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anyone had halls as their only home?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
unfortunatly, this is going to be my situation, and thus i think it's going to make things quite difficult for me.

has anyone else not had a second home i.e. parents, family ect, whilst living at uni?
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Erm I haven't but had a few friends who were international students in the UK year round, so halls were sort of their only home, although not quite to the extent that you're going to be in.

    Couple of things that spring to mind that might make things easier. Look for halls that offer year round accomodation, ideally ones that are fairly obvious about having year round accomodation. That way there will be more people around in the holiday.

    When you get to uni, find a bit out about the stuff for international students. I know you're not one, but from the holiday point of view you are in a very similar position to them.

    Another stumbling block that springs to mind is what to do with any belongings etc you have. Don't know whether you have any of your own furniture in your flat at the moment, but dealing with that in halls could be a bit tricky.

    It might be worth getting in touch with the students union welfare, and the uni welfare people, and maybe the accomodation team too and chatting to them about it. I know you don't know where you're going yet, but just pick a couple of unis you might be interested in. Generally they are more than happy to talk around the subject, and while you don't know of anyone else in similar circumstances, I'm sure you'll find one of them that's dealt with something similar before.

    xx
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i'm only really looking at 4 different uni's

    i've not got much furniture, an ikea bookshelf, but i've got a 1 bed flat full of stuff, and i don't really know how i would get all of that into 1 room. And i don't want to get rid of a lot of it...i think i need to have a good look at the accomdation. otherwise, i'm not so sure what i can do, because finding short term rents is difficult, and expencive. My only other option is to find a small crappy flat to rent all year...but it has to be a max of £90 a week
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Or would another one to be find something through the uni accomodation service that isn't halls?

    A lot of uni's have a things where you can find housemates to fill rooms in student houses. Getting that for less than £90 a week would be easier, and once you get into a student house people tend to spend a lot more of the year there. Generally they are 2/3rd years in houses rather than halls, but not exclusively.

    That might be something to look into, might work better than a crappy flat on your own, yet not be as restrictive as halls.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i'm only really looking at 4 different uni's

    i've not got much furniture, an ikea bookshelf, but i've got a 1 bed flat full of stuff, and i don't really know how i would get all of that into 1 room. And i don't want to get rid of a lot of it...i think i need to have a good look at the accomdation. otherwise, i'm not so sure what i can do, because finding short term rents is difficult, and expencive. My only other option is to find a small crappy flat to rent all year...but it has to be a max of £90 a week

    Do you need all the stuff you've got though?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Student lets tend to be ok, and it does depend where you go - the rent on my four bedroom house between 4 of us worked out at £50/week each.

    How about storage?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'd recommend getting a flat of your own, or a shared house rather than halls.

    I had halls as my only home, and one of the problems was with room inspections and banned items. I had a little blow fire and some decorative candles (which I didn't even burn), which were confiscated. They treat you like a kid. And there are constant fire alarms.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    katchika wrote: »
    I'd recommend getting a flat of your own, or a shared house rather than halls.

    I had halls as my only home, and one of the problems was with room inspections and banned items. I had a little blow fire and some decorative candles (which I didn't even burn), which were confiscated. They treat you like a kid. And there are constant fire alarms.

    Yeah, but i think you get to meet a lot more people and it's a lot more sociable in your first year if you do go into halls - i knew a few local people on my course at uni and they said that they felt they'd missed out on a lot of university 'experience' by not living on campus or in halls.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    everything i've got is pretty much needed, the only thing i can get rid of is my old sewing machine, but that will be replaced by a new one soon. Storage is an idea, but i'm not sure how i'm going to pay for it.

    shared housing i think is going to be my only option. It's going to be quite a shock after living on my own for over a year...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Storage often ends up costing more than the value of the things being stored.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i've only had one home :yes:
    why?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    imo you'd be better sharing a student house rather than halls because halls are geared towards people having a family home to return to, go home for holidays and rents are usually only geared towards the 2 semesters, so you're rent won't include the summer. if you've no other home you'd be better going private on a 52 week lease.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Depends on the Uni though. I stayed in halls over the summer of '05 and they moved all the 'stayers' into the same block, along with some summer exchange people and we all had a blast. Diff unis prob do diff things though so just ring the accomodation people and ask them. Although it was because I was homeless at the time, staying in halls that summer was the best part of uni for me, I met some ace people and made a best friend. One of the girls stayed in halls by choice even though her family home was only a few miles away. Student houses are also good if you get good people to live with. I actually think it's better than living on your own, which I find pretty lonely.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Student hosing might be better for you. Most unis accomodation services should have a service that you can use to find a housing share. It might be a shock if you used to living on your own but you will have the sanctuary of your own room.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My friend only had her halls pretty much so in the first year when she had to move out of her uni halls for the holidays she stayed in my uni room whilst I went home. I would say it really depends on each halls so you have to check. But it might for the fist year be good to be in halls if you can stay in them over the christmas and easter holidays and then move into a student house for years 2&3.

    Nearly all student houses have to be rented on a 52week a year basis so i'm sure you will have no problem at all finding someone willing to sub-let their room to you during the holidays.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    unfortunatly, this is going to be my situation, and thus i think it's going to make things quite difficult for me.

    has anyone else not had a second home i.e. parents, family ect, whilst living at uni?

    you'll find a lot of foreign students will be in the same situation as you nearly, in that they often wont be able to go home for breaks / summer while at uni as it's just too expensive.

    it'll be a bit of a pain moving in/out at the end of semesters, but other than that I think you'll be fine. you'll soon make up a network of social support around you, and if not there's plenty of support to be found with aware and nightline etc. everyone needs someone to turn to now and again. :)
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