International Student - Aberystwyth

flazer

:eek: Hello!

I am Samreet, from Malaysia. I would be leaving Malaysia for Aber in September. I contemplating to stay off campus and so i need to know what is the energy, electricity, water and Internet tariff is like. A rough estimation would be sufficient. Currently, accommodation alone for a year at Aber, on campus, is going to cost me p3000+/-. I know from Web Sites that i can get a house in Aber at p200-300 with two rooms (more or less). This would help me save a great deal. I would really appreciate any help. Thank you for reading.

Samreet:money:

dumpy

Hi Samreet

I'm not sure how many flats there are going for that amount in Aber, My mate pays £85 a week for a flat and they are in demand this being a University town.

Water rates probably about £30 a month, electric and gas are what you make them. You should be council tax exempt as you are a student.

To be honest University accomodation looks like it will cost about £300 a month based on your figures above. It's also a great way to meet other people.

Good luck with your course

PasturesNew

Basic bills would be approximately £200/month if you live alone.

zar

It's 5 years or so since I left Aber but my weekly rates for a room in a shared house were between £45-£55 a week - guess it will have gone up a bit since then. The usual practice of landlords was to charge full rent from September to June and then "half rent" during the summer when you are not actually in the house*. So should be less than £2500. That included water and you don't need to pay council tax. Gas and electric have gone up a lot since then so I can't help you there! The accommodation office have a list of private places available as well as halls. Most places will have gone months ago but often odd rooms come up in shared houses - however, some of the places are awful (it can be a very damp town in the winter) so you'd be taking a chance to pick a place from Malaysia without seeing it.

Well worth knowing is that there is a free bus run by the university between the town and both campuses. Here in Canterbury students have to pay £2 for a return between the uni and town! I would say it is easier to live cheaply in Aber compared to a lot of British unis.

You will have a fantastic time - I still miss Aber a lot. But I'm going camping in Wales on Friday so I can go and visit :j

*If you are doing a postgrad course and do need accomodation in the summer you can usually find it more cheap than it is during term time so that won't be a problem.

misslander69

Hi,

Im living in Aber and currently paying £80 pw for a studio flat. Unless you can find a house to share with 2 or 3 other people, you will not find cheap houses to rent in this area.

Other bills im currently paying each month include approx £53 council tax, Water approx £15 and electric on top.

Letting agents know they can charge what they want due to the high demand from students. If you do decide to go with a letting agent, a bit of advice is to avoid ALP letting agency!

HTH

tsstss7

Hi I lived in aber (also as a student) a good few years ago and up until afew years ago would visit regularly as a holiday maker.

I stayed in halls on the sea front for 3 years (self catering, the catered food was terrible by all accounts) and I know I'll never get such great seaside accomodation again. If you can get sea front accomodation I'd heartily recommend it!

Personally I'd say your best bet would be to stay in halls for at least an initial period (say the first term) and test the water. Aber can be very cold and windy in winter and coming from a warmer place the all inclusive heating will be a godsend to you. Otherwise if you do find shared acomodation elsewhere you may find your housmates are not as keen as you to keep the place well heated.. most students can find plenty of other things to spend their cash on.:beer: