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 are less likely to give you a deposit back if you don’t get the grade and depending what contract you signed then you may have to pay the whole year! Some uni halls and some private halls will say if you don’t get the grades you don’t have to pay. But i don’t think that would work for an insurance offer as he will have got the grades? I don’t think people book accommodation for the insurance offer, just the firm as long as they check the small print and know they can pull out.

Aw best of luck to him. Liverpool is a marvellous city.

I have 2 in Liverpool uni, one was in Melville and one in Crown, they both took a year out though so applied with grades in hand so got their 1st choice before results were out of that makes sense.

And I completely agree, it is a fantastic city to go to university in, hence the 2nd child following the 1st.

Always always apply and go for uni halls

private halls are only for students who didn’t get a space in uni halls ie they were in clearing or there weren’t sufficient halls space for first years.

never choose to go to private halls if you have the choice. No one does this

@GardenGaff wow those sound like dream hall!

Can your kid phone the accommodation office to get clarification?
My DS is going to York (unconditional) but has to wait til results day to find out which room he is allocated. He had to choose 7 within the university system and I know you have to pay a deposit once allocated or the room goes to someone else. They also have a partnership with Student Castle which is privately run, but affiliated. They take all your money up front but they do refund it if your offer falls through. And they are expensive.

my youngest is it LMJU. Agree that there is a lot of accommodation for students in Liverpool. Uni of Liverpool has own accommodation but LJMU is all private providers. So I guess if he goes to a private provider he is more likely to be living with people from the different uni. But I think it would depend on location… the one we chose was very close to LJMU main campus so all LJMU students in the flat. You can also opt to stay in the same accommodation for 2nd and 3rd year with the private provider.
As went through clearing we were able to book after results day.
it could be uni of Liverpool own accommodation close to campus is already booked but there will be accommodation available in my experience. We booked uni of Liverpool accommodation before the results came out and then changed when didn’t get a place.
we had good experience with student roost private provider.

Maybe what confuses some people (amongst the widely differing systems across unis) is that many uni owned accom ask students to express a preference well before results, but don’t actually allocate until after results when they know who is coming.

Many places only let you select a preference if you’ve Firmed them. Others let Insurance express preference too. Again, allocations done after. And these places with lots of uni owned accom (usually older unis) usually take the deposit after results after place confirmed.

I guess the top tip is to do what most at your uni do and use that kind of accom. So if most first years go into uni owned accom on campus, for most that will be the the best way to get involved, instead of using possibly swankier off site private accom that might be a bit cut off and lose the uni culture sense.

In some unis, everyone is in private accom and students from multiple organisations in together.

No-one has mentioned catered halls. These tend to be uni owned and often more prevalent in older unis and are the older styles of accom and often with less en-suites. They aren’t what private firms build as they are costly to build in terms of the social spaces and running catered facilities, but many who’ve been in them speak of the massive benefits of eating together for meeting large numbers of people and getting involved in uni. Again, you likely express preference once you’ve Firmed choice but places allocated and confirmed after results.

And to all parents, given they are likely signing contracts that could exceed £10k, despite them being young adults etc etc, I’d def be telling them to show a parent the contract before signing, whenever that is. Otherwise hugely costly legal contracts are sometimes entered into without understanding-and they are binding.

I remember telling mine in Feb, watch out for emails offering you all kinds of accom. They will keep coming fft all kind of places. Do NOT sign for anything without discussing it first.

I agree with above post. Ds has paid a deposit to make sure he has catered accommodation.

Absolutely read the Terms and Conditions especially regarding not taking the place if the uni place doesn't happen due to grades.

Mine were in private halls for second and third year and not Liverpool but they had to secure their second year accommodation at the end of October beginning of November of first year. This legally bound us to paying the rent and it was on us to find a replacement tenant if DC either failed first year or changed their mind over staying in this hall. So check and double check the Ts and Cs but also make sure your child knows what they are committing too as well. We had to sign as guarantor too, just our child and their room.

One child didn't need to pay a deposit, my other child did, £250 which is deducted from the last instalment due. Be aware of payment dates. In halls of residence (both in these in first year) the student loan had definitely landed to help fund it but in the private halls, Dc's payment is due 1st Oct at over £3k (they front load the rental payments so the first two are massive) his term starts 6th October when he registers in his first lecture and then that triggers his student loan.

For student loan amounts the payments to your child work out at 33%, 33% then 34% of whatever maintenance loan they are entitled to. That extra is to fund them over the summer. HTH.

My DD has just had a summer job cleaning in a Student Castle - not in York.

She said the rooms were amazing but nearly fainted at the cost!

The amount of goods just abandoned by returning international students was eye opening.

Thanks for all the advice re: Halls.

Did anyone put a deposit on their insurance as well?

No, dd didn’t have an insurance as she had grades in hand and ds’s insurance didn’t allow it.

No, most don't allow you to secure accommodation at the insurance as it would be chaotic if hundreds of thousands of students were reserving rooms in 2 different place which would obviously mean 1/2 the reservations wouldn't be filled.

I was really surprised to read on here in previous years posts saying their dc had been able to book at an insurance offer.

Unite Students - Grand Central https://g.co/kgs/8zsEmcW

I would go with accommodation from his uni for 1st year. For various reasons dd took generic accommodation and made no friends really, plus most were second or third year students from the other uni in her city and term times were different meaning she went when they had been there 3 weeks, and then was in the flat alone for 3 weeks at the end of term.

DS has spent the last three years in a student roost place in Liverpool near the train station too. He got it on results day and preferred to stay as he liked it and how close to the university it was. A lot of his friends did it for their second year. If that helps?

@MarmiteMakesMeHappyis your child going to Liverpool? My son firmed Liverpool and applied for greenbank, vine court and 1 other uni place, but has been offered accommodation through the uni at a private (amber student) place in town. We feel really uncertain about this as an option (will he be sharing with other domestic students etc) but if he declines they’re not obliged to offer anything else. Just wondered if anyone had experience of private providers?

@annaspanner18 DS is actually going to Nottingham now. He is going in private halls which are a couple of minutes from campus and will almost certainly be filled with domestic students and international students alike. He has requested that he is in a flat with domestic students if possible just so that he has more chance to find like-minded people to bond with in those first few weeks and you don’t really know anyone

I am not particularly worried as DD was in private halls for her first year in Manchester as accommodation is so thin on the ground and she was fine. There were international students, but her Flat was full of domestic girls.

International students tend to go for the pricey rooms so by sticking with the more basic rooms, you are more likely to be with domestic. You also get a lot more for your money going through a private provider as a general rule Accommodation tends to be a nicer standard.

International students do seem to be more quiet, tidy and self-sufficient so I do understand the need to be around people to make friends with