Private Sector Accommodation Aberystwyth Review

Posted on - 10th February 2010 Tweet

This article has been written to give prospect students entering the private sector accommodation in Aberystwyth an insight to the type of places that they can expect to find. This article will not name letting agents nor locations of properties mentioned.

This article looks at three different houses/flats with a review of two rooms in one of the houses mentioned.

House 1

This house is the one that I lived in when I entered my second year, the rent of all properties are pretty much similar, about £275ish per month.

• One of the rooms in a 5 bed house.
• One kitchen.
• One Living Room.
• Bathroom with joined utility room + toilet.
• Toilet + Shower room.

Cost of living here was about £40-50 per month. Included Gas, Electric, Water and Broadband.

Rooms can be expected to be basic, a bed, mattress, wardrobe and desk. You may find like me that you have too many clothes and that you need to purchase a cheap IKEA temporary wardrobe.

This house was lucky enough to have a washing machine. It was difficult to dry clothes and often meant I’d drive up to the washer and dryer rooms on Aberystwyth University campus in order to do clean my clothes.

The house had a problem with the shower, water leaking on the electrics! – but was fixed a few months into the contract.

There was also a storage cupboard outside, didn’t have a lock on it and couldn’t be used as it was full of rubbish: Old Mattresses and even a police road cone!

The kitchen was quite small meaning that only a couple of people could cook meals at the same time. People would often leave their dishes out on the limited work surfaces which leaded to difficulties in preparing your own meals.

Although the living room first had a rotting sofa, the letting agents eventually replaced it with a newer refurbished one.

House 2

I didn’t live here however I knew of someone that did and so was able to get an overview of what the house and rooms were like. I have limited photos.

• 6 Bedroom House.
• Bathroom – Bath + Sink + Toilet.
• Shower Room – Shower + Sink + Toilet.
• Decent sized living room.
• Small Kitchen with Washing Machine.

The Kitchen was about the same size as the one in the first house however it did contain a washing machine. Although the property had a washing machine the draw that you’d normally pull out to add powder couldn’t open because of the angle the machine had been placed in. It was reported that it would often leak too.

I’m not too sure of the cost of living however the bills would be pretty much the same as in the first house. About £40-50 per month on top of rent.

Some of the mattresses seen in the photos may look rubbish but were soon replaced after students demanded replacements.

I think that you find in these houses that although all rooms are mostly the same size, some rooms can be smaller such as in the attic room photo, but unless you agree with your housemates that they pay more depending on the size of the room you’ll end up paying the same amount for a small room as you would for a large room.

I forgot to mention that in both student houses, the fire alarm is checked every so often and can also end up having a house inspection to see that the rooms are tidy. Speak to individual letting agents for policy.

Flat 1

This flat is often rented by professional people or post graduates only but it was known that some letting agents offered one bedroom properties to students. The problem with this was that although they can be nicer the rent is double so you’d pay £550 per month + bills. The only way to really afford this is with a good paying job or your partner going half on the rent.

• 1 Bed Flat (Double Bed). Quality Wardrobe and bedside fittings.
• Large Modern Stainless Steel Kitchen.
• Shower Room – Shower + Toilet + Sink (good condition).
• Fitted Carpet in hall way.
• Storage Cupboard.
• Large Living room with dining room table and chairs. + Bookcase.

The cost of living is still to confirmed on this but the likely hood is that it will cost slightly more than £50 per month each on top of the rent. It’s a good idea to live with a long term partner.

The flat is self contained in a building consisting of another 4 self contained flats.

The flat is as tidy as you leave it and its your sole responsibility and no one else is blame haha!

Things to Remember when Renting a Property

• If the bedroom doors have locks on then you’ll need to have a separate TV Licence for each of these rooms. If not, you’ll only need one. Double check this before ordering your TV Licence.
• Remember that you’re entering a contract you may not be able to get out of it unless you find someone else to take the contract over from you. So try and make sure that you get along with the people you’re going to live with.
• Read your contract carefully as this will tell you what is expected from you and the letting agents.

More guidelines can be found via the Aberystwyth University Website: http://www.aber.ac.uk