If you haven’t started searching for your new home for the next academic year, it’s not too late. This is prime time for students searching Pads for Students. A new semester has just started, winter exams are done, and spring is just around the corner. Most will already have started their student HMO search but that doesn’t mean the best options have already gone. You should, however, start soon.
Be Selective in Who You Live With
As much as you might think friends X, Y and Z are a good laugh, it doesn’t mean they’ll make great housemates. Everyone has bad habits, even you. You should have learnt by now which of your friends you’d like to live with and those you know you’d hate living with. Choose the latter, organise a get together and start to plan your student accommodation approach.
Make a Priority List
What do you and your friends want most from your student accommodation? This is the first question you should ask. If you all have cars, you’ll need somewhere with plenty of parking. If none of you have cars, you’ll need somewhere close to campus or with great public transport links – both for getting to campus and for those train rides back to your parents. Four or five rooms? Garden?
Use Pads for Students to Narrow Down a Search
The excellent search system at Pads for Students allows you to narrow down your criteria. If you’re a couple looking for a flat, you can search for flats. Groups of students looking for student HMOs will see multiple images. We encourage property owners to put in as much detail as possible and fill in all the boxes, so you know exactly what you’ll be getting when you sign on the dotted line.
Don’t Choose the First Property
Pads for Students facilitates the student HMO property search. Our database is updated all the time. March is prime season. The most common mistake most students make is to sign a contract with the first property they find. Do this and you could spend more and not get what you want. Don’t rush into a decision. Preferably view several together in a short space of time – ideally all on the same day so they remain fresh in the mind.
Make Sure Everyone is Happy
Once you’ve signed the contract, you’re pretty much tied to it. There is no legal requirement for a property owner to provide you with a “cooling off period”. Therefore, ensure you’ve run through all the pros and cons of each, that the decision is a joint one, and that everybody is happy with the property. When you’re all in agreement that you’ve found the right student accommodation on Pads for Students, only then should you consider your search over.