Every students experience of renting housing is different.
Here are a few case studies of Nottingham students to give you a flavour of what you might expect.
Interviews by Francesca Boyd, Platform
We hear from Mark, Sarah, Sandra and Mike about their housing situation as well as students' main housing complaints - fire alarms and nightmare flatmates.
 | Mark, 18, originally from Leeds... is studying sports science and management at Nottingham Trent University and has been living on Clifton campus since the beginning of the first term. | How are you finding your time at Clifton Campus so far?
It’s fun, it’s alright I suppose, the social life is alright, the course is a bit difficult but overall it’s alright. | Does being so near to university not make your course a bit easier, what’s your earliest start?
9am everyday, so it would have been much harder if I had to travel from the city every day…. | If you could travel back in time to the beginning of the first term, equipped with the knowledge you have now, would you live in halls?
Yeah, it seems as good as any I’ve seen. The accommodations is alright, its clean, and maintained, the rent is reasonable, but it’s a bit pokey | Pokey, how?
The rooms are a bit small and we could do with a lounge or something. | Have you had any ‘run ins’ with anyone?
Not really, except they (the resident managers) seem to fine you at the drop of a hat, they fined our flat for leaving empty boxes in the kitchen and alleged fire damage to the kitchen. | Where will you be living next year?
Hopefully, in the city, because that’s where all the action is. | What would you give Clifton Campus out of 10?
I’d give it a 6 or 7. |
| Sarah, 19, is from London... she studies English at Nottingham Trent University and has also been living on Clifton campus since the beginning of the 1st term. | So, Clifton Campus, what do you think?
It’s really good I really like it; it’s good to be surrounded by lots of people and make lots of friends. Although it can get a bit noisy sometimes, but that can be seen as a good thing. | What are your flat mates like?
One or two of them are really quiet; don’t really talk to them much though… | Because, they’re quiet?
Yeah, they don’t talk, we just let them get on with it, and there are plenty of other people around. Oh yeah one or two are obsessively tidy, they clean constantly and because me and my other flat mate are quite laid back about stuff like that we have tended to clash on one or two occasions | Do you feel safe in halls?
Yeah, there are so many people here who are bound to notice if anything dodgy is happening and the residence manager’s office is just around the corner. Although the fire alarms go off at really inconvenient times | Like when you’re in the shower?
Yeah or at 3 am in the morning, | Where will you be living next year?
Hopefully in West Bridgeford | What would you give Clifton campus out of 10?
I’d give it a 7 or 8. |
| Sandra, 19 is from Birmingham... and is studying social sciences at Nottingham Trent universities city site and lives on the city campus. | Life in the city, how’s it treating you?
It’s really good here, not exactly the Ritz, but it is really fun socially. Your right next to everything in the city so you can’t get bored. | What do you think of your flatmates?
They’re alright seem to get on really well with them, touch wood, although there’s one who’s a bit strange, but I won’t go in to that | No, please do, how is he strange?
Well he locks himself in his room, he doesn’t go out, he won’t come into the kitchen when anybody else is in it, there was this one time when he sat down to a meal at the kitchen table and started to eat for what must have been a good few minutes, cause most of his food had been eaten and then when we came in and said hello and started to prepare our own, he got up went to his room, slammed his door and you could hear it being locked from the kitchen, maybe we smelt. | Do you feel safe in the city site?
Yeah, because you know that lots of others are around especially if you’ve made friends, or are easy to get on with, plus the reception is at the entrance of the building. There are fire alarms and other stuff too. | Would you do it again?
Yes, definitely, just because I’ve met some really sound people. | What would you give it out of 10?
I’d give it an 8. |
| Mike, 23... studies humanities at Clifton Campus and has lived on the Stratford Road in West Bridgeford since his second year at Nottingham Trent University, here is what he had to say about private accommodation: | What do you think of the area?
It’s a really nice area, probably the best student area in Nottingham, lots of facilities, everything is within 5 minutes walk, there are most high street stores there and banks and its safe I have only heard of one burglary since I have been there | What’s your rent like and was your deposit much?
It’ £195 a month, which isn’t bad, the deposit was one months rent but I had to pay a retainer of three and a half months rent. How long did it take you to find your new property, and what channel did you take e.g. estate agents, housing list, independently, through friend/family? In the second year we went knocking on doors, we’d ask the students if they didn’t mind showing us around if they said no we got straight on the phone to the landlord and said we were at your property now do you mind coming here and showing us around. You’ve got to put yourself about to find the best. | What’s the landlord like is the property well maintained?
The landlord is terrible, he’s really lazy, and there are a lot of repairs that need doing. There were bills out standing from the last tenant which we had to address. We get on to him straight away about things but, he lives in another part of the country so it is difficult. If you can get a landlord that lives nearby that would be better for you. | What are your housemates like; do you live with any one you lived with when you were in halls?
All the people I moved in with in second year were the people I lived with in the first year, we got on really well, we were fortunate in that respect. | How would you compare living in halls to living in private accommodation, is it better or worst?
Halls is like a community, whereas a house is like a family. You have someone always looking out for you in halls like the residence managers, the cleaners and such, but in a house you are completely your own person, you are responsible for you. | Do you have any tips for 1st years searching for somewhere to live next year?
"Choose carefully who you live with and when you go to a house have a good look around make sure you are sure everything is in order cause you will be living there for some time" |
| Fire alarms!!!! | | "I met this really beautiful girl at a club, it turned out that we had both gone to the same secondary school, we were both really attracted to each other and at the end of the night she came back to mine "for coffee", we’d got our kit of and where in the middle of "doing it" when the fire alarm went off, that was at 2 am in the morning. It kind of killed the mood" Anonymous | "The alarm went off when I was in the middle of showering, I hoped it was a test, but it was real, the fire engines had come, it’s not a good feeling to be forced out of your warm shower and be made to stand in the court with just your dressing and your trainers on" Andrea, 18 |
Nightmare flatmates | | "I met this really beautiful girl at a club, it turned out that we had both gone to the same secondary school, we were both really attracted to each other and at the end of the night she came back to mine "for coffee", we’d got our kit of and where in the middle of "doing it" when the fire alarm went off, that was at 2 am in the morning. It kind of killed the mood" Anonymous | | "My flat mate eats my food and then pretends like he doesn’t and to top it all he claims that none of the dirty dishes in the sink are his yet he cooks at least one meal in our kitchen everyday and is the "fattest bastard" I know here" Anonymous | "They never wash up and this weird smell from their room seeps through the corridor!!!" Disgruntled student |
Now try our house hunting hints. Also read about where you could live and how much you should expect to pay. |
