Don't stress! Advice for freshers looking for their second-year home

By Niamh McCleary, Third Year History

As one might expect, being a fresher is not always the most relaxing of times. No doubt you are stressed about looming deadlines, how you’re already deep into your overdraft, and how you most likely have already had to replace either your lost ID, student card or phone… or potentially all three, something I personally am all too familiar with. Yet, undoubtedly one of the most stressful things about being a fresher is finding a house for your second year.

Here are some of the most important things to remember to keep stress levels at a minimum when searching for your second-year student home.

Location

There have been other articles written on this topic, so I won’t bore you too much by over-analysing the mildly bombastic Redland compared with the somewhat languid Constitution Hill. However, one thing for sure to consider when choosing the location of your second-year house is whether or not you prioritise being close to the University. If early mornings aren’t your thing and you want to actually make your lectures, then this is probably the best option for you. On the other hand, you might prefer to be surrounded by other student houses, where more likely than not you will be kept awake at least twice a week by an enormous ‘pres’ or party, but then also have an excuse to do the same yourself.

'Whilst notorious houses like 'the White House' (if you know you know) may seem like luxurious mansions, I can guarantee that most students will be living in houses just as dingy as yours'

When to start looking

Arguably this is one of the most important things to remember, so please, put down your beer and reduce the volume of your music for approximately twenty seconds. There is no (major) rush. Despite that group of six giggling girls (who will probably all hate each by next year anyway, due to some drama related to a boy) celebrating finding a house before reading week was even over, there truly is no reason to be concerned until at least February. Student lettings agencies continue to release houses until Easter, so you will never find yourself with literally no options. Of course, when January exams are approaching it can be nice to know that whilst you’re learning three months’ worth of content that you never went to the lectures for, you don’t have to worry about house-hunting, but you still don’t need to panic if you haven’t sorted it by this point!

Someone may have better, but someone will always have worse.

'Avoid living with someone you are in a relationship with, for your housemates' sake more than your own'

No doubt you will have heard the horror stories about the mouldy student kitchens, the showers that cease to ever run hot, and the bed-bug ridden mattresses. These are not, in fact, total fallacies, and you will probably experience a variety of problems yourself. However, when you do find that house that most of your group can agree on, do not start comparing it to the pictures someone else showed you of their house, with the brand-new kitchen, and big, bright rooms. Because trust me, whilst notorious houses such as ‘the White House’ (if you know you know) may seem like luxurious mansions, I can guarantee that most students will be living in houses just as dingy as yours, if not worse.

Who you should be living with

Ok, here goes, please excuse this rather brutal brief: if you don’t want to live with someone, DON’T. It doesn’t matter if they’re your best friend, or someone you spend little time with, if you think you are going to struggle to live with someone for a whole year, don’t tempt fate. This isn’t to say that you can’t learn to live with certain people and accept their flaws, but if there is a way you can pleasantly avoid living with someone whom you know you may end up butting heads with, it will save everyone the hassle of arguments and classic passive aggression within the future house. Contrary to popular belief, you will remain friends with people who you don’t live with. After all, distance does make the heart grow fonder.

P.S. Avoid living with someone you are in a relationship with, for your housemates’ sake, more than your own.

Searching for your second-year house will be stressful. You don’t know who your best friends will be in a year, you don’t yet know what sort of area will suit your needs (i.e. parties or being in bed by 9pm), and you don’t know what you should expect from the house itself. Therefore, my overall advice would be to treat first-year house hunting as a trial for your final year, by which point you will know what worked and what didn’t, and when you understand that your student experience will in no way be determined by your house.

Featured image: Epigram / Hope Riley