How To Go From Student Accommodation To Sharing A Flat

Moving out of student accommodation and renting a house off campus with all your mates is a huge step to take after first year. Moving into a shared flat means you choose who you live with and you choose your house. But this can also be an arduous process so here are my top 10 tips to help you ace this move!

Although you’re able to move into a house with all your best friends, an important thing to consider is who you want to live with. It’s vital to think about how their living habits will coincide with yours. If you’re someone who likes everything to be clean, you probably don’t want a flatmate that is a slob. Keep in mind that moving out of your accommodation means that you will be sharing a living space with several other people, so be sure to pick people you are compatible to live with.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is waiting too long to start your house search. Schedule house viewings early on so that you can get the best pick of all the potential houses out there, you’re not going to want to pick from the bottom of the barrel. More times than not those houses will either be dingy as hell, far from campus or way too expensive.

Moving out of student halls also means you will be cooking for yourself. Which will be an adjustment, especially if you’ve lived in a catered hall in your first year. My advice would be to learn to cook a few dishes, something quick, simple, and healthy. Also, make sure it is something you will be able to make well every single time. This way you can ensure that you can depend on yourself to cook a meal. Living in student accommodation is very different than living in a flat.

Sharing a house means sharing a living space. Sharing a living space means sharing the responsibility to maintain and clean it. Making a weekly rota is a great way you and your flatmates can keep a clean house without spending too much time on it individually. This way, each of you can take equal responsibility for the house and improve efficiency. It is important to pull your weight while sharing a house, this way everyone can get along and your living habits won’t get on everyone’s nerves. It can also be great to introduce a weekly cooking rota so your house can share meals each night while splitting the amount of time spent cooking.

There are many problems that can arise for you if you don’t use a reliable estate agent, and you really want this house-search process to go as smoothly as possible. Doing research into which estate agent to use can really save you a lot of trouble. You’ll want to look for agencies that have good reviews (so be sure to ask your fellow classmates), and one that will look out for your best interest.