Think about location, location and err...location
First thing to consider is travel time to your uni - obviously you don’t want it to take too long. But it also depends on what’s important to you. Maybe you want to walk to uni (or cycle), or maybe you don’t mind hopping on a bus and would prefer a bigger room/living in a trendy part of town/being near parks, countryside and so on.
Go where students go
Choosing specific student accommodation means being surrounded by lots of people that are pretty much in the same boat - in a new place, looking for new friends, working out a new degree with the irregular life timetable that studying brings. And this is helpful because amongst other things, regular working folk aren’t so keen on going out on Monday nights…
Don’t delay!
This rule’s pretty simple. Student properties fill up fast - many are already full. The sooner you find (and book) a student home that’s right for you, the better. It also means you can get on with preparing for uni with one of the main things already sorted out.
Use Google Streetview and Google images
This is so simple that people forget to do it. If you want to find out what it’s like near a property just take a little wander through the streets around it using Streetview. Searching on the names of parks, shops, bars and areas in Google images gives you a pretty good idea of a place too.
Make it simple
Life at uni is fun, full and active. So it’s really helpful to simplify it wherever you can. Check that your property has broadband (getting it installed from scratch can actually take months) and where possible look for places with bills bundled in with the rent. Then you can get on with enjoying your new course, new area and your perfect new home.
