Home and away

Know your options and where to find help when seeking your student home. By Sam Pope

Going from living under someone else's rules to being your own master or mistress can be liberating - but also rather daunting. Suddenly you'll be responsible for paying rent (and bills, where necessary). You'll have to think about budgeting for weeks at a time and planning what and when you're going to eat. It's a big step from relying on mum and dad to pay the mortgage and provide food for the fridge!

Going from living under someone else's rules to being your own master or mistress can be liberating - but also rather daunting. Suddenly you'll be responsible for paying rent (and bills, where necessary). You'll have to think about budgeting for weeks at a time and planning what and when you're going to eat. It's a big step from relying on mum and dad to pay the mortgage and provide food for the fridge!

Where you'll be living will depend on where you are studying. Are you going away or staying in your home town? If you're not moving away, you might carry on living with your parents: either out of necessity - because your institution has given priority for rooms to students from outside the area or out of choice - to cut down on costs.

ACCOMMODATION

Living with other students

Sharing one bathroom with two older sisters won't necessarily have prepared you sufficiently for living with strangers. On the positive side, you'll be used to waiting for the bathroom to become free. On the negative, you can't stand outside the bathroom door, screaming all the names under the sun for an hour. Just relax and observe the busy and quiet times. Chances are, if you're an early bird, you can soak in the tub to your heart's content, since there will be loads of students who don't get up till midday anyway!

The other area where you'll have to learn to give and take is the kitchen, if you're in self-catering accommodation. Try to time your cooking for quieter times so you don't spoil your spaghetti napolitana because of the queue for a spare cooker ring. Pilfering can also be a problem and rows can break out over who stole someone else's pint of milk. Don't be offended if you see notes defining ownership stuck to the cheese...

Living at home

Living at home while studying can be tricky. You might still be a baby in your parents' eyes, while you're desperate to spread your wings and live. There will be many all-night parties, Freshers' drinks and other general student debauchery that will beckon, while your parents pace the floor at 1am and you're still not home. There's no easy answer to this problem except tolerance. Try to be patient with them and see if you can negotiate some more freedom, while also respecting their rules under their roof.

University/college accommodation - what's on offer?

Most institutions can offer accommodation to all first-year students as they make it a priority to help you settle in. You may even be asked to list three top choices of types of accommodation out of their halls of residence and self-catering flats.

Student rooms are pretty standard, wherever you are. You may get lucky and land a swanky place with an en-suite bathroom but be warned - little luxuries like this come at a price! Generally, rooms will include all the basic furniture you will need for a bedroom and study - a bed, wardrobe, desk, chair (or two!), lamp, bookcase and noticeboard. Many rooms that are not en-suite will have a sink but you will share the other bathroom facilities with the other students on your floor or in your flat.

Some places will provide some or all of your daily meals, so all you need do is turn up at the right time and eat. Don't arrive expecting gourmet nosh - it's probably going to be similar to school dinners - after all, this is cooking for the masses! Self-catering flats are by definition places where you cook your own meals, so don't forget to beg, borrow or buy a cookbook and a pan.

Whatever accommodation you're in, it has been designed to help you settle in as quickly as possible to your new surroundings. You'll be with other students of the same age and in the same situation so you'll make friends quickly - even within the first few hours. Daytime and evening activities flood Freshers' Week, providing you with loads of opportunities to meet fellow students. Soon your home from home will feel your own.

Private sector accommodation - what's on offer?

Most first-year students will not be living in private accommodation as they will be taking advantage of university/college-subsidised rooms. However, if you get a late place on a course through Clearing, you might find yourself in the situation where all the rooms available have been allocated. Your accommodation office will help you as much as possible if this is the case. They will be able to point you in the right direction to start making enquiries. Often they have details of people who rent rooms out locally, and you can also look in the local paper and in newsagents' windows.

The most common type of private accommodation is in a shared house. Normally groups of friends rent out a house together but sometimes people leave and a room becomes available. Rooms are normally basically furnished, but check this out when you ring.

Another common type of accommodation are "lodgings", when you share whole or part of a house with a resident landlord and, possibly, his or her family. This might be a bit like living at home but at least you don't have to answer to this set of parents! However, if they have young children in the house forget about all-night parties...

Average costs

A weekly rent for accommodation outside London ranges from around £46 to £80 depending on whether meals are included and the standard of the room. Private sector accommodation costs £30-£66 a week, depending on how close you are to campus.

Inside London the costs are higher with university accommodation costing £66-£100 a week and private sector accommodation costing £50-£95 a week, depending on which travel zone you are in and the standard of the house.

Remember, that if you are living in private accommodation, the rental normally doesn't include bills, so you will have to budget for these in advance. You might also need to allow for travel expenses if your accommodation is not close to your campus, and you will be expected to pay a month's rent (at least) as a deposit.

