Tips And Tricks When Choosing Flatmates For Second Year

We know, the academic year has only just begun and already we’re mentioning who to live with during your second year but, it will be here in no time and it’s better to be prepared.

Your living space impacts upon your student experience so it’s important to nail it. Make the wrong choice and you could be in a nightmare living arrangement, and who wants that?

Within this blog you can discover the 8 top tips and tricks to consider when choosing flatmates at uni, because this time round, you get to pick them for yourself!

1. Think About Your Ideal Experience

Possibly one of the most important tips to consider when choosing flatmates for second year is to think about your ideal student experience in a shared home.

Have a think about how you imagine your living arrangement to be for your next year of uni, such as do you want to have a close-knit house where you do a lot of things together? Or are you wanting to focus on yourself and your studies after your first year is over with?

Perhaps you’ve got on like a house on fire with some of the people in your student flat this year and had a great experience so far, this is a good place to start if you’re looking for a similar scenario.

Where you live can really impact upon your student experience so it’s important to think about your wants and needs when it comes to house hunting.

After all, this is YOUR uni experience so make sure you’re going to enjoy it!

2. Your Day-To-Day Life

Similarly, to what we’ve just mentioned, it’s important to take your schedule and daily routine into account when thinking of prospective housemates.

Not to mention, making sure you have the same values too.

Such as, if you’re someone who likes to be up early and in bed by a reasonable time every night because you have a lot of contact hours at university, you don’t want to live with someone who’s course and lifestyle is the complete opposite.

Whilst we know opposites attract, it’s not going to be the most compatible situation when it comes to living together if you’re trying to get a good night’s sleep for a morning lecture and your housemate is just getting in from their society night out.

Some courses don’t require a lot of in-person teaching time, but if yours does, you’re best trying to pick housemates with a similar timetable if you can!

Although, it’s not always a make-or-break situation if your friends do a complete opposite course and have a vastly different teaching style to you, it’s a tip worth considering.

3. Compare Your Friendships

Whilst this tip may sound pretty obvious, you really need to really think about who out of your social circle at uni would make the best housemates.

Choosing flatmates can be hard, you don’t fully know what you’re signing up for until it happens, because the whole dynamic changes and now you’re going from seeing each other occasionally to being in close proximity, in the same household.

If we can offer you any advice, it’s to really think about those friends that you really enjoy being around and who rarely annoy you.

The last thing you want to do is sign for a house with someone who, let’s face it, gets on your nerves a lot of the time as this will just lead to arguments.

Just because you get on and have a good time with someone on a night out, doesn’t mean they’re going to be great for you to live with!

4. Remember Your Budget

If you’re going to make house sharing work at university, you really need to focus on your budget and how much you are willing to pay in terms of rent and bills.

Everyone’s financial situation is different and that’s okay, however, it’s so important to take money into account when choosing who to live with.

Whilst money can be a sensitive and sometimes awkward conversation to bring up, in this scenario you need to.

There’s no use planning to live with someone and it coming down to looking for options and they have a completely different price range than you.

It just won’t work out if you sign for somewhere you can barely afford, and it will impact your experience if you’re constantly worried about having to save money!

5. Timing Is Everything

Our next tip for choosing flatmates for second year is to take your time with the whole process.

Whilst we all know if you leave looking for a place too late then you’ll be left with barely any choice for accommodation but rushing to sign for somewhere can be equally as bad.

Some friendships you make during your first months of university can last a long time, but that’s not to say that all of them will.

We’re only one month into this academic year, and you’ve probably met tons of people already.

However, there is still so many people yet to meet, who you may find yourself a lot closer to than the people you currently hang around with.

We cannot stress this enough, give yourself time when it comes to signing for somewhere because you may come to regret who you’ve chosen to live with if you do it too early.

There’s a fine line between being too early and too late, so meet in the middle!

6. Broaden Your Search

Allowing yourself time to meet new people is important, but so is broadening your horizons when it comes to deciding on flatmates for second year.

You’re not always going to stumble across people who you become good friends with, or who you want to live with.

So, sometimes widening your search whether it’s using social media to search for people to live with on university groups of student pages, or through using apps such as SpareRoom can be useful.

Although, there are some negatives with this search process, so we recommend meeting your prospective flatmates first before signing for anywhere and ensuring they’re a good match.

It’s also best to make sure you’re living with other students If you can.

7. Quality Over Quantity

Another tip in helping you to decide on your future housemates is to ensure that you’re not putting quantity over quality.

What we mean by this, is the group size you’re searching for houses with.

Many people believe that larger student houses with more people are the most sociable and have the most fun, and whilst they can be, there’s pros and cons to consider.

Such as, when living with tons of other people, you’re going to have less space to yourself, you’ll be less likely to get a good room size and there will be more queues for the bathroom.

It can also be much harder to find larger student houses for a bigger group, so sometimes smaller is better!

You don’t have to live with everyone within your uni squad, you’ll still see each other if you live in separate places.

8. It’s Okay To Say No

Our final tip for you to take away when it comes to choosing flatmates, is to remember that it’s okay to say no to anyone’s offers – you’ve got to do what’s right for you!

This is your future living arrangement, and you should never feel forced to live with someone who you don’t want to.

Whatever your reasoning for not wanting to live with someone in a house share, it’s absolutely valid and you shouldn’t feel bad for it, or that you can’t say no.

Of course, there is a polite way to harden the blow so, make sure you try and be honest but mindful when letting someone know you don’t want to live with them.

On the flip side, if someone declines your offer to live with them for second year, don’t take it to heart and remember that everyone has their own preferences, and their own plans.

There we go gang, the end of our guide on tips and tricks for choosing flatmates for your second year of uni. Remember to choose your flatmates wisely and take all of our advice into account, for an amazing student living experience.

So, we’ve discussed the tips and tricks for choosing flatmates but what about where to live? Have a look at our student accommodation properties in cities across the UK.

Whilst at uni you should make use of all the note taking apps that are available, check out our guide of the top 5 to choose from here.