Good morning all, many of you are starting to look at housing for next year. If you haven’t rented before it can be quite confusing and difficult to know where to start or what you want. Today’s blog is looking at location and price for private housing.
Where to live
There are many areas for you to choose from, and around the Exeter area but we have narrowed the areas of the city down to those which are close to our university campuses. Please see our accommodation distance map for more details.
Close to the Streatham Campus
- Pennsylvania
- Stoke Hill
- St Davids
- St Thomas
- Mount Pleasant
Close to both the Streatham and St Lukes Campus
- Central Exeter
- St James
- Mount Pleasant
Close to the St Lukes Campus
- Heavitree
- Newtown
- St Leonards
Areas closer to the Streatham campus tend to be in higher demand and go quickly, you are also likely to be paying more to live in this location. As Exeter is such a small city, you may want to consider looking a bit further away from the campus to get more for your money, everything is within walking distance and there are also great transport links.
Prices
Remember to look at both the rent and bill and to assess the costs over the whole contract period so don’t look at the weekly rent but the full payments due under the contract and what is included. When you consider the cost of living in the property you should consider the following:
- How much is the rent?
- What is your budget?
- Will you have to pay a deposit or rent in advance?
- Are bills included? If you are going to be paying the bills, then make sure you plan ahead with your flatmates on how this will be paid and divided between you. This will help to avoid any potential future disputes.
- How much are the current tenants spending on bills? You should check which type of heating system the property has and if the landlord or a current tenant can provide a cost estimate or example bill. It might also be worth seeking estimates from utility companies or internet providers in advance.
Coronavirus Amendments
Our Studentpad website has an option for landlords to choose whether they offer a coronavirus amendment policy. This means that in the case of another lockdown or unforeseen circumstances due to Covid-19 that they are willing to make negotiations to your rent or contract. This is completely up to the landlord as the agreement will be between yourself and them, they are not obliged to offer any changes to the contract so do make sure that you ask questions before signing anything.
Thanks for reading today’s blog and happy house hunting! Next week we will look at alternative accommodation choices after your first year.
Accommodation Shannon