Accommodation

Where you will stay in the UK during your studies is an important consideration. The university provides accommodation services for all students, however you can also find private accommodation.

Usually to cut expenses, students rent shared accommodation as opposed to renting their own independent house or flats. With shared accommodation you get your own room, but you share the kitchen, living room and possibly the bathroom. If your room has its own bathroom (en-suite) then you wont share the bathroom. You pay fixed rent (monthly or weekly) to the landlord. All people sharing the house share the bills. Sometimes the landlord will include the bills as part of your rent, in which case he will work out the bills and you only pay the fixed rent. The landlord is responsible for regular repairs, you are responsible for cleanliness.

There are some limitations with sharing accommodation. Your room cannot be used by you to keep other friends or relatives except for very short period (one night). If you intend to live with your partner, then you can share a double room with your partner but you must inform and obtain permission from the landlord for this before renting the room. You may have to pay higher rent for a double room occupied by two people than a double room with only a single occupant.

University accommodation

University accommodation is owned and managed by the university, so the university is the landlord. This is the ideal choice for those who do not have relations or friends already in the UK. The university will send you an accommodation pack with your offer letter detailing the accommodation options available to you. University accommodation is always shared and bills are usually included in the rent. It can put you at the heart of student life and help you make friends easily if you are the sociable type. This is because the university will usually cleverly group international students together in the same house. If you have any issues the university will promptly respond and help get them resolved. The down side is that university accommodation is always more expensive than private accommodation of the same type. Also the minimum term of the contract is about 40 weeks, so you cannot easily move out half way through the contract. Most university accommodation is less than 52 weeks so you will eventually have to move into private sector if you intend to stay in the UK longer.

Tips when applying for university accommodation:

• Undergraduate student accommodation is noisy as hell esp. with first years so stay away from it.
• You can request the university to place you with students from various countries than just Indian students. Usually the university will do this automatically.
• A mixed-sex house (boys and girls) is more fun than a single-sex house. Though not all universities will provide you with this option.

Private accommodation

Private accommodation can work out cheaper than university accommodation. The tough part is finding a good shared house. There are three factors here: the house must be good with proper insulation for the cold winter months plus close enough to the university, the house mates must be good and the kind of people you would like to socialize with and the landlord1 must be good and respond to any issues you have promptly. You can only meet all there factors by personally viewing the house and talking to the people living in it. Usually this cannot be done sitting in India, however if you have friends or relatives in the UK in the same town as your university they may be able to help you with this.

What I have seen a majority of students do is that they form a group in India and then talk to a landlord in the UK (via phone/email) and rent out an entire house. They then share the house among themselves. Being a group allows them to speak to the landlord and persuade him to get issues resolved. It also ensures they know the people they are going to be living with. The only downside is that they do not get much international exposure, make fewer friends, continue to speak Hindi and find getting rid of their 'Indian English' slang harder.

Short-term accommodation

It is possible to find cheap temporary accommodation in the UK if the need arises. This kind of accommodation is called Bed & Breakfast or Youth Hostel. You will need to look on the internet for this kind of accommodation in your area. This accommodation is usually suitable for living in for about 1 week, not longer.

FAQ

Still have more questions about accommodation? Read this FAQ.

• 1. Private accommodation may not be managed by the landlord himself. Sometimes landlords hire letting agents to manage their property for them. In such cases you will most probably have to deal with the agent.