Living with strangers at university, especially in those first few weeks, can be an incredibly daunting experience. But fear not, we've put together a guide to help create the most harmonious possible household!
Be prepared to make the first move!
When you first move into your student accommodation, you and your fellow housemates are all in the same boat, apprehensive, nervous and perhaps a little shy, so don’t lock yourself away in your room, go and knock on your neighbours door to introduce yourself – it could be the first step to some lifelong friendships!
Don’t share kitchen items.
There’s nothing worse than going to make your dinner and finding your dishes and cutlery have been used by someone else and they’re currently sat dirty in the sink. Avoid any unwanted and awkward conversations by buying your own kitchen items and setting boundaries early.
Don’t take other people’s stuff!
That left over slice of pizza sitting in the fridge might seem tempting but imagine looking forward to that pizza all day and finding one of your housemates had helped themselves to it! Likewise if you run out of something, ask if you can borrow it and replace afterwards, don’t just help yourself, you’ll find yourself very unpopular, very quickly.
Make a list of essential communal items (washing up liquid, bin bags, toilet rolls..) and take it in turns to buy!
Don’t expect your housemates to be as clean and tidy as you!
You’ll need to keep on top of cleaning your accommodation but you may live with people who are either compulsively tidy or incredible messy so you’ll need to find a balance. Create a cleaning rota and share the load, you can keep your room just as you like but communal areas will require compromise.
Ask your housemates before arranging parties or inviting guests round
Be considerate of your other housemates and ask them if you’re planning on having a guests round or holding a party – they might have a deadline to complete or an early morning lecture they need to get an early night for!
Have a weekly housemate get together
Whether you hit the bars and party until the early hours or stay in with Netflix and popcorn, make sure you plan weekly get-togethers to keep house morale positive and create some university memories!
Agree to Disagree
You can’t get on with everyone and you’ll have closer friendships with some rather than others but that’s OK, stay on good terms with all of your housemates and accept you can’t click with everyone. Embrace people differences though, you can learn a lot from your housemates!
I'm coming back next year because it's value for money, staff are lovely and I'd been made to feel very welcome over the last 3 years.Danika Ripley, Master of Nursing Science, University of Nottingham
