Edinburgh costs - second and subsequent years

[Sorethroatandearache]

Edinburgh's reputation for being an expensive uni city had put me off as the finances are going to be tricky for us, but having looked in more detail, the halls accommodation (single rooms) isn't nearly as expensive as many other cities. Suspect it's old fashioned, small and mostly has shared bathrooms?
Are private rentals very expensive for year 2 and after? If you've got a Dc at Edinburgh I would be grateful to know what you have paid.

I've got one at Edinburgh uni but she's stayed in uni accommodation throughout (residence assistant job from 2nd year onwards) . First year (in 2020) was about £4k (tiny room self-catered shared bathroom - great location on the Meadows). She has sublet from friends for 3 summers - paying between £400-£450 pm plus bills (flats have been in student areas but quite rundown and 5+ sharing one bathroom). BF rents a room for £750 pm plus bills (had a placement and didn't want to pay over summer so only looked in August). I think this was the cheapest he could find. DD knows someone who rents privately for under £400 pm plus bills but its not a legal rental. Another stays in the student coop which is cheap but has a big waiting list. The uni does make some cheap accommodation available for 2nd years but it is very limited.

My DD is in second year at Edinburgh. Her flat is £600 plus bills per person per month (4 bed 2 bath 5 mins walk from uni) which was the cheapest her and her friends found. They did need to take the lease over summer too, to secure it so factor that in (we hadn’t!). It’s hard to get accommodation with many going for each flat but slightly easier than Glasgow I believe.

My daughter is in her 4th year - in years 2 and 3 we paid about £700/month. This year it was incredibly hard to find a flat and it costs £800/month plus bills. It’s a cold city for a softy southerner like my daughter so flat’s heating on a lot!!!
My daughter has loved it overall, but they were truly dreadful during Covid and there have been lots of strikes. She also had a very hard time getting a GP when she was ill. I am discouraging her siblings from choosing it.

The accommodation costs are terrifying me for most places, they're well above our mortgage payments! Edinburgh is currently DD's top choice (joint with Oxford) so if she gets an offer here we'll have to do some serious financial juggling.

Dd is in her final year paying £600pm for a room in a shared flat for five, plus utilities. Excellent location near library and the group has essentially been there since second year as leases are open ended. The uni advertises some properties via its own service Domus in Spring but these get snapped up. There are other agencies and plenty of private halls but these tend to be over £200pw. The student property market differs to England in that most properties won't be advertised before Easter as they only need give a month's notice. Also because if the festival there may be a gap until September if ll can let it short term over the summer although new regulations are trying to suppress this.

So private rentals are more expensive than the uni-owned halls which mainly seem to be around £4.5k - £6k for the 40 weeks (or whatever it is) of rental?

Some are up to 9k pa, depending on location, self catered vs catered, shared bathroom or ensuite, shared room or solo etc. You can list up to six preferences iirc but no guarantee of which if any of those are allocated. There are caps on annual rent increases in private accommodation.

My DD is paying £660 a month for a lovely room in a shared 5 bed flat in Bruntsfield, not inc bills. She paid a similar amount for a room in a 4 bed flat in Marchmont last year. These were both private rental. There is a lot of competition for flats. She absolutely loves being a student at Edinburgh though. It is a great city.

Most of DDs friends work term time and/or holidays. Lots of jobs with the festivals and Christmas markets so your DD can easily earn their own money to help onset living costs.

DD has loved her time in Edinburgh.

Mine paid £750 per month, including all holidays. Five of them in a flat. Bedrooms are fine, living space isjust a kitchen and two seater sofa, not really big enough for them all.
In his second year he paid similar but had to move out during The Fringe as the landlord could rent at a massive rate per week/per night.

Airbnb means rents are expensive.

On the plus side DS is never out of part time work given the hospitality industry.

I can remember facetiming my DS and asking if he'd left a window open as the plants behind him were moving….no it was just the draft through the gaps in an ill fitting window.

Does mean when he comes home he is always far too hot and we have to turn our heating down. 😆

My son pays £675 per month (excluding bills) in a four-person flat in Tollcross/Bruntsfield area which I think this is pretty typical now. It is much more expensive than the cheapest Edinburgh Uni accommodation. The unis cheapest offerings are indeed small, dated, single rooms in flats with shared bathrooms but this is probably what they'll end up with in private rentals anyway.

My dc pays £700 per month in a shared flat. Rents seem to have risen a lot over the past 3 years!