Renting in Southampton- advice please!

Richard_Webster

cycling is definitely the way forward (for journeys under 5 miles anyway!).

Just like my wife... and she even climbs the hills in Bitterne Park on her bike!

patricia..xx

yeah I am a little worried about the hills to be honest. Sure I will get used to it

acs202

Hiya - which University are you going to as there are two in Southampton.

My wife works for the University of Southampton and I know that if you contact their student services they have a large list of local and reputable landlords.

Also if you get the chance to go to the Uni beforehand you will spot a million posters around and about offering rooms for rent. This is quite a nice way of meeting new people and enjoying the true student experience.

My best bit of advice though is to call the student services and ask for some contact details of landlords and their properties.

Hope that helps!

:beer:

acs202

Oh and I work in Ocean village. Its very nice but its not so much a studenty area but a lot of young professionals (lawyers, accountants etc)

Bella01

Wow. I came back to loads of replies. Thank you everyone!

I think I'll rule Ocean Village out then- I don't really mind that few students live there, but it's quite far from the Avenue campus which is where I'd be studying.I'll have to rule St Marys out too- for totally different reasons.:p

Am I right in thinking that Bevois Valley isn't what people would call 'rough' then- it's just very 'studenty'. I don't really mind that so much.

I guess I should look in the Portswood area. Would be nice if it was nearer the city centre, but you can't get everything you want.

Bella01

PasturesNew wrote: »

Bills for self-contained would be about:
£40 electricity/gas
£15 water if on a meter
£12 TV license
£15 contents insurance
£15 broadband
£12 phoneline
===
£109

These seem to be conservative estimates. I'm hearing 70 quid a month for electricity/gas for a one bedroom flat.

Kavanne

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Southampton traffic is constrained by crossing the Itchen if you are coming from east of the river, although this is not a major problem if you can use Northam Bridge or Cobden Bridge. As I have said, there is queue in peak periods to cross Woodmill Bridge.

However there is also the major constraint of the existence of the Common. If you around Lordswood & Upper Shirley (inc Dale Valley Road) then to get to the University you have to crawl along the single carriageway western end of Burgess Road to go east. You can do two sides of a triangle by doing Winchester Road and Bassett Avenue/Bassett Crescent East to Burgess Road and University Road, but I suspect in the mornings Winchester Road is going to be clogged with people tryng to get out of the City to go north. So, all in all, I wouldn't think that North West Southampton was necessarily good transport wise if you are working/studying at the University. The exception would be if a medic and spending a lot of time at the General Hospital.

I drive from that area to southampton city every day and it's not too bad!! Burgess Road at the junction with the Avenue is terrible to get accross in the morning though.

For a room in a student house in southampton you should look at spending between 250-300 (MAX) per month before bills. Do you really need a place of your own? A 2 bed place in Ocean village can be found for about 650 so if you can find someone to share with you still get privacy. I lived down there for a while myself but I prefer the pace of life in Bassett lol.

Most of the houses in Portswood are 3 bed + as landlords want to get as many bodies in as possible but this is why they are much cheaper. Living in a shared house is fun though!

hope this helps

Richard_Webster

I drive from that area to southampton city every day and it's not too bad!! Burgess Road at the junction with the Avenue is terrible to get accross in the morning though.

That was my point. OK to live in Shirley/Lordswood if you work in the City Centre but going west/east is the problem.

Jonbvn

This thread brings a lot of memories, since I graduated from Uni. Soton more years ago than I care to mention.

I lived in St. Mary's for a couple of years, when the nightlife was "very interesting". The house was similar to The Young Ones! However, I did hear that they have cleaned the place up quite a lot.

In retrospect, closer to the Uni (Portswood & Bevois Valley Rd.) would be ideal, if I was to do it again.

Could murder a pint of HSB!

elfen

I'd also suggest looking out slightly further afield if you don't mind commuting slightly (and rents may be cheaper) I live in Fareham, and I'll be commuting in (but I'll be going to the city centre uni - Soton Solent Uni)

You might be better off looking on the other side of Southampton, not towards the city centre, but away from the uni as rents may be cheaper and you could still cycle in?