February 13, 2019, by Alina
Top Tips when House Hunting for the First Time
Whether you’re excited to leave halls for the first time or if you feel you didn’t make the best of decisions when house hunting this year round, here are some top tips for house hunting in Nottingham to make sure that your next academic year goes smoothly!
I get by with a little help from my friends
Have you already decided who you’ll be living with next year? Regardless of if they’re a friend you’ve known for a decade or if you just met them last week, make sure to take the time to get to really know them to be sure that you’ll get on well when seeing each other every day. There is nothing worse than having that housemate that seems to be on a different wavelength to everyone else, it can cause a lot of unnecessary tension and stress and not make the house enjoyable for everyone. Love going out? Great! Make sure that your housemates are aware of this before you move in. Love staying in? Fab! Tell your housemates early on that you’re likely to be studying at home rather than on campus so they can learn to keep the noise down when it gets late. It’s a lot easier to be honest with your future housemates from the beginning – so be open and try to communicate to them what you’re preferences are to avoid problems later.
This town, is coming like a ghost town
Finding the perfect location for all of your housemates can be difficult! Try to take into account which campus most people will be going to daily in order to avoid the whole house having to hike up and down Derby Road each day when you all study in the pharmacy building and could have found a much closer place in Dunkirk. Try to decide whether you want to be living in Lenton/Dunkirk/the centre/etc as early as you can, as this will give you more time to really scout out the right area and means that you won’t waste time looking at houses that are too far away for you. Once you’ve found the area for you, be sure to check out the closest shops and bust stops (if necessary) – I made this mistake in second year and ended up having to buy the majority of my meals from bargain booze as I didn’t ‘have time’ to go across Nottingham to the big Lidl… it wasn’t ideal!
Oh! You p(r)etty things…
If you stumble upon a house you really like and are ready to sign the contract, make sure you read the small print! Many students assume that the price includes bills, but this isn’t always the case. Take the time to go through the contract with your housemates so that everyone is on the same page and aware of how much the rent is, whether it includes bills or not, and when you can actually move in! Some contracts start later or earlier than academic term times, so be sure to double check in order to avoid turning up with your suitcases only to find out that you can’t actually move in yet…
If the house doesn’t include bills then use price comparison websites to find the cheapest/most suitable providers in your area. It can seem daunting at first but is relatively straightforward, just make sure that you have registered with the provider as soon as you move in in order to avoid a hefty bill at the end of the year.
Happy house hunting!
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