keep an open mind (Student Accommodation)

Member Name: sarlozzer

Product:	Student Accommodation
Date:	09/06/09 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lived with like minded people, close to university

Disadvantages: can get load and untidy

So far i have been pretty lucky when it comes to my accomodation at plymouth university. To my dismay i had to go straight into a house rather than living in halls which is the norm for first year students and this is the main way people make friends, so i was a litle sad but i had no choice.

Unfortunely i only had a couple of weeks to find somewhere to live as i was planned to start university, so i was left with the houses nobody wanted.

I viewed around 10 houses before i found somewhere suitable, most of the houses left where either dumps, from the 80's or damp and unfit for living. I went through the university accomodation service, so each property was given a ranking, and i strongly advice you to take note of these, as the lower graded ones whern't viewed by the university recently so there was a little uncertainity what the property would be like.

The house i eventually found was only a 10 minute walk into university (about average), and as i only had a small budget was a very small single room, but only cost £56 per week but didnt include any bills. By the end of the year i realised i had gone with one of the more expenesive landlords (to be fair i didnt mind as if i had a problem it was sorted out imediately), and i learned that it wasn't a very good idea to move into a house where billed whern't included. I strongly recomend that you consider how good you are at money management at the start as it is very easy to end up falling short.

When i moved in i was living with 2 other females and 4 males, which i felt to be a comfortable balance as there was no female whinging or male rivelry. I quickly settled in with my house mates and luckly we all got on and had no problems or falling outs. I did learn one thing is that you have to be a little more laid back as you will find that certain peoples habits will annoy you and vice versa, allong with understanding that it is a shared house so everyone needs to do their fair share of duties.

Overall i had a very enjoyable time in student accommodation, and luckly got on with everyone so had no problems, hopefully i will be this lucky next year. This is not for everyone as it can get quite noisy and you can find random people walking through your house you don't know, but for me i loved it.

Summary: not for everyone