Good morning all! We hope that you’re enjoying the beautiful Autumn leaves that the campus has to offer! We know that it can be a huge weight on your shoulders to sort out housing for next year and in our previous blogs we’ve covered the ‘where’, ‘when’ and ‘why’s. Today we will be focusing more on the ‘who’! We have a guest blog from Helen Anderson in the Residence Life Team, who is here to give you some great advice and reassurance.
Next Year’s Accommodation – Don’t Panic!
Right now, does it seem like everyone except you has next year all sorted out, down to what colour toaster they’re going to have in their shiny new kitchen? If you’re still trying to figure out who you’ll live with next year, this post is for you.
The first thing to know is that you’re not alone. It’s really common for students to find themselves uncertain about who their future housemates will be, for many different reasons – maybe you haven’t connected with a group yet, or things have fallen through with the people you’d originally anticipated living with.
If that’s the situation you find yourself in, don’t panic! It can be stressful not to know what’s happening but next September is a long way off and it’s a myth that all accommodation needs to be sorted out this early – actually, many students make arrangements later on, and there can be advantages to doing so.
Ways to find flatmates
One option to consider is the range of purpose-built private halls of residence around the city. These can offer a really social living experience, often with a range of great communal areas where you can spend time with friends and neighbours – but you don’t need to think about getting a group together yourself in order to have this lifestyle.
If living in a house with a group appeals to you more, one approach is to ask the people around you – like course mates, Facebook groups and society members who share your interests, or friends of friends – you’re likely to find others in the same situation.
Or be direct and head to the Residence Life Team Flatmate Finder Event on 1st December in Holland Hall. You can get advice from the RLT and the University Accommodation Team as well as chatting with potential flatmates – win win!
Another option is to use the StudentPad Message Board to search for a group. You can make your own posts, and you’ll also see that there are lots of groups out there looking for one last person to join them… maybe that’s you! As always, we’d definitely recommend that you talk things through with anyone you’re considering living with, to check that your lifestyles will mesh well – that’s ultimately going to make more of a difference to the experience than whether or not you’re friends right now.
I know uncertainty can be tough, but keep looking and you’ll find that there are some great options out there for you.
Further support
If you’re feeling anxious about second year housing prospects, including who to live with or how to say yes or no to living with someone, why not book in an appointment with a Residence Life Mentor. As current students, they have personal experience renting in Exeter and are good sounding board to talk things through.
Accommodation Fair
Also a quick reminder that the Accommodation Fair will be taking place on the 2nd December in the Great Hall, from 09:30 – 14:00. There will be landlords and agents there to chat to, and potentially other students looking for people to live with! If you missed it, last week’s blog focused on this so take a read!
Have a lovely week all!
Accommodation Shannon