Don't Rush - student housing

It is at this point in the academic calendar that many students begin to think about finding somewhere to live for next year. Being in my final year, my plans for next year are currently unknown, so I don’t have to consider housing situations just yet! However, for non-final year students it is the usual time to start considering where to live next year.

Being at Southampton over the last three and a half years, I have noticed many changes to the University. Perhaps the biggest change has been the drive to increase awareness about common mistakes when it comes to student housing, and the provision of some general guidance, which all ensures that students end up with the best possible tools to guarantee that they’re sorted for the year ahead.

The biggest factor in all this has been the emergence and constant growth of the ‘Don’t Rush’ campaign run by SUSU, the Students’ Union, which aims to make sure that students take proper consideration of their housing situation, despite the natural urge to get it sorted as soon as possible. This includes being careful about the quality of the building and landlord. Take a look at this campaign to find out about risks and precautions when it comes to house hunting. SUSU have also set up their own letting agency for students.

The first step to house hunting before you even start looking is to make a firm decision about who you want to live with. There is a surprising amount of things to consider when doing this; it’s not just case of eeny-meeny-miny-mo!

For example, the guy who lives on the floor above and loves to party late into the night might seem like someone cool to have in your house, but I’m sure in reality they would be a nightmare to live with if you don’t share the same priorities! This is especially pertinent for first years, who have only known their friends for one semester.

My advice is to live with people who have similar traits as you. For example I am a very tidy person, who likes to work at home in the day and who likes to get up and go to bed early (relative to standard student time, which is similar to GMT + 3!). Therefore I live with people who, for the most part, align with these traits.

I’ve also found that I prefer living with a smaller group, as this year I now live with a house of four, rather than a house of six as I did in second and third year. One of its main benefits it that it is a lot easier to organise things together. This includes everything from the mundane, like paying utility bills, to the fun, like going on nights out!

Our most recent outing as a house was a trip to a popular nearby ice cream parlour in Portswood, whose lavishly topped waffles and sundaes have a level of infamy across campus. We decided to go last Friday evening after our busy first week of the new semester and even though I had already had dinner, I still managed to finish my extremely indulgent Banoffee sundae! It’s great to do things together as a house.

The Banoffee sundae didn’t last long!

My final piece of advice to those of you who are hunting for a house is that, wherever you choose to live and whoever you choose to live with, make sure that your choice makes you excited about the year ahead, because living in a house with your friends is one of best parts of university life!

James