Early Student Accommodation Booking: A Comprehensive Guide

Ensuring you secure your student accommodation on time is crucial, often with deadlines looming. We strongly advise completing this task as soon as your enrolment is confirmed. Why? Because the competition for student housing can be fierce, leaving latecomers with limited options and potential compromises. While on-campus students may enjoy some leniency if their college offers ample accommodation, off-campus living presents a different challenge, with hundreds of students vying for available properties in the city. Acting promptly gives you a competitive edge, allowing you to secure your ideal housing. Explore our comprehensive guide to discover the myriad benefits of proactive student accommodation booking.

Key Takeaways – Student Accommodation Booking

Here’s a list of advantages that you can experience if you book your student accommodation early.

• You save a considerable amount of money and time.
• You get enough time to organise your things before moving.
• It allows you to explore several options and choose a property of your choice without compromise.
• You can find a property close to your university or college to avoid transportation time.
• You can search and finalise a property with your friends. 
• Enjoy an overall stress-free experience of moving into a new property.

Why Should You Make Student Accommodation Booking In Advance?

When you start searching before the rush begins, you get the time and leniency to explore the options at your pace without hurrying into anything. Because of this, the chances of compromising on your perfect housing situation are lesser. Besides this, you also save a lot of money and get the freedom of choice. Read the following sections to find the top benefits of making your student accommodation bookings well in advance. 

1. You Save A Lot Of Money

This section is primarily for students looking at off-campus accommodation since universities rarely have varying charges for their on-campus housing facilities. When the time of admissions and enrolments comes closer, the prices of rent skyrocket as students scramble to find accommodation. One of the most prominent advantages of making your student accommodation bookings early is that you can save a lot of money. In addition, many places offer early-bird discounts, where you can save a considerable percentage on rent or security deposits. Furthermore, if you’re looking at housing property near the college campus, its competition increases, which, in turn, increases the prices because of its close proximity. In such cases, it is highly recommended that you book your ideal housing as soon as possible, or you may have to pay surge prices. 

2. You Save A Lot Of Time

If you wait till the absolute last minute to find appropriate student housing and book your property, you may have to run around a lot because of a shortage of space. On the other hand, if you book your property well beforehand, you get several options to explore, and you can choose at your own pace instead of rushing around. Finally, when you have reached the new destination of your residence, you don’t have to worry about getting in touch with the broker, landlord, or agent or moving from one place to another to keep your luggage and find a place to sleep.

3. You’ll Have Time To Organise

Once your student accommodation bookings are done, one of the biggest loads will be lifted from your mind. Now, with all the spare time on hand, you can easily take care of the other responsibilities. To begin with, you can take care of the amenities or utilities, in case they aren’t included in your rent already. You can find home decor objects to organise your house before moving in. If the housing property you’ve selected requires intensive cleaning, then you have more than enough time now to ensure the living space is clean and well-equipped to live in.

Most importantly, you will have time to get yourself organised for the big move. For instance, you can pack your luggage and shift in the property conveniently without any rush. Also, once the stress of student accommodation booking is gone, you can take care of other university prerequisites that must be done before joining. Lastly, you can explore the city and the surrounding area if you figure out where you will stay beforehand.

4. You’ll Get More Choices

At the time of popular intakes, more people scramble to find appropriate housing options. The demand for available properties is relatively high, in addition to the number of properties being less in the first place. On the contrary, if you decide to complete your student accommodation booking well in advance, you will get more choices and preferences without the need for any compromise. Student accommodations are often well-equipped and well-furnished, with many facilities and utilities. Unfortunately, these housing properties are also the first ones to be booked. If you are one of the early birds, you can ensure you obtain all the facilities offered.

Moreover, you get the freedom of room. By booking your space early, you can choose the room you want – whether it’s with an attached kitchen or a private bathroom. Here are the popular housing options available.

