A Guide to Student Accommodation in Bristol

This is my definitive guide to moving into rented student accommodation. Designed to be as useful as possible for all you freshers, although second years out there may pick up a couple of tips as well – who knows.

Home is where the heart is… apparently! Though for many students this would leave home far, far away from Bristol. A few of you will already have started thinking about where and with who you’ll be living next year, and all of the associated stress-inducing paperwork and social politics behind it. Fear not though, as I’m on hand to take you through this ordeal whilst losing as little hair as possible.

The first thing to bear in mind is that it’s not as big an ordeal as you think. The most difficult challenge you’ll come across is deciding who you want to live with. Nevertheless, I’ll point out what to you may seem painfully obvious, but still needs to be said.

First of all, don’t hurry into it – you’ll hear all sorts of rumours from different people; that the best housing all goes early, that properties are released by the Uni in batches over the year, that if you don’t know what you want to do by the end of second term then you may as well give up, but the most important thing is to take your time. You’re best off not making any firm decisions until after Christmas, then you can come back to Bristol rested with a clear head and the decisions will be much easier to make. Many letting agencies don’t even offer their lets until January so moving fast could possibly mean you’d miss out on a gem. Also you will be at no disadvantage if you leave it all until the third term, although you’ll have to contend with the stress of exams at the same time which isn’t ideal!

Once you’ve decided on your housing group, look at as many houses as you can – make sure you find out about typical bill costs, what the neighbours are like towards students, assess the house’s proximity to your lecture theatres (and other necessities like Sainsbury’s and Bunker!), and finally make sure you read the tenancy agreement contracts and anything else you’ll have to sign very carefully. Ensure that everyone in the group is happy with the decisions being made before paying or signing anything – if at all possible, you should all be present and sign and pay deposits etc at the same time to prevent any arguments.