Student accommodation

[OPUK46]

Hi, what has your experience been like with sorting out accommodation for your child/children for university? any advice? things to consider or look out for?

Before providing financial support I want to make sure we get it right!

We looked at options for halls for the first year, for subsequent years, we have had nothing to do with it. Nor have the parents of the people he shares with.

DD sorted out her own halls accomodation for university this year and I expect she will sort out her second and third year options too. All I do is look at the photos and chip in a bit of money.

She's finding sharing with others exhausting at times, mainly because of the complete mess in the kitchen. She only shares a bathroom with one other person so that's ok.

There’s something odd in your tone, OP …

Firstly, the parental role should be to encourage their prospective student child to do all the necessary research and admin themselves - with the parent offering encouragement, guidance and advice as needed.

Moving to university accommodation is itself part of the student’s experience - they can learn a huge amount from having to think things through, fill in forms, meet deadlines, and take practical action themselves.

And your final sentence sounds … transactional. Perhaps you didn’t actually mean that your support is conditional on you making all the decisions?

I would definitely go into hall in the first year, preferably official university owned halls, rather than private halls. It's so much easier to make friends that way and the uni halls will likely have flexibility if he wants to change flats or any reason.
Second and third years it's their business to organise!

Dad went into halls in the first year and then just house shared for the rest .

Every uni has a range of accommodation in different price brackets.

The student usually submits a list of preferences as to where they would like to live. Be prepared - a lot don't get their first choices, or even second/third. So you may end up paying far more than the choices you requested.

Main things to check

Ensuite/shared bathroom and if so how many sharing
Shared room or single occupancy
Catered/self catered
If in flat/house, how many sharing
Best halls in terms of location to lectures or if multiple campus sites, make sure you have the right one

Good to go to the Uni open days as most will include a few accommodation options to visit. Some unis also do "accommodation only" open days where all accommodation locations/types are open to view options.

We did a few and some Uni accommodation was really poor, and that helped our DS choose which Uni he wanted to attend (luckily the one with the best accommodation was also one of the ones he favoured anyway, but his first choice for the course and city was taken off the list because of the dire accommodation we saw - even the supposedly "superior" rooms were small/cramped/tatty).

Other factors for Uni based accommodation are:-

1. Whether there is secure bike storage;
2. Whether the kitchen has sofas/TV or a common room (in some, the only option for relaxation/tv is the room itself!);
3. In some Unis, the communal kitchens are cleaned weekly/fortnightly, in others they're not cleaned at all;
4. Same with bathrooms, how often are communal bathrooms cleaned, and are ensuite bathrooms cleaned (again, different unis do different things);
5. What other communal areas are available, i.e. pool tables, bars, games consoles, etc. Some unis have them, others don't.

We told DD the maximum we could afford to pay for halls and that enabled her to fill in the form with her preferred options in order. She was allocated her second choice option for first year accommodation (firm choice).

Halls for first year, shared house for 2nd and 3rd. She did the research and showed us the options for halls, ie en suite or not etc. We didn’t get involved in 2nd or 3rd year … except financially!

Dd sorted her own. I had nothing to do with it.

I had no involvement in this at all

i don't think I had any involvement really. I remember DS wanting an ensuite in halls which bumped the price up a bit, but I understood him wanting that. Unfortunately this meant he was in Halls as far away from the lectures as it was possible to be, but the nearer ones didn't have ensuites.
Second, and third years he and his flatmates from halls sorted out a nine bedroom house rental which I never saw until I visited,

Dd chose her own and sorted it all out. We helped her with the finance forms etc but that’s it.

All those who are saying you had no input at all - did you not even give your DCs a budget?

The OP seems to be long gone …

Bramshott as they were looking at university accommodation we could all see the full range of rental prices. They’d seen some of the accommodation on an open day, and could judge roughly what the average price was, and what the most luxurious flats cost. They also knew the type of accommodation they preferred, and drew up their list accordingly.

So there wasn’t a set budget, exactly. Just a process of choosing places that seemed nice without being extortionate in comparison with the rest.

@Bramshott

All those who are saying you had no input at all - did you not even give your DCs a budget?

Dd got the full loan and full maintenance grant, we are a low income family and she knew that beyond the odd £20 here and there we can’t top her up. She had to work out what she wanted to spend on accommodation out of her budget (ie maintenance grant / loan or whatever it is). She chose catered halls which were expensive £7k ish for the year) but she liked that option as she knew all her food was included and budgeted for. She is planning to get a job to provide her with some spending money. She has about £20 left a week from the maintenance thing and also gets about £35 a week from a bursary through her university.

We said we would pay £1k a month and up to them how they budgeted

@Hadalifeonce

We looked at options for halls for the first year, for subsequent years, we have had nothing to do with it. Nor have the parents of the people he shares with.

Did you put yourself down as a guarantor?

@Badbadbunny

Good to go to the Uni open days as most will include a few accommodation options to visit. Some unis also do "accommodation only" open days where all accommodation locations/types are open to view options.

We did a few and some Uni accommodation was really poor, and that helped our DS choose which Uni he wanted to attend (luckily the one with the best accommodation was also one of the ones he favoured anyway, but his first choice for the course and city was taken off the list because of the dire accommodation we saw - even the supposedly "superior" rooms were small/cramped/tatty).

Interesting thanks for this!, a lot of accommodation providers seem to be offering only virtual tours at the moment due to covid.

@Bramshott

We told DD the maximum we could afford to pay for halls and that enabled her to fill in the form with her preferred options in order. She was allocated her second choice option for first year accommodation (firm choice).

Thanks for this, it seems some of the first year students are applying for accommodation through their university where you state your preferred choices. There are however a lot of private halls which you can just book directly - has anyone done this?

Yeah that's a really good point, ability to switch flats - especially when they're moving in with complete strangers!. Not many seem to advertise this though.

I get what you're saying, we just want to make sure we find the right place as accommodation for first year that isn't a shared house is quite expensive. Especially living away from home for the first time etc. It's got to be right for them so it's good to hear any advice or issues others have encountered.

OPUK46

Bramshott

Thanks for this, it seems some of the first year students are applying for accommodation through their university where you state your preferred choices. There are however a lot of private halls which you can just book directly - has anyone done this?“

We did. Very pleased, individual flat with en-suite double and a kitchen/dining/living room
and entrance hall with hanging space. Bills included (except TV licence), common room, study room and gym. 24 hour reception and good security. Was a little more expensive than university halls (by about £20 pw) but he gets a lot more for the money.