Rent a Room or Rent a House?
If student halls are no longer an option and it’s time to move on and find your own pad, you’ve got options. You can either club together with a group of mates and rent a house or flat, or you can rent a standalone room in an established student house. It really comes down to whether you have a readymade gang of housemates and want to search for, and set up, a home together, or whether you prefer the greater anonymity of slipping into a rented room with a bunch of random people.
There are plenty of pros and cons for each option. Sharing a house with your mates might sound like something from a Richard Curtis rom-com film but you need to get to grips with the realities of flat-sharing as well as the romantic images of impromptu dinner parties, late night heart-to-hearts, and the roving independence of living in the big smoke. Before you settle down to your first plate of tuna pasta, you’ll need to cross the hurdles of who gets the box room; who’s going to sort out the utility bills; who’s going to clean the toilet; and how you’re going to organise food and groceries.
With a straightforward room rental, all these issues will (hopefully) been ironed out – if you agree with the established house rules and you get on with the rest of the inhabitants, you take the room; if not, you don’t. You still get to see your mates but it will be on your terms. And, if your new housemates are on your wavelength, you’ll get some new mates too. Of course, the downside is that you will only have met your new housemates once or twice before moving in day so you won’t be accustomed to their weird habits, strange sleeping hours, or odd social skills. With a bunch of mates you’ve known for a few years, at least you know exactly what you’re letting yourself in for.
Moving into your first rental property is a rite of passage and also a steep learning curve. Whatever choice you make, you’ll have petty arguments and end up doing bizarre things like hiding milk under your bed, or keeping emergency loo rolls in your wardrobe. Despite this, you’ll have the time of your life – so much so that even mice infestations and dodgy boilers will be fondly remembered.
You can contact the author of this article, Kris White of Peter Barry Estate Agents, if you have any queries about property to let in Winchmore Hill N21 or surrounding parts of North London.
Photo Credit: Feesta
Category: Deals