When you first go to uni, student accommodation boils down to what uni-run student accommodation fits your budget. After that first year, however, it’s entirely up in the air. You need to find housemates or flatmates, and you need to go through and find student-friendly accommodation. After all, not every property is going to be happy renting out to students, so you need to look for specific student-friendly properties. These properties are typically more affordable for the area than those that professionals would rent.
While going to a professional real estate agent to look at the available student accommodation, you will want to have a checklist before and during your viewings. Having this checklist will help you immediately spot a great option.
Make Sure Everyone is a Student
When you rent student accommodation, the most important factor is that everyone in your group is actively enrolled in university. University students are exempt from council tax, so if there’s one person that’s different or just graduated in your group they will be on the hook for the full amount of the council cost. Rent only with students, who will follow the general structure of your year and council-tax exempt along with you.
What to Look for in Your First Private Student Letting
When looking for your first student accommodation in Bath, letting in the second year with your friends, you will want to make sure you ask yourself:
How Easy Is It to Clean?
Maintenance is a huge part of renting a property. While you can do a lot to spruce a place up in terms of cleaning, you shouldn’t have to and shouldn’t expect to even have time to. Don’t look at the potential of a place, but what is there? Ensure it’s durable, easy to clean, and straightforward to maintain.
How Equal is the Space?
If one room looks like a closet conversion more than an actual bedroom, you may want to reconsider. Sure, the person who would get that room would get to pay significantly less for the rent, but if they weren’t 100 per cent on board with the idea, they may resent it and then you will need to live in a hostile living environment.
How Easy Is It to Get to Your Campus?
Your student accommodation needs to be within easy distance of the campus. Ideally, you should be able to walk to where you need to go. However, a short bus or bike ride away will be fine if your university is located inside the city centre.
How Much Built-In Storage is Available?
You will have multiple people’s worth of stuff in that property, which needs somewhere to go. You’ll also reasonably be getting more as time goes on. That’s why built-in storage is essential. You either need it outright (which is the smoothest transition), or you need to add that storage on a budget easily. If you can do that, then you have a decent option.
Does Everything Work?
While everything in the property should work, that doesn’t mean it does or that it works to your standards. One of the biggest things to check, for example, is the water pressure in things like the shower and toilet. These are examples of something that may technically work, but not to your standards. The comfort of having basics that meet your needs cannot be matched, especially when it comes to exam season.
What Amenities Are There?
Some amenities will make it far, far easier to live with a big group. One of those is a dishwasher. A dishwasher instead of just washing dishes in the sink will help keep that kitchen clean with less effort, meaning it will likely be done. Another great amenity to have is a washer/dryer or two separate machines.
How Responsive is the Landlord?
You need to talk to the current tenants to get a good idea of how responsive the landlord is (or isn’t). Usually, you’ll view a property, and at least one person is home, so you can ask them about the landlord and other top essentials, from how much to expect in bills to what the neighbours are like. Students are not loyal to their landlord or estate agent, especially if they’re moving, so there’s a good chance they’ll be fully honest with you. The last thing you want is to have to fight or go through the local council to get an essential fix done in a timely manner.
