Student Accommodation – The Differences between University and Private
Each year students across the country are stuck on whether they should continue living at home or decide to move into student accommodation.
Many are left with no idea whereabouts they want to be and what style of accommodation will suit them best.
Universities offer their own accommodation, however many students choose to go into private rented accommodation depending on the location, rented accommodation often seems to be closer to campus, which appeals massively to students.
Libby, 20, is in her first year of university, before starting her course she was torn between commuting or living in, and decided to look at the different accommodation there was on offer, from the University’s accommodation to private ones.
Libby said: “I was put off a few of the different accommodation types as they had damp and mould on the ceilings, not to mention they were quite old and looked run down.”
“One particular flat I looked around had dirty plates scattered across the kitchen and none of the current students had taken the bins out. I didn’t want to be in an environment with people like that.
“I couldn’t see myself in any of the different flats I viewed, and the university’s halls were a 20 minute walk away from campus.
“It was easier for me to commute and there wasn’t a lot of difference in timings, not to mention how much cheaper it is to commute. ”
In a university’s own campus students are often better protected as there are university staff available to help with any issues and can offer support to students if it is needed.
A 2019 survey conducted by ‘Save the Student’ found that around half of students choose to rent with private landlord, which for the most part is great, however there are some horror stories out there.
Sally, 21, now in her third year of university stayed in halls of residence during her first year then moved to private accommodation. Whilst looking at places for her second year, Sally encountered a nightmare flat which nearly put her off using a private landlord.
Sally said: “In my first year I stayed in halls of residence, the student accommodation was lovely and kept to a high standard. I did unfortunately end up with messy flat mates but the university held regular spot checks to make sure we were looking after the flat and they fixed any thing that broke whilst we were there.”
“In my second year I was put off massively by a lot of the flats I went to view. One of the students living in a flat I saw told me and my friends that they had a rat living with them, it hadn’t been dealt with by the landlord, and the current tenants had named the rat because he’d been there that long.”
These examples luckily enough are rare and do not happen often. In Sally’s case she managed to find another well looked after flat to spend her second year in and it did not put her off going back to private accommodation for her final year flat.”
Sally said: “My current house is lovely and well kept. During our first week with did have an issue where the ceiling in the kitchen was leaking, however we called our landlord and he sent someone to repair it the next day.
“I would recommend anyone looking into private accommodation to start looking as early as you can, in my experience the better places will always go first, so the sooner you start looking the more chance you have of finding a great place to live, with a private landlord.”
Teesside University has invested £21.4m into Cornell Quarter, new accommodation for students, boasting en-suite rooms, a private gym, cinema room and free Wi-Fi, which all has a massive appeal to students.
Cornell Quarter is located off Woodlands Road and Southfield Road, both of which are next door to campus, taking into account that students do not want to have to walk far to get to their classes each day.
Chief Operating Officer, Malcom Page said: “Cornell Quarter will provide a first-class facility for students, at the heart of the campus environment.”
For future University students moving to Teesside, Cornell Quarter is set to be high quality and the location couldn’t be better, just a couple of minutes walk to The Library.
