve got a great idea - landlords stop renting to students. See what happens then. The richest will go to uni because costs will be punitive. What we have is the least worst option. Most students rub along. Many uni cities where there’s a shortage of accommodation have students looking early to avoid the dregs.

Most unis don’t offer 2nd year halls. Many halls ARE private accommodation and the landlord is not the uni. Staying at home snd commuting to uni is much more economic and largely what other countries do. However for us, we go away to uni and need landlords. Getting rid of them is impossible, demonising them is unfair and suggesting unis build more is frankly ludicrous.Where? Who’s paying? They do not have spare money for more housing estates.

I agree. I thought it was mad too when DD started panicking about finding a house share for the following year when she’d only been at uni for a couple of months. It was 2020 so she hadn’t been able to socialise much beyond her flat so had barely got to know anyone else. Then she came home for Christmas and didn’t go back for 6 months. Anything could have happened in that time, she could have dropped out of uni completely.

Fortunately, she was at uni with 2 of her close friends and she got on particularly well with one of the girls in her halls so they found a house for the 4 of them. It was all signed and sealed by Christmas of her first year - the tenancy didn’t start until almost 8 months later. They stayed there for the next 2 years. They also had to sign the lease for their 2nd year at the same house before Christmas.

She did a foundation year, so for her 4th year she’s gone back into halls. She was accepted and had been allocated her flat by May. There are no Freshers in her flat, it’s all 2nd, 3rd and 4th years

The whole university accommodation system is dreadful, imo. When I went to university, back in the last century, universities owned and ran their halls of residence, and whilst they often didn’t have enough accommodation for all their students, first year students and sometimes final year students were guaranteed university accommodation if they wanted it. And the price wasn’t eye-wateringly high either.

Now it seems as if most, if not all, accommodation is privately provided, and is very expensive - plus there isn’t enough of it. There certainly doesn’t seem to be enough more basic, cheaper accommodation for the students who can’t afford the all-singing, all-dancing halls with their own gyms etc.

We were lucky that we could afford to support our dses at university (dh’s mum passed away and we inherited some money), so they didn’t have to work every hour when they weren’t studying, just to be able to afford the little luxuries they’d become used to - like eating and living indoors! But there are many students who are having to spend long hours earning money, so they can afford to live, and that means less time and energy to spend on their studies - which should be the main point of being at university.

Exactly this.

It’s awful to watch. One of my niblings had a housemate drop out of uni at the start of the second year - so the person never actually moved into the house that the group had rented months and months in advance. The financial and friendship fallout has been shocking - as well as time consuming and expensive.

It really isn’t a comfortable way of organising things.

(Feeling great nostalgia for Cambridge, 40 odd years ago … Second year rooms allotted towards the end of first year, and seemingly limitless accommodation available all over the city if you wanted to rent privately in the third year.)

Yes i had a lot of issues finding who to share with. It did seem early on though may have been jan or feb.
basically my floor were going to house share together only telling me when decided. So purposely cutting me out. But they were sharing with just girls except one girls boyfriend when he could have gone with the lads!
and 2 of the girls were on my course so i hadnt made any separate friend groups and had to see them the next 2 years etc.
i ended up on campus all 3 years. Year 2 was actually a lot of fun and i met a lot of nicer friends.
and more on my course. For year 3 a few going abroad a year and one girl wanting to not share with someone on her course (but of course she did end up doing that).
My other friend was going to share with people on her course but they rejected her. (Which surprised me as the girl was so popular and shows its not even always about you so much as the people rejecting).
I think some people do lead the hunt as a way to control who they do or dont live with.
it was certainly horribly stressful.
ideally i would have chosen to share with the people who were returning to canada or usa from their year abroad.
its alot of luck of the draw with who you are initially in halls with!

Is this new? I went to university in London in 89 and I don't think we even thought about second year accommodation until the last term of the first year. You just got together with friends, usually from the same sports clubs or societies so you knew you would get along and have roughly the same ethos, and rented a house or flat. No drama. I was with the same group of friends (all drawn from the rowing, hockey and cycling clubs so it was a very "early to bed early to rise" house) in my second and third year and they remain firm friends now, 30 years later.

Where did I say that students shouldn’t rent in the private sector or suggest getting rid of student landlords? I simply said it’s a poor system that students are expected to pick so soon. Also, why do you assume that building extra housing requires ‘spare money’ (except the initial cost of actually building said houses and running costs) considering halls and private accommodation alike often charge £150 plus per week for a small room and a shared kitchen. If anything I would say that’s an absolute racket as opposed to it somehow being a charitable service to provide student housing.

I was in halls for two years. My son for one year. My granddaughter is in her first year and they’re looking already. It does seem very early.

Is it a system? And are landlords really driving it?
25 years ago I seem to recall after Xmas we all went door to door knocking on doors asking current occupiers if they were staying if we could look round....then asked for landlord contact details. No landlords approached us.
It was students driving it trying to get in early....because everyone wants the biggest houses in best locations to share with all their new friends.

So I agree its terrible, but not sure it's landlords fault.

Ds is in Bristol and the market is crazy. 20 groups vying for each half decent house/ flat.
This week he had to fill in extensive forms with his and friends details and guarantor details and write a covering letter saying why his group should be considered to get a VIEWING on a house.
He is lucky that he has a solid group of 4 to live with next year but he has done nothing for 2 weeks but house hunt. He's lost out on countless properties and despairs of finding anything that isn't over £160ppw excluding bills without water running down the walls.
Some of the places he has seen are outrageous for the price.
But then Bristol does not have enough housing so its a LL dream.
Other DS at Birmingham has found it easier and cheaper.

It's not a "system" though. It's just that there is a shortage (or perceived shortage) or decent rental housing and therefore students want to secure accommodation as soon as possible so they get the best accommodation.

As the accommodation is owned by private landlords, it has nothing to do with universities so there is absolutely nothing they can do about it. Universities don't allocate their own accommodation until much later on in the year but there isn't enough accommodation for second years and most don't want to live in halls anyway.