Moving into your own student house is one of the most exciting parts of university. You get to live with some of your best friends, the bedrooms are often much bigger than in student accommodation and it’s at this point in your uni years that you might start to feel like a proper adult. Whilst living in halls of residence might’ve felt a bit like living in a hotel, your student house is much more likely to feel like home. However, a lot of the time and contrary to popular belief, it’s not all sunshine and roses. Here are all of the problems you’re likely to face once you’ve moved into your second-year university house.

Bills, bills, bills…

when does student finance come in

So, you’re all moved into your house and it’s great, but then you realise that your household bills were not included in your contract. Sorting out bills and paying the bills can be one of the worst parts of living in privately rented accommodation, particularly as a student. A lot of the time, WiFi will not be included in your contract either, so be sure to make arrangements for this to be sorted before you move in September. You might also need to consider student contents insurance, and whether it’s necessary or not.

Taking out the rubbish

taking the bins out

Taking out the rubbish is something most students will not have to do when they live at home. However, at uni, you won’t have mum and dad taking it out for you and unsurprisingly, you’ll find that this is a task your housemates don’t enjoy either. To avoid a growing collection of bin bags (and the stench that comes with them) outside your house, remember to put the bins out for the rubbish to be collected every two weeks. This is something a lot of students forget to do!

Cleaning

U
Source: Unsplash

Closely following taking the bins out on the list of tasks students generally avoid like the plague is cleaning. There will always be that one housemate who makes a mess when cooking their dinner and leaves it for everyone else to clean up. However, most of the time you won’t have a cleaner to do the dirty work like you might’ve done whilst living in halls. Arguments over cleaning are probably the most common source of tension in any second-year university house, unless you’ve cleverly picked clean people to live with.

Your neighbours

angry neighbours living next to students

Unfortunately, whilst you can pick your housemates, you can’t pick your next-door neighbours. There have been arguments between neighbours since the beginning of civilisation, and there is no exception at university. If you get lucky, your neighbours will also be students and you won’t have to worry too much about having a noisy prees or getting back late/early in the morning from a night out. But, if your neighbours aren’t students, you should be prepared for those noise complaints to come flooding in, even if you don’t count yourselves as a noisy household.

Broken appliances

broken appliances

If you’re moving into a university house in September, get ready for the coldest winter of your life. Your hot water bottle will soon become your best friend, as it’s not uncommon for boilers to break or for landlords to put a limit on how high you can turn up your heating. Depending on your estate agents and landlord, these issues could be solved anywhere between the next day or the next month. If you’re going to be looking for a student house for next September, make sure to pick an estate agent with good reviews as this can make all the difference to your second-year experience.

Unwanted intruders

mouse
Source: Unsplash

We’re talking both animal and human here. Student houses are not known to be the most clean and tidy properties, so it’s likely that you might get a visit from some mice (or other small rodents) at some point. Student houses are also not always located in the nicest of areas, particularly if you’ve gone for the cheapest rent available. Therefore, there’s always going to be the chance of someone potentially breaking in and taking your valuables. Lock up at night, shut your windows, make sure your security system is on point and you should be good to go.

Arguments over anything and everything

houesmates arguing

Once the university term has begun and the work starts to pile up, the tension in the house will be a common occurrence. Even if you think yourselves to be the best of friends before the term starts, be prepared for arguments and fall outs because they will happen. Particularly if there’s only a few of you in the house, try not to sweat the small stuff as this will only make it extremely awkward for everyone else. Remember that you probably won’t experience anything like the next few years again, so try not to turn your time at uni sour by arguing with your housemates.

Already facing some housemate issues? Read our guide on how to deal with messy housemates.