Hi, my name is Imogen, and this is my 2nd year in on-campus accommodation. In this blog, I will discuss ways to save money and give budgeting tips to help you choose accommodation for next year!
When choosing to live on campus, you may want to consider the many useful features included in your agreement:
Bills included
It’s worth noting that all your bills are covered in the accommodation payments. This includes costs for heating, water, electricity and most importantly Wi-Fi. This means that you don’t have to think about the possibility of new cost arrangements, because everything is included already!
No commute costs
Apart from using the Stage Coach Bus for more ease of access to shopping facilities, (although it’s only a short walk into city central down St Stephens Hill or Whitstable Road), living on campus means you don’t have to worry about checking bus times to make sure you get to campus promptly for your lecture at 9am, plus it means you don’t have to cough up the average £2 for just a ride to campus. And while you could invest wisely in a yearly bus pass of £264, time is money, and that 15-minute bus journey and fare could have been better spent living in on-campus accommodation!
Maintenance included
One of the things I’ve found to be the most benefiting of living on campus, is how simple accessing maintenance support is. All you have to do is download the Home at Halls app, and then anytime there is a fault, (big or small) you just fill out the online form, and they’ll send you a ticket notification to your email confirming your request, and will most likely complete that request the same day it was submitted! If something accidental has occurred, like the extraction fan isn’t working, a light bulb has gone or even if the toilet is leaking, notifying on the app is easy, and you won’t have to pay for repairs or replacements!
(Not so much of a saving money plus, as you will of course have to put aside some money for cleaning sprays and sponges, but it’s always a positive mention that you certainly don’t get off-site!)
Another Maintenance factor for living on site, is the extremely helpful housekeeping service, who make their rounds every week to certain accommodations across campus. When living in Keynes Flats (self-catered, en-suit) last year, housekeeping made rounds nearly every week, to keep the halls and kitchen clean.
In Parkwood Houses this year, I’ve found that Housekeeping frequent nearly three times a month, to clean and monitor the living space conditions. Don’t worry about them entering your room, unless you’ve requested cleaning assistance for your room, they won’t enter it without your permission, and room checks are always notified in advance via email – (the same as a landlord check if you were living off campus). When they do visit, they tend to top up bin bags too, meaning that you don’t always have to buy them for the communal areas, just for your rooms personal waste bin and if you run out, you can always go to reception and kindly ask for some more.
Fully furnished rooms
You don’t have to worry about buying furniture or appliances, all accommodations come with all the must needs: a single bed (extra-long depending on accommodation and double if selected), a desk with ample storage space with overhead shelves, a desk lamp, small bin, cupboard for more storage and carpeted floors alongside a radiator and a mirror.
The kitchen also comes with storage space for every person in the accommodation, with every individual getting a drawer and two cupboards, one that can be used for your pots and other for food. The fridge also holds enough space for everyone to have their own shelf and freezer draw. The kitchen also comes with a table and chairs for everyone or breakfast bar, plus a microwave and kettle, and of course with either an electric or gas, stove top and oven (dependent on accommodation).
I found it best to wait until I had arrived and met all my house mates/flat mates, before purchasing a toaster or an air fryer, as chances are someone already has one, and if you agree to keep it clean, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind sharing!
Free or low-cost social events
Across campus, multiple social events are always happening, whether this is organised by the ResLife team or the Kent Students’ Union, a majority of these events are free and extremely accessible when living on site!
ResLife have a timetable system where you can sign up for them on the Home at Halls app. These events are designed for those who live on campus, easily accessible in certain rooms across campus, and as a bonus, they’re mostly free! To name just a few: arts and crafts events, chocolate tasting and baking classes, pizza games nights and movie nights with complimentary bags of popcorn, plus all sorts of sport fun and outside adventures, these events are – yes you guessed it, all free!
Information for all of this is posted nearly daily to the extremely accessible accommodation Instagram account (accommunikent), alongside plenty more.
Proximity to facilities
In my opinion, one of the best things about living on campus is the accessibility to facilities.
Joining and exploring different Societies has to be one of the most anticipated experiences a university student looks forward to, when arriving at university. And with the University of Kent having over 200 different societies to choose from, living on campus makes it all so much easier to get involved.
For example, practice sessions can run as late as 8-10pm, and if you were living on site, this is what you would save compared to off:
- Travel expenses – getting the bus to and from site can cost up to £5 a day for a return ticket, plus you have to consider the bus timetable which can vary, or even if you drive, paying for parking and fuel.
- Membership prices – Living on site means your sport membership is free! If you want to access the sports facilities on campus for those society sport practices, if you live offsite its £215 for a yearly pass, or £23.99 for just a month. Sounds like an extra headache if you ask me! Living on-site mean you don’t have to deal with these added expenses, as it’s all a part of the accommodation agreement – meaning you can get started in the gym or on the pitch straight away!
- Time – As you have probably heard before, ‘time is money’, and in a student world there are 2 main things students are nearly always short on, time and money. When accessing facilities, you must consider what’s easiest, and the most proficient. Living on campus means your nearly always a short walk away from the nearest facilities, and with that means you save money. No bus fares totalling up alongside your membership prices, or extra time taken to arrive promptly to your lectures or exams if you decided to walk. – Living on campus means you save those pennies and time/energy making it more beneficial in the long run.
Now its not just Sport facilities you have more ease of accessing when living on-site, but also the Library and laundry.
While most houses offsite may have a washing machine for you to use, the chances it needs replacing, and the likely added water bill are a probable factor to watch out for, and it could potentially add up in the end. The campus has recently had all the Laundromats upgraded (see here for information on it) making it far more accessible than it has ever been.
Studying is by far the most important, and while the success in extracurriculars is a bonus, not passing your degrees modules is never a good feeling. The Templeman Library is by far the most notable building on campus, and given that it’s usually the most prominent stop when arriving on campus – to pick up your much needed student ID. Having ease of access to it is extremely helpful in the long run, especially in exam season, and commuting from off-site to the library depending on personal motivation, can become rare and few between compared to living on-site.
Overall
The biggest motivator to me and which ultimately made the biggest difference to my budget, is the commuting. It costs around £2.70 for a single ticket from city centre or Hales place (where most of the off-site student accommodation is) to on-site, this can total up to £280 a year in bus fees if you are only commuting to campus 4 days a week for the 30 week academic year – this doesn’t count in bus fare fees to get to shopping facilities or nights out, plus to get to an extracurricular if not already on site that commuting day. And if you are often prone to being late or finding the uphill walk more of a hassle then it should be, then when considering on-site accommodation, it should be a main factor in your decision.
Having easy accessibility is the biggest time and money saver, and if you plan on being involved in what the university has to offer and making the most out of your university life, living on campus will save you money in the long run and of course, time and energy.
Hope this has been helpful in assisting you to make your accommodation decision, remember to choose what will help you make the most out of your degree and student satisfaction while not leaving you overly stressed for money! – Imogen