Top tips for moving into student accommodation

Once you’ve got your exam results and have a confirmed university place, you also need to confirm or arrange your accommodation. It’s an exciting time but also a busy one, where you’ll need to make arrangements for things you may never have even thought about before!

When it comes to choosing, securing and moving into your new student home, there are a lot of details to be aware of. Our top tips will help show you what you need to think about and how to get ready for your next adventure!

Find something you like that’s within budget

For university freshers, the University you choose and are accepted to will be able to give you a list of options to live in. In most situations this will include:

• University run halls of residence.
• Details of privately-owned but still suitable purpose-built university accommodation.
• Approved private landlords offering shared housing, also known as HMOs (homes of multiple occupation.)

If you were able to visit the university you’re going to and also take a look at some of the housing options, you probably already know which option you want to choose. If you haven’t been able to do that and are still unsure, its time to get online and do plenty of looking around at the student accommodation options on offer, as those options with good facilities and that represent the best value for money will go quickly.

Fill in your paperwork and pay any rent as required

Once you’ve decided on your preferred accommodation and have been able to confirm its available for you, the next step is to fill in all the paperwork, provide any documentation and pay any deposit and/or rent as quickly as you can. But you also shouldn’t rush this step.

While you do need to get everything in order within the time the university or your new landlord requests, you still need to be certain you’ve filled everything in correctly and have all the documents you need. If you don’t get this right, then you could lose out on your accommodation.

Among the details you will likely be required to provide is a guarantor. This can be a parent, family member of close friend who lives in the UK. If this isn’t something that you can arrange, don’t worry, companies like us at RentGuarantor can help you with this and provide the guarantor your landlord requires.

Pack carefully

Once you have arranged your chosen student accommodation, the next job is to begin packing! You’ll need all the usual clothes and bedding that you have at home and also bathroom items and accessories. Some decorative bits and pieces won’t go amiss either, as student accommodation can be plain and require the personal touch to make it feel like home.

The place where you may need to begin getting in touch with your future housemates is the kitchen. If possible, get the numbers or social media details of people you know you’ll be sharing with. Then, you can create a group and split the kitchen items between you. While its fine to want your own crockery and cutlery, you don’t need 5 sets of pans, kettles and toasters. This is also a great way to begin breaking the ice with the people you’re going to spend the next 10 months of your life living with.

Move in!

Everything is arranged and moving in day has arrived! Provided you’ve planned and packed carefully, you should be able to get everything into the car and arrive at your new home with everything you need – but not too much.

Then, once you get everything into your new home, let the unpacking commence! Try and prop your door open to be welcoming to your new flatmates who arrive after you and be sure to pop all your kitchen stuff where it belongs too – this is another way to begin getting to know your new housemates as you’ll discuss all kinds of details as you arrange the cupboards and make a cuppa in your new kettle!

Moving out of home for the first time can be daunting. But provided you think it all through and have an idea of what to expect, it can quickly become fun and the perfect way start your new university life.