hefty hall charges?

VanyaHargreeves

I would also agree and say that £89 a week is pretty cheap for halls right now. I'm in Brighton and I know of halls to cost as much as £210! It just varies depending where you are, I guess.

You can try privately renting, but as someone who's done that this year I would advise not to. I had to privately rent for my first year of uni because I got in through clearing and there weren't enough spaces in halls, and it was just a nightmare. I didn't know the area, so didn't know that the street I was moving in on was really really rough (my housemate got mugged less than 1 minute walk away on new year's day), I didn't know how to cope with bills and was so incredibly stressed out, I had to move in with strangers and we have joint responsibility of every single room in the house so I'm having to pay for a lot of damage that they caused, and on top of that I had to try to make friends and study too! It was a really horrific experience.

On the other hand, I know lots of people who were lucky and moved in with lovely people and have chosen to remain in the same houses this year. So it's really pot luck, but tbh I wouldn't risk it.

Our private rent is £85/week each for an ex-council house infested with mould and vermin, really bad landlord, + about 40 a month each for bills - total £400/month (ish). Because I live in Brighton, it's more expensive, but still, I can't imagine the difference would be massive. Also, because we have to pay extra for bills, we didn't put on our heating until snow was on the ground, and it was soooooo cold

IMO, halls will just be a lot easier for a first year - there's already a lot of change that you have to deal with, and the stress that often comes with privately renting just isn't worth it.