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?

Exactly. It's a good lesson.

When I was 18, I don't remember parents being so involved with university processes and housing (I come from a country where it wasn't free). Step away, it's just infantalizing them.

Most people who know York don’t live in the city centre anymore. Most move outside where the houses are cheaper and transport links good.

My son's just doing this. Feels totally unready to decide to house share with anyone. He's opted for university accommodation which is slightly off site and will be allocated people to share with like he was as a fresher.

Think it largely depends on where the uni is and housing demand.
DD didn't start looking till Easter for 2nd year accomodation and flatmate.

We then had to pay 1/2 rent all summer to secure accomodation despite not living there or being able to store her belongings there.

DD's house shares (as a professional) have not been 12 month contracts, they have been 3-6, with landlords/ladies prepared to offer flexibility if circumstances change, and they have also been let out by room, with bills included, so tenants are not jointly liable for rent, utilities etc. if someone pulls out.

My son is in private halls for year 2, and can stay for year 3. It’s a lot better, he is sharing with some friends from his first halls

True.

They keep expanding the number of students they take, and make no provision for their housing situation.

Yes, the universities should really step up here and make more provision for accommodation - buy or build some themselves, and retain control over it.

My DC didn't do this - they chose accommodation and who they would live with in the Spring term. They were both at uni in London though, not sure if that makes a difference?

Employers should do the same. There was a time when there were nurses' accommodation blocks next to hospitals, or a floor of dorms on the top floor of police stations, ideal for "single" young nurses, policemen etc. Fire stations had "proper" flats too, sometimes big enough for families! Ideal for younger staff until they got enough cash together for deposits for their own homes, or for transient workers until they found their "niche" to settle down. Go back further and mill owners built entire streets of "2 up 2 down" for their workers to live in, and of course, farmers usually provided homes for their workers/labourers, etc.

It would massively help if employers would get back to doing that. My son has just started working at one of the UK's biggest insurance firms in a Northern city - some of his colleagues are living in hostels because they can't find flats to live in, it's not cost, they literally can't even get viewings as demand is so high! He'd got a job offer at a different firm, a more "old fashioned" one, who owned a number of properties which they let out to their new starters if needed - all market rates, not discounted, but they were in good locations for their head office and only available to staff. I can't understand why more big organisations don't do that - it's a valid investment if they're charging market rates for rent etc - it's a no brainer really. I think organisations have just lost sight of the severe problems facing younger staff these days - they're run typically by managers in their 50s who didn't face to same shortages we have today, so probably don't understand the problem!

I totally agree! Dd has to do this in Nottingham and it seems ridiculous.

Rose tinted glasses. When we lived in tied accommodation for my dad's job and he decided to leave my mum and move in with his other woman, we were made homeless. Just like that.

Agreed. I ended up anorexic and suicidal partly as a result of an entirely unsuitable house share. If I had till Easter (say) I don't think I would have ended up in that mess

Who will pay for tied housing now? We don’t have enough money for the services let alone perks worth thousands each year. Plus are other professions not worthy? We need care assistants, engineers, etc. What about them?

It’s no good keep saying build, build, build. Where??? We have restrictions. Families need accommodation first. Why do we need flats for 9 months occupancy? I’d rather we spent money on family housing. If you want unis to spend more, encourage foreign students or pay higher fees.

London is very different. Students are a smaller percentage of the population there and spread out very widely.

Ask Military families for their opinions on their provided accommodation! (Which we do pay for, its not free).

@TizerorFizz

Who will pay for tied housing now?

It's an investment, not a cost. House prices have proved to rise in value over time faster than other forms of investments. If they're rented out to staff at market value, they should easy cover their costs. After all, we have millions of private landlords and lots of commercial/corporate landlords, all making profits on both rental income and capital gains, so not at all sure why organisations aren't jumping on the band wagon.

Look at all the pension schemes and institutional investors, and even local councils who've been shovelling money into commercial property portfolios for the last few decades. Residential property has the potential to out perform commercial, especially now that city centre offices/retail seem to be heading for a massive slump.

Shame that Brown bottled it and didn't go ahead with his plan to allow pension schemes to buy residential property really - that would have allowed pension schemes to complete with private landlords for residential properties.

my db ended up in a horrible house share, bullied and being made to pay for stuff he never used or touched

it is a shit situation, not sure of the answer though

@Badbadbunny Thats not tied housing. Tied housing was rent free but often wages were altered forwards to pay for it. It’s gone because it wasn’t a good use of money. It only helped a few and some who didn’t need it. My mother had a room in a nurses block. It was standard procedure but wages were reduced to pay for it. Housing Associations and key worker housing have replaced it. Again though, not enough built. That’s the insurmountable problem.

I wonder how British students manage when they go to an American university. It must be quite a shock

Wrt flats for nine months a year - American universities often run summer programmes (sports, music, etc) and the dorms get used for accommodation and paid for by the people participating in the programmes.

Given they don't know if they are going to fail until July and even then there are usually retakes during the summer, even if students waited until late spring to find a house they would be in the same position.

@mathanxiety So few go to the USA though! They clearly are ok with it. Plenty have been to boarding schools where sharing isn’t an issue for them. It’s what they are used to. Many many dc hate sharing though. That’s why we don’t have dorms any more. Do you know of any?

We have huge numbers of divorced people wanting two homes for their families. We have students from abroad who bring their families. We have students who won’t share. We have many areas of land we won’t build on and look at the price of land in London! It’s difficult to know where building can take place.

The loan for staying at home is generous when compared to renting accommodation. We perhaps do need to wean ourselves off going away to uni but commuting isn’t possible for everyone. Uni for thousands and thousands every year is hardly a housing triumph. Empty nests (larger houses) at home and nowhere to live at uni. We have limited resources but we just want more and more from it because DC wont share.

Presumably they wouldn't go to an American university if they didn't want to share a room.

My DS is currently studying at a US uni (Columbia) and doesn’t have to share, so I don’t think that’s a blanket situation.

YANBU. it also makes finding a rental property for non-students too as so many properties are 'reserved' in advance, plus I think having to decide so early on creates the groups of 8 students looking to rent big family homes, because they feel obliged to find a house with their entire student halla flatmates.