It may only seem like five minutes ago that the madness of Freshers’ Week was in full swing and everything felt brand new, but now you’ve got the hang of things, believe it or not, it’s getting towards the time to start looking for a place to live in your second year.
It might seem an awfully long way away, but take it from us, the best student accommodation gets snapped up pretty quick, so, it’s certainly worth setting the wheels in motion. And there’s no point looking at second year accommodation, unless you’ve decided on the kind of place you want, who you want to share it with and how many of you will be living there.
Hopefully by now, you’ve already started making friends, whether it’s on your course, in halls or in the many Leicester university groups and societies there are to join. And you already know that you can have a good laugh with them. So, the first step is to ask yourself, could you and would you live together?
When it comes to actually living with your buddies, it might be worth checking that you have slightly more in common than a love of doing shots together, or support the same footie team.
If you’re considering how to pick your housemates for the second year of university and are looking for the perfect apartment or house, here are a few tips to bear in mind:
- Don’t make any rash decisions, try to discover more about the individuals and their habits before you choose to live with them.
- Check your priorities are the same – eg. levels of tidiness.. (If their room in halls is more like a pigsty, while yours is always spotless, chances are this might grate a little when you’re living on top of each other).
- It’s a golden rule to never date any of your housemates as things can get awkward if they turn sour, so keep it platonic.
- Do any of your potential housemates spend a lot of time with their boyfriend/girlfriend? If so, would you be happy having them as a regular houseguest?
- Agree beforehand on things such as cleaning rotas, use of the bathroom, when the washing up gets done, who will sort out the bills. These are the kind of issues that can cause arguments, so iron them out before you move in.
- Decide on the kind of house and budget you’re looking for and make sure you’re all on the same page.
- Do any of your potential housemates have any special expectations – such as eating together – is this ok with you?
- If you need to find someone to make up the numbers (eg there’s five of you and you’ve fallen in love with a six-bed house) – still be picky about the person you choose.
November is definitely the start of house hunting season at De Montfort University and the University of Leicester. So, if you know what you want, then taking a look around all the different kinds of Leicester student accommodation available can be a really exciting time.
To find out more about some of the stunning student accommodation that we have available for 2018, get in touch today.