Finding accommodation - A guide for students

Heading to university can be an exciting time in your life, but it is also fraught with major adulting tasks to do. One of them is finding your accommodation. We are going to explain all the avenues you can explore and some of the pitfalls in your search for the perfect place.

Halls

For your first year, you will often get a place in halls residence. Halls are a great start as you settle into the routine of study and lectures. It is the first time you are sharing with lots of people your age. If you get a good group, then life is easy. There is lots of assistance and the university halls managers are very good at sorting things out for you.

You do need to get a lot of stuff for your halls room and our blog last month will help you to get them.

The Search for Accommodation

As you approach the start of your first year, it becomes time for finding accommodation for yourself. Yes, we said the start! You will find housing fairs at the start of the academic year, with accommodation on offer for the following year. Competition for the best places is fierce, and if you snooze, you lose! Securing the type of place, you want at a price you can afford means competing with your fellow students. You do need to book early!

Housing Fairs

As we said before, the student union hosts housing fairs during and just after Freshers week. These are events where a lot of the landlords and agencies in the city will be vying for your booking of their accommodation. Do attend, if only to grab all the freebies on offer! But use them as a research tool, take the information and go back to your halls to digest, before commitment.

Agencies

Estate agencies can be a good source of student accommodation, though remember that you will be dealing with them and not the landlords directly. However, they probably have the greatest choice of properties.

Internet searches

Most of you will search the web to see what is available. Most of the first page entries will be full of agencies, who plough a lot of money into ranking high on Google. So do look beyond the first page as you may find some hidden gems.

Accommodation Apps

Airbnb, Gumtree and spareroom.com, are examples of accommodation apps. These can be useful for when you are on placement or secondment. If you are after the quiet life and are often homesick, then lodging with a family or older person can be more satisfying than in a large raucous house of students.  

Right here on this website!

Of course, we offer first-class student accommodation right here on this website, just follow this link to do your search of our flats and rooms available.

Next month we look at how to select the right place, in the meantime, these blogs might also help you

How to secure the best Student accommodation

Life as a student at both Uni’s Sheffield Hallam & University of Sheffield

Student Housing Sheffield – Accommodation Checklist