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If you’re in your first year of uni, you might be thinking about where you’ll live in your second year.
Most first-year students live on or near campus in student halls, but you’ll probably want to live in a privately rented student house in your second year. You’ll need to choose a group of friends to live with (unless you want to live alone) and start viewing potential houses.
But when’s the best time of year to kickstart your house hunt? If you start looking too early, you might not know enough about the best student areas to make your decision. If you leave it too late, all the best student houses will be gone.
In this blog, we’ll cover the best time of year to start looking and the date you should have your house sorted to ensure you find your perfect university accommodation at a reasonable price.
When to look for student accommodation
With rising rent prices and a student housing shortage, student accommodation is becoming more and more competitive. Starting your house search early is crucial to ensure you don’t miss out on the best deals.
According to Save the Student’s National Student Accommodation Survey 2023, 25% of students started looking for houses before December.
October/November
Although October might seem ridiculously early, this is the best time to start researching popular student areas and average room prices. Most landlords will start advertising properties for the following academic year around October-November, so you can start scoping out potential places to live.
If you’ve already found the friends you want to live with and you’re stressed about finding accommodation, there’s no harm in getting things sorted early. You may even get an ‘early bird’ discount for securing your room early in the year.
January
After the Christmas holiday period, many students are now actively searching for houses. You might find that properties are getting snapped up quickly, and you might struggle to get viewings for houses in the best locations. Now’s the time to move quickly to find your perfect home.
Keep an eye out on property comparison sites, and as soon as you see a property with the right number of rooms in your preferred location appear, get in touch with the estate agent and book a viewing.
March
Unless you live in London, this is quite late to begin your search; ideally, you should have housing sorted by the end of March. There will probably be fewer student properties available than earlier in the year, and you might need to compromise on location or size.
June – September
If you still haven’t found anywhere to live and you’re starting to panic that you’ll end up homeless come September, it’s important to take a deep breath. Even if you leave it to the last minute, you should still be able to find somewhere to live, but the property you choose might not meet all your initial preferences. For example, you might end up further out of the city centre than you would like to be – however having a look at properties early in the year can help combat this.
At this point, an entire student house might be challenging to get. However, you should be able to find a spare room in a student house that you can rent out. Sometimes individual students leave their houses because they’ve fallen out with their housemates or are transferring universities. They’ll be looking for a replacement tenant to take over their contract.
What to do after you’ve secured your student accommodation?
After you’ve sorted your accommodation for next year, you might think it’s time to relax. However, now you’ve got to decide how to split the shared household bills.
If the thought of calling multiple energy providers already has your stress levels rising through the roof, consider using a bill-splitting service.
Split the Bills is a hassle-free bill-splitting service designed for students. We use our trusted suppliers to ensure you get the best deal. Plus, we set up all the utility accounts you’ll need for the year. You can customise your package, including electricity, gas, broadband, water, and even your TV licence. All you and your housemates need to do is pay one bill each month!
If you’re unsure if Split the Bills is the right option for you and your housemates, you can find out more about how our service works or get in touch with our team!
Electricity. Gas. Broadband. Water. TV Licence.
Want to find out more?
Interested in splitting your student household bills rather than splitting up friendships? Check out SplitTheBills now and make life easier for everyone in your shared student house.
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