Student accommodation: which of these saves you the most money?

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  • thepurplepixie
    thepurplepixie Posts: 3,588
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    With my kids halls were cheaper. With both they chose the cheapest halls, if they had wanted en-suite they could have paid double. They had no bills, no travel expenses as they could walk everywhere and the cleaner kept it all quite civilised.
  • Student house / flat rented privately
    tower wrote: »
    Normally you have to rent for 52 weeks, in halls it's between 30-42 weeks...

    Ah, I am obviously looking at this from a different perspective to everyone else. Student nurse. 45 weeks a year tuition, with holiday scattered through the year, so you need a room for 52 weeks. The students in halls on my course are having to move from room to room over the summer until their private lets become available. Campus is about a mile outside the city centre, so private lets are nearer town. Plus halls are mostly £130+ per week, where private rooms are from £90 including bills.
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  • dipsy
    dipsy Posts: 3,137 Forumite
    edited 28 June 2017 at 2:53PM
    Stay at home with parents
    my daughter and I looked at halls, more expensive even allowing for the 42 vs 52 weeks formula

    She shares with someone she knew before going to uni - the rent each of them for a 2 bedroom duplex apartment, shared living room, kitchen (with washer /dryer), cooker, microwave, fridge freezer etc, bathroom, concierge and free gym access is

    £350 each per month = £4,200 PA based on 12 months
    (bills inc sky/water/heating/TV licence & Insurance) has been Average £19.25 each PCM for this first year (£231 + £4,200 = £4,431)

    Halls, cheapest was £125 p/w - although included bills (if I recall) £5,250 PA based on 42 weeks + TV Licence (£147) + Insurance (say £110)?

    = £5507 (42 weeks) vs £4431 (52 weeks) difference of £1076

    True difference if keeping halls for the full 52 weeks is

    125 x 52 = £6500 + TV Lic and insurance = £6757 - £4431 = £2326



    Also in halls not as convenient as you have to take your washing and do "pay as you go" to do washing - which is about £5 a shot as I recall from when my son was at uni in halls

    you also have to factor in removing your belongings from your room for the other 10 weeks
    2007 £1749
    2008 £291.99
    2009 JanMasscara £7.00 Feb megcabot books x 2 £20 XFactor tkts x 2 £58.00 (couldn't go though as they only phoned on day :-( ) foundation £7.99
    total so far for 09 £92.99
  • Stay at home with parents
    Think of it this way. You pay £120 for sake of argument on halls of residence which is probably going to be in a more central area closer to the town centre. Yes you're paying more but you'll spend less on travel be closer to supermarkets and local attractions. Think about after a night out if you can walk back instead of paying for a taxi that'll probably rip you off. In my case I paid £110 and this was with a nice ensuite for my first halls as I went through a private company and then got a bus pass for the year which worked out as under £7 per week for unlimited travel to uni/work basically wherever I wanted to be. I wouldn't always be so quick to discount halls until you've done the research
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  • AmyTheThriftyStudent
    AmyTheThriftyStudent Posts: 6
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    edited 27 September 2017 at 8:39PM
    Stay at home with parents
    I am a mature student doing my second BSc, and have been quite thorough about shopping around for student accommodation each time, looking for a good deal while taking into account my personal preferences.

    I never considered living with my parents while studying as the closest university would've been 40 minutes away by train, it was far from the best university, and I wanted the independence of living on my own anyway.

    During my first degree I went into catered halls of residence in my first year. This was in 2006 and it cost £4500/year, including a generous breakfast and evening meal. We only had to move out for the summer holidays. This had the benefit of helping me find a group of friends from a large pool of students.

    My rent + bills + food was slightly cheaper in 2007 and 2008. I left househunting until mid-August each summer so that I wouldn't have to pay for summer rent. I paid £325/month rent for 9 months in my second year, and £280/month for 9 months in my third year. For both of these years the bills came to approximately £50pppmonth, and I had a very tight budget of £20/week for food.

