Living in the UK for Indian students

Accommodation is an important attribute that contributes hugely towards increasing the cost of living in the UK for Indian students.

Students usually use any one of the two types of accommodation:

University Accommodation:

Most universities offer in-campus accommodation or discounted housing for international students. One can get this free as a part of their offer or with extra charges.

When I asked Vvidhi Agrawwal a student of Bsc in Psychology and Biology at St Andrews college, UK about which accommodation she prefers,

she stated, “I prefer University residence halls as one can choose to have meal plans included with their accommodation and also my university has vegetarian food available at all catering halls which makes it quite convenient for me”

Generally, university residence halls are the best and cheapest options as they consist of up to 10 rooms on a floor, sharing common areas like the kitchen, hall, study room and bathroom facility. Which helps students living there to interact with students around them. One has the option to choose between catered or non-catered student halls. One will receive three meals a day in catered halls including vegetarian food. One’s life become easier when they stay in a university student hall as they are located on campus, which means one does not need any public transport to commute. One just needs to wake up get dressed and they are ready to attend classes.

Also, there are various other types of accommodation that a university offers to choose from depending on one’s budget some of them are:

Catered En suite- The en suite room in catered halls offers one the opportunity to live in a bedroom with access to their own en suite bathroom, and one will be provided with either 14, 15 or 19 meals per week.

Self-catered standard accommodation - gives Students access to a shared bathroom and kitchen facilities, providing one with the flexibility to cook their own meals and choose when to eat.

Shared rooms- There are several rooms available for students at the university which can be shared by two or three students. Shared rooms can be catered or self-catered, and either standard or en suite.

Application for accommodation in university - One needs to send an application for accommodation email to the university once they have been selected in the university. The university rooms may have limited availability, so it’s better that one applies quickly.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/77a762_b89538d31a2e4afa8f960694cd9de571/480p/mp4/file.mp4

VC- Vvidhi Agrawwal

Private Accommodations:

When I asked Meghana Kamlesh Mehta A student of Marketing and communications at Oxford brooks, UK whether private accommodation is difficult to find in UK

She stated “Finding accommodation in the UK is not difficult once you have your budget and location sorted but it is quite time consuming”

Private Student Accommodation

If one chooses to live in a private hostel, search for accommodations that are closer to one’s university location. Generally, in ₹30,000 to ₹49000 per month, one will find a decent place to live and study. These prices can vary in different cities in the UK with London being the most expensive. While booking private student accommodations online, one should check if the site is secure and read the student property reviews to avoid any scam. As a student, don’t forget to check the distance between one’s accommodation and the university or the surrounding market area for convenience.

Flats and Houses

Some university students also prefer renting a house or a flat, which is also competitively cheaper than student halls. There are several websites which provide private flats and rooms for university students. The rooms near the university campus can be slightly expensive. Therefore, as a student, one should try to find a house close to the bus station or any other public transport service for one’s convenience.

Homestays

As an international student, staying away from home can leave you feeling homesick, and for that homestay is the perfect cure. Staying with a native family will also give one a deep understanding into their culture and traditions. Although, there might be some rules or instructions that one will be expected to follow when living with a family, however, interacting and communicating with the family will give one an experience of a lifetime.

There are various apps/websites that people use to find homestays, flat, houses:

Spare rooms: Meghana has used spare rooms she stated that the concept of spare rooms is that “There is a house with a free spare room the house could be of a family, other students etc they advertise their house on the app/website and if anyone is interested can contact them. It is a very flexible option as you can stay for a month or two before finding a more permanent place to stay, even one-year contracts are possible”

Ideal Flatmate: it is a site which one can use to find the perfect flat share/flat mate Ideal Flatmate has a 20-question questionnaire which aims to help one find their best flat share match.

Badi: it is a global site for finding flat shares. It shows that there are currently 1,500 new rooms listed in London every week. Which means one definitely would not be short of choice one can enter their budget, the number of flat mates and the location one would like into the search bar to help narrow down the results.

PC- Meghana Mehta

Documents Required

One might not require as many documents if one lives with their landlord, but one will need some paperwork to book their accommodation through an agency or a website. One should always make sure that one has got a written contract. When booking through an agency or online site, one will be required to sign a contract, and some might even ask to pay one month rent in advance and deposit, which will be returned after the rental agreement ends. Sometime the landlord may ask for a guarantor or a reference in case one may default the payment in the future.