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alice-williams
5th February 2016

House Hunting

Alice Williams considers some of the practical logistics to think about when looking for a new house
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TLDR

Whether finding a house for the first time in second year, moving in with a different set of people from third year or choosing somewhere for a 4th year or MA, students are often so panicked they end up choosing the first house they encounter without mould and a dodgy landlord. While leaving it until the last minute can make it tempting to move into the first place you find, it’s worth considering a few things that you otherwise wouldn’t that can have a greater impact on your living environment than you would think.

In an attempt to avoid arguments or brewing resentment, most people find that the best way to decide on who gets which room is drawing straws – but sometimes it can work out better to have a discussion about which rooms will suit different people. For instance, if there’s one small room that no-one wants and someone who is in a serious enough relationship that they’re not likely to be sleeping in their own bed every night, it might be worth them taking this into consideration and one of them taking a not-so-good room that they won’t be sleeping in. If you’re living with more than 4 people, then it’s likely that someone will have to have a downstairs room. Not everyone loves having the room that’s next to the living room or kitchen as, if they are the type that go to bed early or don’t go out much, they can be kept awake by other people in the house so maybe a night owl is best for this room.

If you are going to be living in a house with lots of people, then you should also take a good look at the communal areas. Taking into account personalities, sometimes people need to be coaxed out of their rooms and communal areas where you can socialize are perfect for this. A combined kitchen and living room might seem like you’re getting less space at first, but it could work out better when you can cook your dinner and talk to your housemates at the same time as they watch TV. If you end up living in a big house with lots of people then you should consider that you’ll have to communicate well with each other about who is and isn’t in to avoid the last person out in the morning leaving the bathroom window wide open, thinking that there’s still people in.

Living in a bigger house can also seem more like halls at times. Letting agents have segmented the houses out in such a way as to fit as many rooms in as possible and this can lead to gloomy corridors with lots of individually locked doors. However, this is great if you like time on your own and, on the flip side, living in such a small house that you can hear everything through the walls can drive some people crazy.

While these are things to keep in mind, don’t be the person making crazily unreasonable demands when looking round houses. Decide whether you’re more bothered about how big your room is or if you’d rather have a nicer communal area beforehand and chat to the people that you’re living with as well and all come to a reasonable conclusion.

Really, you should be more bothered about the people that you’re living with than the house but your living experience can be even better if you’re in a house best suited to everyone living there.


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