Which type of student accommodation is best for you?

When you start looking for accommodation, you might already have an idea of whether you want to live in halls, a house share or someplace entirely different! Although it’s great to be enthusiastic about the type of living situation you think you’re going to love, you’ve got to be careful that you don’t narrow down your search before you’ve had the chance to check out everything that’s on offer.

It’s important to explore all the accommodation options available, so that you can be sure you know exactly what is going to be the best accommodation for you. There are generally four types of accommodation on offer for students:

Halls of Residence

Owned and managed by the university, halls of residence are generally the go-to option for first years. Halls have a great sense of student community which helps you adjust to living away from home and means that it is so easy to make new friends. There are a variety of options between halls, including catered or self-catered halls and flats with ensuite or shared bathrooms. On average you can expect to pay £143 per week for this type of accommodation (£190 in London).

House/Flat Share

Renting a property with friends is the most common type of accommodation for students in their second year and beyond. If you’re considering this, Accommodation For Students , has the largest selection of properties available in cities all over the country. You will typically pay around £90 per week for a shared house, rising to £135 for properties in London. It’s important to remember that you will also have to factor in utility bills for this type of accommodation, which will up your weekly cost by a little.

Private Halls of Residence

Private halls are like university owned halls of residence, except they are open to everyone, and are generally pricier as they will have a great range of attractive amenities. The contracts will vary from 40 weeks to 52 weeks and, as they’re independent, you will be sharing your space with a diverse mix of people from a range of different universities – perfect if you enjoy meeting new people! You can expect to pay around £168 per week and well over £280 per week in London.

Room in a Private House

This is where you rent a room in a house where the landlord currently lives. Whilst this probably isn’t the ideal type of accommodation you imagined for your uni days; it can provide a convenient stand-in solution if you’ve missed the chance to get into one of your preferred accommodation options.

Once you’ve decided what type of accommodation you are looking for, the next step is to decide when to begin your search. For more information on this, head over to