Top Things to Consider when Choosing a Student Property
(PRWEB UK) 20 December 2013 -- Choosing a student house is an important decision that many freshers will already be thinking about as they plan for their second year.
The leap from halls of residence to house sharing with friends is a big one – and teaches life lessons such as budgeting your finances, being safety conscious, learning to live directly with others, and managing bills and ‘grown-up’ things.
Thankfully, Pickard Properties have compiled a comprehensive list of the top things to look out for to make it easier for you to just get on with the fun bit of picking a suitable property. And planning the décor of your own space, which will also become not only your bedroom, but your study, retreat and social space for the next couple of years.
Choosing who to live with
‘Think carefully who you want to spend the next couple of years house-sharing with. You will have to talk finances, organise cooking and cleaning rotas, be able to enjoy Uni life but also have quiet time for studying with these people’, say Pickard.
So it’s probably not a good idea to base your decision on who’s the wildest on a night out. Get to know your friends properly and don’t make any knee-jerk decisions during your first few months, as you’ll be signing contracts with these people so want the most sensible housemates you can find.
Picking an area
Choose an area that you have researched first, and ask around for people’s opinions of various places. You’ll usually find that there are popular areas for students that have good transport links and offer nearby supermarkets, bars, restaurants, takeaways and shops.
Lay ground rules
It’s important to lay your stall out early, according to Pickard. Agree with your housemates on how much you’re willing to lay out on a property; for rent, gas, electric, water and your other household bills. Pickard, however, provide bills inclusively as an option, so this may help to make things easier.
Then you need to agree on the small things as soon as possible, such as having a kitty for any extras, how often you have guests stay over (you don’t want to end up effectively paying for someone’s boyfriend or girlfriend to live there permanently rent-free) and how many parties you’re happy to have.
Safety
Again, this can fall under the ground rules too – as you will need to all be vigilant in making sure you lock all windows and doors at night, and keep valuables out of sight. However, you should also make sure that the property you choose has sufficient locks and an alarm system.
A spokesperson for Pickard, comments: ‘Thieves are known for targeting student houses as they are likely to contain TVs, laptops, games consoles and other expensive items. Pickard properties takes safety within their properties very seriously and ensures they are always correctly fitted with adequate safety measures’.
Start looking early
You may think it’s too soon to be considering looking at student houses, but the sooner the better to start getting to know areas of the town you’ve moved to. Start researching student housing options; then that way you will have a good idea of the best areas and what’s available for when you start thinking about it next year.
The best accommodation always gets snapped up quickly, so to avoid being left without any choice weeks before you are due to move in, and to allow you time to pack or deal with anything going wrong, you should pop it on your list of things to do in the New Year.
For help in navigating your way around the student housing market, contact Pickard Properties, who are now in their 47th year of letting with over 160 properties, in many prime locations throughout Leeds, such as Hyde Park, Headingley, Burley, Woodhouse and Horsforth.
They are all fitted with burglar alarms, fire alarm systems or mains interlinked smoke detectors, emergency lighting in larger properties, washing machines and microwaves – for your complete peace of mind.
Rob Philbin, Latitude Group, http://pickardproperties.co.uk, +44 1925420421, [email protected]
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