    This time (2016) I rented a room from a private landlord just Monday - Friday and went home on weekends. I paid just £150/month including bills for the Monday-Friday deal. This is unusually good though - I found it by asking friends if they knew anyone in the area who might be willing to take on a Mon-Fri lodger. Now I am commuting from home which costs me approx £20/day 5 days/week, but I will only need to do this for 3 months, then I go out on placements.

    In my experience the private halls of residence (not run by the universities) are the most extortionate rent - I think the private businesses prey on people who are new to renting (or new to renting in the UK) who don't know all the options available to them. I viewed a "Unite House" flat when I was looking for student accommodation in 2007, and as well as the bedroom being a shoe-box the en suite bathroom consisted of a shower pretty much over the toilet and a tiny sink. There was nowhere to hang a towel or leave your shower gel. Needless to say I didn't move in there!

    My best advice (as someone in their 7th year of being a student) is to shop around so you know what's out there, get advice from your university (in my experience they don't just try to sell the option of getting you into halls, they are happy to go through all the options they know of), and make sure you go and look at places in person if at all possible - a fish-eye camera lens is very deceptive in those online photos!
  • Stay at home with parents
    While staying on home is probably the cheapest option (if you're studying in same city as your parents live) this can often mean you completely miss out on the university experience. Might as well do an Open university course.
    My halls of residence was relatively cheap in comparison to other options (Hiatt baker Bristol Uni) but still expensive.
    Living out of Halls in my 2nd & 3rd years worked out as £450s per month just make sure try & avoid going through letting agents. Speak to people in the years above find out private landlords
  • dimbo61
    dimbo61 Posts: 13,712
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    Stay at home with parents
    If you are moving to Manchester please check out Manchester Student Homes.
    A university run office and website helping students find Safe and good quality student accommodation in Manchester and Salford
  • endexp
    endexp Posts: 24 Forumite
    Student house / flat found through your university
    University managed flats are many times the cheaper alternative to halls of residence. Even now you may pay some bills, the rent's smaller and chances are you're closer to the city centre and can shop at more (& cheaper) supermarkets (and even farmer's markets if you're lucky enough to have one nearby)
  • ska_lover
    ska_lover Posts: 3,773
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    edited 14 January 2018 at 3:16AM
    Stay at home with parents
    Halls of residence and private house shares work out about the same where I live

    Monthly figures

    Average standard room in Halls - £400 all bills included, small lockable room, shared kitchen and bathroom - have to pay the initial internet connection fee , the whole year in one go

    Average house share based on two sharing , rent £260, gas, electric, £70 water,£30 internet connection £30 - own bedroom shared kitchen and bathroom

    Living in Halls - There is more security and support so maybe better for first timers, you may have to share washing machines and need coins for such, rooms are tiny, staff can come and go out of your private room to do maintenance, clean or pat test. If you drop out partway and move out, they will chase you for the years rent

    Private rented - the student sector houses can be homes that are in need of renovation, no onsite security,you can do what ever you want. Likely to need a guarantor who could be guaranteeing everyones rent in the house, if / when someone else drops out it can cause a lot of stress for everyone else, and drop outs are a regular occurance
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  • glider3560
    glider3560 Posts: 4,115
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    In my final year at university, I only had six months of lectures, then a few months to write up my final year project from home, then exams. So I only needed to be there for six months.

    Fed up with sharing with un-house trained people by this point, I rented a studio flat for just six months and then moved back to my parents (about 130 miles away) for the rest of the year.

    A room in a student house was about £300 per month, but you had to rent for 12 months, so £3600. I paid £525 for six months, total £3150. The place was so much nicer than university halls or a student house.

    I discovered rail rovers to use during my exam period. IIRC it was £50 for 8 days unlimited travel within the defined area in a 15 days period, so four return journeys worked out at just £12.50 each (which is great value for 260 miles without having to make any reservations or travel on a specifically timed train). Stayed overnight at a Travelodge, Ibis or Holiday Inn (depending on prices) for the night before the exams, so that didn't cost much.
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