Also, the accommodation office will probably ask you for a deposit as a sort of insurance against any damage you may inflict on their accommodation - this is usually around £100. Most will return this, but some don't. Check what their policy is.

Letting agreements

There is no legal requirement for landlords to provide you with a written contract, but you can ask for a "Statement of Terms", which must be done in writing. This should say when the tenancy began, how much rent should be paid and by when, how long the contract is for, whether it is for a fixed term, and when the rent is to be reviewed. The landlord has 28 days to comply, or they can be fined heavily. If your landlord provides a written contract, make sure you read it carefully before signing - ask for some time if necessary. In particular, check who is responsible for undertaking repairs and for paying utility bills. If you're unsure of anything, don't sign it - take it to your accommodation office or student union for advice.

Safe as houses?

It's important to be aware of certain safety issues in the private rental sector.

Carbon monoxide

In the last 10 years, 10 students have died, and thousands more have become ill, from carbon monoxide poisoning. The main culprits are faulty gas appliances, although solid fuel can also be blamed. Regulations have been introduced to tackle this problem and all landlords must have their gas appliances checked annually for safety and be able to provide all new and existing tenants with a copy of the safety check record. Make sure you ask to see this evidence before signing a contract. You can also continue monitoring the property for carbon monoxide levels with special devices, available in most DIY shops.

Fire, furniture and electrical safety

Check that smoke detectors have been fitted appropriately in areas such as bedrooms and kitchens. There should also be fire blankets in the kitchen.

All furniture and furnishings should be fire-resistant - there should be a label on them confirming whether they conform to current standards.

Make sure electrical plug sockets aren't damaged, and that there are enough sockets for your needs.

Your personal safety

It's a good idea to take a friend with you when you check out a room to rent. Not only is this safer, but they can also give you an honest opinion on the accommodation! If this isn't possible, at least tell a friend where you're going and when you expect to be back. Avoid going late at night - places are easier to find in the daytime anyway, and it can give you a good idea of what the area looks like, and the amenities.

Spread your wings... and fly away

Taking that first step away from home into a new world can be scary. But knowing what to expect can ease the transition. Ultimately it's another opportunity to show your independence - so enjoy the excitement and the freedom it brings!

Welcome to my world!

Ioanna Pappa, 22, has just finished the first year of a music technology and performing arts degree at De Montfort University in Leicester. Here are her top tips for student room essentials

"When I first arrived at De Montfort, I had to buy a lot of stuff for my room. I'm from Greece, so I had to be careful with my luggage allowance and only pack the bare essentials - clothes, books, music and other important personal belongings."

The bare basics

In my hall of residence we have all the furniture we need: a bed, desk, bookcase, lamp, chair (plus the luxury of an en-suite bathroom!) but we were responsible for buying bedding, cooking equipment, plates, cutlery and cleaning things for our en-suite bathrooms and bedrooms. I remember the shops were full of students buying things for their rooms in the first few days!

Since I didn't know Leicester at all, I made a list of everything I needed and headed straight for the student enquiry centre. I asked them where I could shop without spending a fortune and they recommended Wilkinson, Asda, etc, as well as some great shops that give students a discount.

Making it your home

Once I had the basics sorted, I started making the room my own. I stuck a map of Greece in the middle of my noticeboard and pinned photos of my friends and family around it. I also put up some posters by Van Gogh and El Greco (of course!) I had bought from the student union. Soon it started looking and feeling like my own place. The only other thing I needed was a CD player. I wasn't bothered about a TV, partly because of the hassle with the licence, and partly because I don't spend loads of time in my room, but there's no way I could survive without music!

Many of my friends bought plants to brighten up their rooms but I didn't bother because I knew I wouldn't be around enough to look after one. I don't have a computer either as my department lends us laptops when we need them so it wasn't necessary. Throughout the past year I have bought bits and pieces - mainly CDs. When I arrived here I had 10 - now I have 55! That's my hobby I guess, collecting music - I can excuse it because of my course! I like all sorts of music, from Dido and Moby to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Greek music.

Ioanna's essentials list

If you're a UK student you can obviously bring more with you than I did because you will probably have access to a car. But don't go overboard - you can pop home whenever you want to pick up extra things! The most important items are:

Clothes - but not your whole wardrobe! Pick seasonal things.

Bedding - duvet covers, pillow cases, bottom sheets etc.

A few plates, bowls and cutlery. Don't go mad on buying pots and pans because a lot of sharing goes on between you and your friends in the halls - someone will have a pot, another person might have a frying pan. Go to uni first then see what you need after you've arrived.

My biggest tip is to bring things that remind you of home to help you settle in quicker. They're what makes a new place seem like home - the rest you can buy.