Student Halls Or Houses? by Hardeep Kaur
The choice between living in student halls or houses can sometimes feel like one of the biggest decisions of your life so far (even bigger than whether or not you should sign up to Netflix). So if you’re going round in circles trying to make a decision about which one will be best for you then look no further because here’s what some students had to say about the pros and cons for living in student halls or houses!
Halls – Pros:
“As a germaphobe I am SO glad that I have an en-suite so I don’t have to deal with other people’s hair in the plughole or smelling other people’s stinky poops.”
“If you like to be social, there is ALWAYS stuff going on or something to celebrate. There’s always someone to go on a night out with.”
“Your bills (including wifi) are paid for which means no stress – woo!”
“Great for meeting and getting to know lots of people, there’s also a real good sense of community.”
“Because there’s always people around and security you feel quite safe, even if you are in the middle of the city centre.”
“I literally live across the road from my uni which is great because I hate commuting.”
Halls – Cons:
“Depending on how your uni and accommodation is organised, it can sometimes feel like you’re only mixing with people on your course which sucks a bit.”
“Sometimes I feel a bit cut off from everyone else because I’m at the end of the corridor and everyone else is closer together.”
“My room is ridiculously small – all the furniture is the same and looks SO bland so it’s hard to make it feel like home.”
“Compared to a house, halls are expensive.”
“Because there’s a lot going on and usually a lot of noise, it’s hard to get work done and too easy to procrastinate.”
“The staff who work there don’t always take you seriously and they don’t deliver the service they should. It’s also really hard for them to keep hundreds of students happy.”
“There is always someone complaining about noise levels and the security always shut down parties, so flat parties are pretty much impossible.”
“My halls were rank, they always smelt of burn food or BO, and as they weren’t my friends I couldn’t really tell them to take a shower and I didn’t want to clean up their mess in the kitchen.”
“Maintenance checks make you feel like a bad child if you have a messy room.”
Houses – Pros:
“House parties are the shiz.”
“You have a lot more space, a big room with a double bed, a lounge to chill in and a garden for a nice BBQ!”
“Houses are SO much cheaper than halls – more money for food!”
“There is a lot less outside noise because my house is away from the city centre.”
“Depending on who your land lord is they can really take good care of you and make sure things are sorted out quickly”.
“When people come over you don’t have to sign them in and do all that rubbish you have to do at halls.”
“You get to choose who you live with, just make sure you live with people you can tolerate.”
Houses – Cons:
“Sharing a kitchen and a bathroom with slobs is not cool.”
“Everyone knows where the student areas are in the city which makes you feel a lot less secure – last year someone almost snuck through our kitchen window to steal our stuff.”
“Usually in halls you have cleaners who clean the communal areas but in houses that is all down to you, good luck with that!”
“Houses are generally older than halls so they can be in a bad condition, with halls you know exactly what you are getting and that’s usually a newish room.”
“If you get stuck with a dodgy landlord they might keep your deposit over the smallest thing.”
“Houses vary in quality; you can get some really bad ones which haven’t been decorated in a looong time!”
“Someone will get stuck with the box room.”
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