1st year uni accommodation - ensuite essential?

[ifonly4]

Does anyone think ensuite accommodation is really essential?

DD has always said she was more than happy to share, looked in a flat for eight which had four shower/bathrooms,, looked clean despite still being in partial use. However, when walking around, so many were saying they had to have an ensuite or parents insisting. DD has spoken to her cousin whose told her people will be sick and not clear it up.

Any thoughts?

I lasted 1 term in halls with a shared bathroom. It really depends on the flat mates you get as well as the personality you have.

What I learnt from Uni (many moons ago now) is that I am not at all social when it comes to personal space. I hated sharing a kitchen and bathroom and found it really uncomfortable.

I work in HE now and it is really mixed - some people love it and some people really withdraw. I was the latter type.

I lived in a flat of 6 with two toilets, a corridor of 10 with 5 toilets and 3 showers or something like that. It was absolutely fine. If people are sick they can clean it.

DD has had ensuite all the way through, and is really glad of it. Horror stories abound. Remember that many teens are going to uni without the first idea how to look after themselves. Someone else will clean it up! Boys, in particular, can do some grim things in showers. And as for the loo, throwing up is probably the least-bad possibility...

To be fair to the younger generation, when i was at uni about 30 years ago, I lived with a girl who genuinely had no idea how to clean a loo. She thought it just involved putting bleach around the rim "because that's what they do in the adverts!"

Probably depends on your DD.
As a student my halls had no ensuites at all and in some of the accommodation rooms were shared. Then I lived in a house and we had one bathroom and toilet between 5 of us. It was fine.

Hmm... definitely not "necessary"!
If they are communal then they are generally cleaned regularly, whereas individual ones they may have to clean their own?

I was sharing a bathroom between two this year, absolutely fine. Quite nice to be able to share the responsibility of cleaning it, and borrow stuff if you’ve ran out etc (after asking obviously)

I lived in a mixed corridor of about 15 people sharing two loos. But there was a cleaner every morning. This was a fair while ago though!

As Clivey says, communal ones are normally cleaned very regularly.
DD2 had a bathroom between 2 in her first year which was great (Jack and Jill style). DD1 had an ensuite but spent half her time at her boyfriends halls which had shared bathrooms and said it was fine. Both now in shared houses with communal bathrooms - DD2 says the boys are tidier than the girls.

My son has just finished his first year. He wasn't all8cated an e suite room and we had heard the horror stories.
He was in a flat of 12 with 6 loos 4 and 4 showers.

Tbh he never had an issue. It always looked clean enough the few times we passed through/dropped off stuff.
And the 700 quid saved over the year on cheaper rent has been better used.

Student accommodation is definitely getting posher, there are masses of luxury student flats being built around here with all sorts of facilities. I spent my first year living in on a corridor of 5 which shared a bathroom with the neighbouring corridor of 5. So that was 2 loos and 1 single shower between 10 of us. And we didn't have a kitchen on our floor because it had been converted to a dark room by a photography society which I don't think actually existed any more so we had to use the one on the floor below which meant that one fridge was being shared by about 20 people. It was catered accommodation so didn't need to cook but might have been nice to have space for a bit of fridge food!

For me I'm glad I paid more for my en suite. I loved it. But some aren't fussed. It's each to their own

Not necessary at all and as other pp have said, really depends on the flatmates. I had an ensuite and was very grateful for it. Uni students can be pretty gross and it was just one less thing to worry about amid all the other first year nerves.

^DD has spoken to her cousin whose told her people will be sick and not clear it up*

One of my DCs boyfriends lived in a flat with shared bathrooms and this happened. Regularly. 😳

Haha not at all!! We had shared showers with shower curtains only in between in my first year, and shared bedrooms. It sounds unbelievably prissy to want an en suite in first year. Separation from all communal living could make socializing more difficult. Plus it is better preparation for life, in particular shared houses as a young professional, to be more flexible about other people living in close proximity.

N.b. No one was ever sick and didn't clean it up.

Parents insisting?

I lived in really grotty halls that got knocked down a year after I moved out. Work hard, play VERY hard ethos. Shared bathroom on each floor between 8. I never saw sick and the bathrooms probably were the cleanest bit because of the cleaners (kitchen was another matter).

If you have any say in it then choose a room away from the common room as that bathroom will be most used and therefore most likely to be sicky.

It's good to have to share this stuff as a teen and discover first hand that other people (and maybe even you) can be gross or hard work, and that you need to develop skills to manage it

Dd1 had shared facilities, and has lived in a private house since which also has shared facilities. No problems.

Dd2 had an en suite (was in a very new hall) and has had an en suite (by accident rather than design) in her shared house. Next year's accommodation still up in the air! She's in a fairly cheap city though, so her rents have been very reasonable, both in halls and in the house.

I was just at an open day with ds on Saturday. He thought it was definitely not worth it to pay an extra 30-40% for an en suite, and as I'll be paying the rent I was glad to hear it.

The majority of newer accommodation does seem to be en suite though - can't actually remember seeing any new halls being built which aren't (in my small sample!). I do wonder whether people will be priced out.

It is becoming much more common to have an ensuite
TBF my dc Have one at home so there wasn’t really much discussion
But obviously it is not essential

For me it was absolutely necessary. But I had a lot of anxiety back then and needed it. If she isn't fussed on that kind of thing then good for her and take the saving!

Dd has put down ensuites only on her accommodation choices. She gets severe migraines and despite being on beta blockers she can still throw up. So we've decided it's best for her to have her own loo so if she does get one and it's bad she has no worries about access.

If you can afford it yes, yes, yes. My DC have had horrific experiences with crap and sick.

Oh yes drunken nights, can you imagine shared bathrooms during freshers!

the social thing is a good point too... I made a lot of friends in the bathroom!

My arse they are.

Part of the fun of uni is revelling in the terrible living conditions. I have fond memories of horrific flats. Best years of my life.

Youngsters these days...