Durham University

[KingscoteStaff]

The continuation thread for those with DC at Durham, or applying to Durham, or alumni, or staff!

January 2022 finds our DC packing their big coats, checking the forecast for snow and wondering when Michaelmas actally is...?

Assemble!
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She gets needs to be a balance between student and local needs. We're a tiny city so where in larger places like Manchester you get student enclaves they are a tiny fraction of the whole. In Durham it has got to the point that the vast, vast majority of housing within walking distance to the centre so the viaduct and houses up claypath and gilesgate up to the duck pond area are student. Others are massively pushed out because house prices are high due to demand for buy to let, rents are high and if you can get to live there you have to deal with students and while many are lovely there is a certain amount of party noise and carelessness.

I'm not having a dig at students. I was a Durham student and I lived in rented. But even 15 years ago when I was living in Durham in rented with a small baby we were getting pushed out with landlords taking us the rent was going to pretty much double (to what they could get renting the same house out to students) so effectively forcing us out. We were lucky and we ended up buying when ds1 was 2 but the house we bought was the 5th house he had lived in. By 2 and a half years old. That's what student rentals do non student residents.

My exasperation is for the university not the students. The rental market is nuts. I actually really like the potential of the blocks of flats etc for students, it houses large numbers of them in decent blocks and in theory frees up housing but of course if numbers increase the housing doesn't get freed up.

I love Durham and I love the students and the vibrancy they bring. But something needs to happen around student numbers and accommodation, for everybody's benefit.

Sorry, bloody phone. Obviously that should start with "there needs to be" not "she gets"

I agree @OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea . I said to Dd when I was last there that there only seems to be students walking around and not many people who look like they might live there.
If things keep going the way they are.. surely it’s only going to get worse? .. the students seem to be renting further out now so I guess the locals who need to rent will get pushed further out too.
The university has to take some responsibility for numbers and the impact on the city and it’s locals. It must be really hard for local young people to be able to move out of home and afford renting in their home city
Term time the streets are full of students. but we popped by on our way up to scotland during the summer holidays and it seemed pretty empty apart from a few tourists ( not as many as I would have imagined either)

@Overeggingthepudding so many shops closing. Only H&m was left for Dd . Had Top Shop and New Look when she started.

Agree we've lost so many shops. There is some great stuff, we've got lots of excellent independent cafés and recently got an indie book shop. Plus good venues that bring together local food and local crafts and other produce. Which means it is useful to potter for a bit of gift buying or nice to potter as a tourist. But when you only have Sat afternoon because the rest of the weekend is taken up by kids sports and you need to get a pair of black leggings and an orange t shirt for the primary school play and the older teen needs new school trousers and you've realised you desperately need a couple of new tops yourself then it is either the Arnison Centre, Metro or Newcastle. And frankly while I would manage the basics for the dc at the Arnison I wouldn't shop for myself there. It must be an issue for the students too as they will need to travel to go clothes shopping if they need anything. You used to be able to get by with clothes in Durham.

I don't think it is unique to Durham though or anything to do with student vs town. Just the sad state of high streets everywhere.

Yes it is also bad elsewhere but Durham has very few shops for a city. I live in a town and we have much more despite closures. I think Dd used the market and a fancy dress shop. The Tesco Express was expensive for them. Could do with an Aldi. They buy clothes online these days but they did go in to Newcastle too. She loved it in Durham though.

There are plenty of lidl and Aldi just on the outskirts, they are not really city centre things. Lidl at Meadowfield and Arnison and Aldi next to the big Tesco, there is a new Lidl there too. Think there is a new Aldi by the Arnison too.

Yes but for students I mean. Without a car.

