Picking your new student house is an exciting time, but it’s still important to make sure you’re properly prepared. The last thing you want is to end up in a dodgy student house – I’m sure we’ve all heard of our fair share of student house nightmares. Here’s our take on how students can best prepare themselves to ensure they get the best house possible.
Start the search early
It’s easy to forget that you need to arrange a house for next academic year when you’ve only just moved into your current student property. But houses are let out on a first come first serve basis, and therefore the best houses tend to go first and the worst houses tend to go last (this isn’t always the case but it’s a good rule of thumb). So your best bet is to start searching a month or two into the academic year! However, if you have left it later than we recommend above, we still have a number of student properties available which you can view here.
Make sure you can afford it
It’s all well and good starting your search early and finding some of the best student houses about, but if you can’t afford them then its not worth the hassle. You definitely don’t want to end up finishing your academic year in a pile of debt, well, a bigger pile of debt than you already have from your student loan. Whilst you’re searching for properties, look into the cost per week, add it up, and make sure you can afford it! Whether the money comes from your student loan or your parents (or elsewhere), making a basic budget can help ten fold to ensure you’ve got enough money when it comes to paying your rent. Just make sure you’ve set aside enough money for VKs and kebabs.
Research the area
Usually student houses will all reside close to the University, however in some cases student houses can be found quite a walk away from the Uni, meaning you may end up having to spend more money on public transport. It’ll help to prioritise what you want to live closest to; for many people this is likely to be the University, but I’m sure for a number of groups at Uni, prioritising closeness to the nightlife sits at number one on their list. When you’re searching for a property, get it up on Google maps and have a look at the area, make sure it’s close enough to everything you prioritise – if you’ve got the time it’s probably worth having a walk round the area to make sure you like it!
Check what’s included with the property in the rental price
Different lettings agents and landlords are all likely to have different takes on what is and what isn’t included with the property. Utilities and furnishings are two of the main things to ask your letting agent about. Some letting agents (Student Housing included) offer inclusion of all utilities with the rental price, however others will require you to pay for your own bills separately. Ask the letting agent/landlord whether bills are included, and which ones are or are not – the bills you should be asking about are: water, electricity, gas, internet, and tv licence.
Other than utilities, furnishing is the next one to ask your letting agent/landlord about. The chances are that if it’s a student house it’ll be furnished (it’s always worth checking though just in case), but some properties come with things like a hoover, tumble drier, dishwasher, mops, toasters, microwaves… and some properties don’t. All of our properties at Student Housing come with hoovers, washings machines and microwaves as standard, and quite a few of our properties come with tumble driers and dishwashers too. The take away point is to check what is included in each individual property – and remember in some cases the old tenants might leave things like toasters and cutlery so it’s probably worth moving into the property before buying smaller things like that!
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Hopefully these tips will prepare you to find the best student house possible and to have another great year at Uni! If you’re still searching for a property for the 21/22 academic year in Lincoln, then have a scroll through our remaining properties 🙂