Hi guys! I’m
sure on of the big questions that crosses your mind is “Should I stay in a
student accommodation or housing?”. Well I’m here to share my experience with
you and to give you some tips and tricks as well!
My first year here in Newcastle, I opted to stay with student accommodation because I wasn’t really familiar with the place and I didn’t know the basis of how to properly choose which student housing I wanted to stay in. Off the bat I would recommend staying in student accommodation for your first year, throughout the year you’re going to meet a lot of new people who will potentially be your future housemates if you want to switch to student housing afterwards. At least you get to choose who you live with for the next year or two!
Student accommodation is good to start off with as there’s lots included in the price. There are usually reps to help you around and give you information first hand before you even arrive. Northumbria University offers a wide range of student accommodation all around town and are mostly close to campus. If it is convenient for you, you can attend open days and have a tour around the accommodations and see which one suits you the most! But if you’re coming from a different country, then there are plenty of images & virtual tours on the website for you to see.
Pricing will vary for both student accommodation and housing. You can find really pricey ones and cheaper ones for both. Bills and Wifi are usually all inclusive in student accommodation, which means that it will be less of a hassle to settle in. You’ll basically just need your necessities like bedding, crockery, toiletries and maybe a few decorations to make you feel at home. You can find places from about £70 all the way up to £170 per week.
For student housing, sometimes you can find places with bills and Wifi included in the price but most of the time, it will be something you and your housemate will have to settle on your own. I moved into a house with 2 of my friends from second year. We were met in 1st year and decided that it would be a good idea to live together. Student accommodation can get expensive over the years so moving to a house was very much cheaper in my opinion. Once we got everything sorted, which includes the rent, bills and Wifi, everything came down to less than £90 a week per person for a full house.
We honestly grew up a lot and learnt a lot in the process of switching from student accommodation to student housing because it was the first time we had to get bills and Wifi sorted on our own. We were sharing information we found over the summer on which company to go to for bills and what kind of Wifi we should get. One of the most popular companies to choose for bills among my friends was Power because they offer really good and cheap deals. For Wifi, people usually go for Virgin Media, BT or Sky. It usually depends because their plans change annually. You could always ask others for advice during summer break time too if you’re having problems!
If you’re thinking of moving from student accommodation to housing, NULets is a great place to start and they are just located where the Student Central is.
