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sir_quirky_k (

sir_quirky_k) wrote,
@ 2008-05-12 23:03:00

Moving on out, nothing can stop me
A new university logo that had 'shameless corporatism' written all over it, and sure enough the University of Southampton have done a rejig of their student accommodation that has sent me headlong into the arms of the private rented sector.

What this means for me is that the all-inclusive total I'm paying for this flat is leaping up from just shy of £4,600 for 39 weeks - affordable, spending more than most students on having more spacious accommodation is pretty much the kind of thing DLA is for - to just over £4,900 for 34 weeks (with forced vacation at Easter for a month). A bad-enough 6.5% overall increase, plus a reduction in the quality of the service - the cost per week is now just shy of £145, from under £120. Just to put that in some Quirks-specific context, that weekly gap is more than I pay to all three of my music teachers combined.

The consequences are as predictable as you think they are. I'm now seeking a privately-rented studio flat; a quick web search implies that £450 per month for a studio flat in the student quarter of Southampton is a worst-case scenario. Call it £110 per week. Can utility bills possibly come to £35 per week for a single person in a studio flat making non-trivial efforts to reduce consumption? I'd hope not - and that's ignoring the fact that some of these flats are cheaper still, one being £380 per month.

Two steps now...
1. Check that this oturageous price rise is for real.
2. If 1. true, start looking for private-sector housing.

More on this big developing story as it comes.

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A quick mini-budget

daweaver
2008-05-13 05:48 pm UTC (link)

the all-inclusive total I'm paying for this flat is leaping up from just shy of £4,600 for 39 weeks - affordable, spending more than most students on having more spacious accommodation is pretty much the kind of thing DLA is for - to just over £4,900 for 34 weeks (with forced vacation at Easter for a month).

Hmm. Have you had a chat with advisors at the student's union? It's the sort of thing where a second opinion might reveal different options.

Can utility bills possibly come to £35 per week for a single person in a studio flat making non-trivial efforts to reduce consumption?

Point of information: for a two-bedroom, two-storey mid-terrace house, single occupation, mid-90s build with insulation, £150 per month covered my gas, electric, water, phone, and interweb bills in the six months from November 06 to May 07. I've not yet received the gas and electric bills after February, but I'd be surprised if the net result was much below £200. It should also be said that I don't usually heat my house during the day, don't keep it particularly warm in the evening, and don't spend much on non-inclusive telephone calls.

£35 a week scales up to about £150 per month. It may be possible, but it makes for an existance even more Spartan than I'd like.

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Re: A quick mini-budget

sir_quirky_k
2008-05-13 10:54 pm UTC (link)

Had a contrary suggestion from elsewhere, I thank you for this addition.

Update from the students' union - aha! It now appears that the real issue is that I've actually been assigned to the same kind of room I was in upon first arriving here! That's a big no-no, and if this place is not available for renewal (which I will know tomorrow) there really is no other way about things.

If I can stay here - well. If memory serves I was paying slightly less per week for this flat (on the grounds of it not including food costs), but slightly more per year (more weeks per year in the place). That implies around five grand for 2008-9 for this place, but I'll either find out tomorrow, or it won't be a relevant data point at all...

I have three viewings this week:

* one on a studio flat 300m from Saint-denys railway station, 1km (if that) from Waitrose and about 2km from campus, £380 per month unfurnished. Obviously fixed costs of furniture would then have to be considered, and then we're into the redefinition of utility to include comfort as proposed last ~~summer~~monsoon season.
* one on a one-bedroom flat above a shop on Burgess-road, which runs right past campus; this is about 500m from the campus turnoff, Waitrose is at least 1.5km away, but a Co-operative very nearby supplies most of my needs. That's £425 per month unfurnished, and stopping the singing and piano lessons more than cancels out that gap. Now there's a question. Do I derive more utility from the extra bedroom sans instrumental tuition compared to the alternative? Or, indeed, from the extra bedroom, and being prepared to spend a little more than I would otherwise? Does the answer to this depend on the prior question of how the new living costs compare to those in Highfield-hall? It should also be noted that this is a road between university and the Wessex-lane hall complex, and late-night disruption is a non-zero threat.
* A studio on Willis-road, close to Swaythling station but set aside from the nearby Wessex-lane complex and indeed the route to it. Waitrose is about 2.5km away, campus is about 2km away, several local shops are found nearby. £425 per month, pictures imply at least part-furnished.

Also in need of checking:
* A furnished studio on Alma-road, £395 per month furnished. This almost certainly falls down on the simple fact that this is the true student quarter, for it is staggering distance from the most notorious nightclub in the city, Jesters - but at that price it cannot be just ignored. It may not be too bad if it's near the end of the road...
* If your utility bill estimates are at all accurate, this would have to be disastrously poor quality not to trump them all. £425 per month, including all bills (!!), for a studio flat on Northam-road. It's not the best location - about 500m north of St Mary's Generic Red Bowl, almost 4km from campus, the nearest supermarket is a Wal-mart and it's at least 2km to Waitrose - but this would represent twelve months' living for the current cost of nine. It's also within 1km of the city centre.

And here's some irony. There's a studio flat on the second floor of a block in Howard-road, £395 per month. Not the best of locations to go to campus, and I know that so well. How? The block looks suspiciously like the same one Shylo taught from...

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