Don't get your house in order yet - the best student homes are made in January
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By Will Charley, Comment Editor
Students do not need to rush into choosing housemates - this is one decision it is good to procrastinate over.
Whether heaven or hell, the time for students to start deciding who to live with in houses next year has begun.
For many, this period is stressful, daunting and confusing in equal measure. For most first years, even the simple steps of acquiring a house can be alien. The likelihood is that unless your daddy owns multiple estates and you grew up with a polo pitch for a garden, you do not know even the basics of living in a property run by yourself. But, there is one thing that every first-time renter must know: do not panic.
the reality is that, in mid-November, there is no rush to secure a house or even to know who you want to live with.
It is too easy to believe that you must know who you are living with as soon as Reading Week ends. Your neighbours begin to talk about looking for houses. Every block, corridor and flat seems to divide into distinct groups.
Whilst the pressure to sort housing can seem huge, the reality is that, in mid-November, there is no rush to secure a house or even to know who you want to live with. Many students have found their house after Christmas, with some having found their accommodation as late as February.
The most important part of choosing your house is who you decide to live with.
Vikki Hanley, the Branch Manager of Bristol SU Lettings stated that who you choose to live with is most important since ‘the chances are you will know these people long after uni’. It is better to wait until after Christmas if you are not sure who to live with, than to sign a house with people that “seem okay” because you “just wanted it sorted”.
Of course, this is not to say that housing is difficult for everybody.
For some, choosing who to live with comes naturally and they quickly find a house. But this column is for those who find the whole housing debacle about as slick as putting on a wetsuit.
The other big issue that may be of concern to many is that “the best houses will go” in November.
In a recent survey of some of Bristol’s housing agencies, Epigram rated Bristol SU Lettings as the best- and they do not even release their houses on the market until near the end of term one, whilst advising on their website that ‘the best time to start house hunting is in January’.
Some of the best houses only become available later, and it is a mistake to believe otherwise. Although the ‘University bubble’ often leads to ideas being accepted as true; on the issue of housing, it really is the blind leading the blind.
Next time your neighbour in halls asks you if you have sorted your housing, tell them no, because you are not a sheep who folds to the pressure of deciding early. Instead, know that choosing in January is fine, and you can proudly gloat your wisdom from your above-average house with those who are actually your mates.
Featured image: Flickr/velodenz
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