• Ensuites and non-ensuites
• Shared living spaces
• Apartments
• Flats
• Luxury studios 
• Private, rented rooms
• Purpose-Built Student Accommodation
• HMOs
• Homestays

5. Enjoy A Stress-free Experience

Once your accommodation bookings are made, all you have to do is complete the formalities of the university, pack your luggage, reach the destination and move into your new place. Thus, booking your accommodation in advance offers you a stress-free experience. Moreover, if you’re a second or third-year student, you may already have exams, assignments, projects and results to take care of. Once your housing details are confirmed, you can pay undivided attention to your university work and studies without constantly worrying about an appropriate living space.

6. You Can Choose To Stay With Your Friends

Moving to a new city all by yourself can be a scary change. At such times, we often turn to our friends and close ones to help us undertake the move. If you and your friends have decided to stay together, you might have to get in on student accommodation bookings quite early. As the time of course commencement creeps closer, the availability of rooms and other housing properties decreases. Because of this, you and your friends may not be able to find a room together or even stay in two housing options close to each other.

7. You Can Experience An Easier Commute

Daily transportation is not a huge issue for students who pick up on-campus accommodation. On the other hand, those who choose to stay in off-campus housing options have to deal with everyday commuting for classes. If you wait till the last moment to find the appropriate living space, all the options close to the college premises might be booked already. This would increase the time you need for everyday transportation, in addition to increasing the overall cost. Thus, make your student accommodation bookings early to save excessive time and money spent on commuting every day.

Here are the popular means of public transportation that you can explore near your shortlisted housing properties.

• Buses
• Trains
• Taxis
• Bicycles
• Coaches
• Metro
• Trolley
• Ferries

From Where Should I Book The Accommodation In Advance?

Finding the right home for yourself can be challenging, especially as an international student. At such times, it is best to go to the experts. UniAcco is a reliable one-stop destination where students can find multiple properties according to their preferences. We help you compare the features, amenities, rent and facilities of different housing options in one place so you can shortlist the best ones. You can find the best deals here and select a place that is comfortable, safe and suitable for your budget and choices. 

Student accommodation tends to fill up rapidly. Thus, it is advisable to search and finalise your housing as soon as your admission is confirmed to avoid hurdles later. To assist you in getting started, we have compiled here some of the top accommodation options in the most popular study-abroad cities of the world.

Top Housing Options In London

Here’s a list of the most highly recommended accommodation options for international students in London.

Top Housing Options In Melbourne

Some of the top accommodation properties in Melbourne have been compiled in the following table.

Top Housing Options In Perth

A list of the best housing properties in Perth is compiled in the following table. Check it out!

FAQs

Q1. What are Student Accommodation Booking websites?

Student accommodation websites are online platforms where you can easily compare different housing options in your destination city. This service allows you to check the prices of similar properties and find the one that best suits your preferences, choices and budget. You can also communicate with the landlord or owner of the housing properties and book a slot for a physical tour. Or find uploaded pictures and an online tour to explore the property better.

Q2. How do you book student accommodation as an international student?

As an international student, you can follow the below steps to book your dream property.

• Explore the property’s website online and look for the different options available. You can also avail of the facilities of agents or intermediary websites to compare the prices of similar properties and ensure that you get the best. UniAcco can help you find the best property available.
• Shortlisted a few properties.
• Booking physical tours to ensure the space is satisfactory. 
• Communicate with the owner or landlord about the facilities and utilities included in the rent. 
• Ask for a detailed contract stating all the terms and conditions to ensure you and the landlord stay on the same page.

Q3. Can I get the cost of Student Accommodation Booking via a loan?

In case you find the cost of student accommodation too high, you can apply for scholarships or grants where students are provided living expenses. In addition to that, you can also apply for education loans or maintenance loans through the government or banks where separate allotments for living expenditures are done.

Q4. Can you choose your roommate?

The option of choosing your own roommate may or may not be given depending on the property you choose. If you’ve opted for on-campus housing, the chances that you can interact with other people and select your own roommate are high. On the other hand, if you’ve chosen off-campus accommodation, the landlord may not allow you to pick your own roommate, and you will be allotted a living space available at the time of booking.

Thank you for reading our guide to student accommodation bookings! Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!