True. Though when I was a student the only supermarket in the centre was Waitrose so Tesco is a bit better! Do other cities have supermarkets in their centre though? I know they might have them in the studenty areas but then most of the student residential areas in larger cities are a bus ride from the uni. If students in Durham want to be walking distance to the uni then they need to accept being a bus ride from the supermarket. Although if they choose to rent up Gilesgate they can be within walking distance to uni in one direction and the Tesco Extra, Aldi, Lidl plus many other big inexpensive The Range, Home Bargains etc in the other direction.They do have the butcher and greengrocer in the market and the greengrocer down north road too.

I was surprised to see that there isn't a shop on campus, just for basics like bread, milk, eggs, paracetomol etc. Other universities we visited did have small stores on campus which is great for emergencies

In the end DD and housemates did a Sainsbury’s shop every month and got fresh stuff from Tesco . Luckily she was catered the first year.

Sainsbo delivery I mean. DN is at Sheffield and has an Aldi over the road.

If an Aldi local came to Durham they would make a fortune from students.

@Benjispruce4 there is an Aldi on a retail park in Durham which my student drives down weekly to get their shop! Luckily they have their car with them this year.

DS has been getting the bus (only £1, I believe) to Asda in Spennymoor. There’s an Aldi next to it. It’s convenient for the hill colleges.

I know there is one out of town, but most don’t have a car.

There's a really reliable bus route to the Lidl in Meadowfield - I see students using it for their shopping. Obviously limited in what you can carry back but if just feeding oneself, very doable.

Can't they get delivery? DD and her house all order together so the delivery fee is 50p each.

My son walks to and from Lidl from his hill college for food shopping. He has loved his first few weeks at Durham. He thinks they have found a house for next year but it is on the cheaper side, quite far out, it doesn’t sound brilliant and he hasn’t shared any details with us.

The sad stressful thing is they are still finding their feet in week 3 and by the end of week 3/beginning of week 4 they are being forced to rush into deciding who to live with in year 2 and scrambling about missing lectures desperately trying to find a house. Durham Uni really needs to accept some responsibility and have a couple of years with lower intakes of students to help balance things out a little or things will be even worse next year and the year after and it will put prospective students and parents off Durham Uni. Scenes that happened this year with students camping out overnight on week three worried about the housing rental market shouldn’t be repeated again.

This year's intake was smaller in my department and so will next year's be. The teacher assessed grades thing led to really bumper intakes, even when some students were paid to defer it just kicked the problem to the following year. As an offer is a contract (it binds the university to accept the student), and far more students met the required grades than would usually do, I have some sympathy with the predicament of the uni (only some - I'm a lowly staff member and certainly don't agree with everything they do). It wasn't the university's choice to take the numbers it did and it has had wide-reaching effects for staff and students alike. Teacher assessed grades, although necessary, meant that some students got in who would not have done in usual circumstances and that also means that some have struggled to keep up with courses.

It is a very unfortunate situation as you say ScoobyDoobyDoowhere - the idea that they have to sign a contract for the whole of next year before they have really got their bearings.

Dd and flatmates have had a delivery from big tesco but the cheaper supermarkets don’t do it and Dd and friends are looking to cut costs. I’ll suggest getting bus to Aldi or Lidl . She seems to be shopping around quite a bit . Savers for toiletries and indoor market for other bits have been mentioned and thanks to whoever suggested the greengrocers up thread.

@ScoobyDoobyDoowhere - the housing madness seemed even earlier for this years freshers. It’s not just the pressure to find houses but the pressure to find someone to live with! I’m sure your Dc has landed on a nice bunch of people for next year and they’ll all want to make it work anyway.

@SchnitzelVonCrummsTum .. Yes, I have sympathy for the lowly staff (😊) for sure. It can’t be easy and the numbers must be putting a big strain on all areas of the uni.

Looks as if DS has a property lined up. Has anybody's DC or indeed yourselves as parents/carers had an issue with a contract through Harringtons?

DS is still looking for somewhere - he even queued at Houghall Court at silly o'clock on release day, but was too late :(
He and his group have looked round loads of places, but are always JUST too late. Just missed out on another house today...

My son is renting through Harringtons.