So confused about Student Halls...

[MarmiteMakesMeHappy]

DS starting Uni in Sept (all being well)

He still hasn't booked any accommodation although he has been looking and did tour a couple of options at offers days

Here is my confusion:

Is there any reason to choose Uni linked accommodation over generic Hall providers in the same proximity - eg: IQ or similar? I think I understand that accomodation associated with, say, Uni of Liverpool might be exclusively available to Uni of fLiverpool students, meaning you are with your immediate peers, whereas generic accom might be a mix of Uni of Liverpool / Liverpool Hope / Liverpool John Moore etc

But is there any other differentiator?

And do most people secure their firm choice accom AND their insurance?

Need to crack on before results day, but been stalling because we both feel a bit overwhelmed by options (I didn't go to Uni) and feel a bit stuck.

We DO have a budget
We Do know which Campus DS would be on
We Do know his wish list (doesn't care about having to get a bus/small bed/basic facilities, but does want en suite)
Non catered

Private halls tend to cost more. You stand a better chance of meeting those who can access same su events and facilities or even on same course in uni specific halls.

Unless he has an unconditional offer, surely you have to wait until after results day?

I think it is better in their first year if they are in Uni based halls, preferably on-site. There should be a portal to log preferences. Lots of unis try to match up students, and give students the kind of room they want. Some unis are better at this, and often students don't necessarily get what they want due to demand.

Some unis let you book before results, some after, and generally its only your firm that allows this, although again, you may be able to do the same with your insurance.

Get your son to check...... especially his firm.

It varies from uni to uni @MarmiteMakesMeHappy

DS at Lboro could only book after results day,. Plenty of unis have opened their accommodation booking already tho. Can you say which uni?

I personally would advise uni-linked accomm for the reason you mention.

Firm is Uni of Liverpool
Insurance is NUT

Loads of people seem to have booked/paid deposits (that I assume get refunded if results day changes things), so I thought it was important to do this BEFORE the bun flight of results day?

But what has really thrown DS is the amount of Student Halls that are not directly linked to the Uni but seem to be very close by and have identified themselves as linked to the Uni. And some of these do look nice/offer slightly cheaper rooms/shorter tenancy options.

For Liverpool, a safe (i.e ticks most boxes) is greenbank halls.

My DS has firmed University of Reading and has paid the deposit as he wanted a specific hall. We did this some time ago.

I really wouldn’t make any assumptions that any costs already laid out would be refundable if the place doesn’t materialise. That is the sort of thing I’d want to read the small print very very carefully and check my understanding g with someone in person. Why wouldn’t you?

Note that if you book uni halls and fail your offer you get your deposit back. The same is not generally true for private ones.

socially it is generally best to book ones on the university’s accom site for the first year.

timings very by uni - check on their site. Some only guarantee accom if booked by a deadline, some allocate first come first served starting in the spring, some don’t allocate until after results. I believe the majority want you to apply before results.

some unis let you apply for insurance places, in which case do.

so look up his sharpish.

When DS2 was heading to uni in Manchester, we had to secure his on campus accommodation with a deposit in the May before results in August - but student accommodation in the city is massively oversubscribed, suspect Liverpool may be similar. DS1 went through clearing at much smaller uni town and was allocated on campus halls with no problem on results day.

I didn’t think you paid deposit on uni owned halls?

But yy op look it up for Liverpool sharpish.

@clary you do at Reading so best to check.

If it’s anything like Newcastle the private halls have a much greater volume of foreign students, which may or may not give a slightly different vibe socially.

Fair enough. Clearly it varies @MarmiteMakesMeHappy so would chase up (or get your dc to) today.

Liverpool site is so confusing. On one side it says 'you cannot book until results day'. On the other, it says book early via the My Liverpool portal and also mentions that some of the accommodation is no longer available due to demand.

DS is trying to log into the portal and it won't let him.

My DS had private student accommodation in Liverpool. Booked and paid for (holding deposit) in April, with our money back if he didn’t get a place at his uni of choice.

His accommodation was of a much higher standard that the uni accommodation - worlds apart - so much so that in second year 5 friends moved in with him, and he (and they) stayed the remainder of their time at uni in that same building.

@MarmiteMakesMeHappy Student portals may now be embargoed until a level results day - Durham’s was unavailable from Monday afternoon this week.

University owned halls might not require a guarantor whereas private ones definitely will.

Accomodation in Liverpool is.in general plentiful. Ds was at ljmu who do not have their own halls.and work with other providers . Booking via them gave definate refund if place was missed and accommodation with other 1st year's. I would thjnk uni of is the same. We did look at uni of for dd this year and booking did open in February I think

My dd did private halls as a uni of Liverpool first year at grand Central ( next to train station). Cheaper than Greenbank , more central and they moved flats around so she was with some uni of students too.

Liverpool is slightly unusual in that both the Uni of L'pool and John Moores are both intermingled, and in the City Centre, so being in a hall where there are students from different Unis isn't unusual as it would be in many other Cities where different Universities aren't side by side, geographically.

How and when you apply does vary a lot at different Unis though - there is no single, 'correct' answer unless someone has recent knowledge from Liverpool.

Dd is at LJMU. Booking via the uni (private halls but via LJMU portal) had a couple of advantages.

There was a discounted rate for booking direct & she was guaranteed to be with other first years & in a mature students flat. Also for those awaiting results the cancellation terms were better.

she is staying there next year but has booked direct.

@GardenGaff and @tripleginandtonic do you mind me asking which halls?

@SheilaFentiman I think you are right re: Embargo

Things to check - length of contract private can be 51 week v 40 in uni halls. Who will you be with - private halls may be predominantly international or mix of different unis. How tied in you are - uni halls usually more lenient if drop out for health reasons etc.

It was The Arch booked via Downing Students.

At the time when choosing his flat on their website you could see a basic overview of who is booked into each flat so far - male/female, First/second/third year. DS chose a mixed male/female flat, all first years, 3 including him all ended up being at the same uni (albeit completely different courses), the other 3 were at 3 other uni's.

In his second year 5 of his friends were so impressed every time they visited his flat and the building, that they moved in with DS to a flat on the next floor.

Downing as a company were fantastic, the flats were immaculate (before 6 lads moved in ), clean and smelled of fresh paint, each room within the flat was ensuite with a large communal kitchen with two sofas in it, they were very responsive to any maintenance issues - always sorted within a couple of hours, there is a large communal area downstairs with table tennis, playstations, etc. Every week there was some kind of promotion going on in the communal area with loads of free stuff from local businesses leaving stuff in the foyer for students - DS never once had to buy toiletries, he had free Dominoes pizza, Krispy Kremes, Starbucks, etc. The building was very secure, you had to be buzzed in by the concierge desk, concierge would accept deliveries and keep them secure, no guests are admitted until the student they are visiting comes down to approve their entry, laundry room in the basement all payable via an app.