A Guide to Student Accommodation in Bristol

One point of contention between those moving into rented accommodation for the first time is letting agencies and their associated fees. There are a few agencies who will sort everything out with the landlord for you for a nominal fee, usually proportional to the cost of the rent. Personally I feel that these fees are well worth the money; the agency will be very used to dealing with students and so the whole process will be as pain-free as possible. Repairs due to wear and tear on the house are very often covered by the agency – saving you the potential stress of sorting these things out directly with the landlord.

Right, that’s the admin out of the way – now for a few tips on who (and who not) to live with. Halls for most of you at the moment will be the best thing ever – living around so many other people and generally having an awesome time doing it. However, for many, come the end of the year you may well find that you find the same environment claustrophobic and that there are too many people around for your liking. Make sure that you don’t fall into the trap of trying to recreate halls next year and getting the biggest house you can find – logistics of everything from bills to “who kicked that hole in the wall?” become much more of a headache the more people in the house. In my opinion, houses of 4 to 6 are optimal for your second year – enough to give you a good buzz but still be manageable, remember the chances are you won’t be more than a 10 minute walk from anyone else’s house – so keep life simple for yourself!

So that’s about it really. As a quick recap; don’t jump into anything, check and double check anything that you sign. Have a chat to your mates about what you want to do over the next few weeks, then come back in the New Year refreshed and get house hunting!