See the things to consider when choosing who to live with at University.
How to choose your housemates
Finding housemates to live with can be a challenge. You may decide you’d rather live alone, with a small group or that you’d prefer to live with a larger group of students. Whatever you choose, make sure you meet all your prospective housemates prior to signing your tenancy agreement and trust your instincts when deciding whether or not to move in.
When choosing housemates, it's important to consider:
- your budget and if it matches up with the budget of your housemates
- your hobbies and interests and if they are shared by the people you may be living with
- location, including where you want to live, and how far you want to travel to campus.
- whether you want to look for housemates who are in the same communities as you, such as searching for housemates in your societies and social groups or in a housing cooperative.
You may also want to consider if:
- you want to live with people you know already, or meet new friends through a house share
- your course dates match your potential housemates (for example, will they be looking for a house for the whole academic year)
- you or your housemates have a guarantor, and if this will be accepted by your landlord.
How to find housemates
You can use our Discord group to reach out to other students who are looking for housemates.
Creating a Discord account
Find out more about how to create a Discord account.
If you already have a Discord account, you can join our group by clicking the invite above. You may need to click on the hourglass icon in the top left corner to access the membership questions.
If you have never used Discord, follow the instructions below for help making an account.
- How to create a Discord account
- Go to Discord – click the ‘log in’ button and then click ‘register account’.
- Add a username – Discord will prompt you to add a display name, username, and and also your date of birth. You can choose your own username but make sure it is appropriate for a university-managed server.
- Add your details – use your university email address if you have access to it. Otherwise enter your personal email address. You will also need to create a password.
- Click the confirmation link – sent to your email address. You’re now on Discord. Download the Discord app or use a web browser on your phone or computer.
Students who have already secured a property sometimes post adverts looking for housemates on our Discord group, too.
If you’re struggling to find people to live with, you could join a club or society on campus. Joining a club or society gives you the chance to meet new people and, potentially, new housemates.
You could also speak to other students on your course. You may find others are looking for housemates or have available rooms in their existing house shares.
You may also want to ask your school administrator if there is a school message board where you can ask if other students want to form a house share.
Individual tenancies
Some agents offer individual tenancies to students. This means you can live in a shared property without needing to find housemates or sign a contract with others.
Some agents arrange group viewings for these properties, so you can meet other interested students, too.