So it's first year I rocked up to Sheffield settled into Endcliffe (Burbage best block ever by the way) - I was just getting into the swing of things then no sonner had the clocks gone back and it's getting dark at 6 than these signs started appearing at every corner of broomhill "NOW LETTING FOR NEXT YEAR" - well naive me thought "o ok, crikey better get looking". I mean you apply for Uni in the october before you wanna go so maybe it's standard you have to find a house roundabout now too. my flat and I got on really well but we hadn't spoken about next year yet, it was only week 6, but some other friends of mine had spoken about it and asked if I wanted to live with them, sounded like a good idea so I said yes and the search began.

In my first year the approved University list didn't come out until January so you just had to rely on the letting agents and private landlords...well here I am, 7 of us, we had no idea what we were looking for really, beyond a house with 7 bedrooms - we found a house, spoke to the guys who lived there at the time and they were like "yeh it's an awesome party house, landlord is a bit of an idiot but just pay your rent and he won't bother you" sounded great.

skip forward to July move in day - the house was damp, my room (ground floor) was very damp, there was mould sporing up all over the place - the basement (which we hadnt gone into the previous november when we looked round) was basically a mini lake no wonder the rest of the house was damp - and it was only gonna get worse. throughout the year while yes the landlord didn't bother us he was also one of the most awkward people to get hold of, when a pair of my shoes got ruined by damp, when I got broken into, when the radiator literally fell off my wall and i woke up to water streaming out of the pipe into my room and other dramas

On top of the physical house drama, I soon realised that signing for a house in week 6 with people that I'd met about a month before and hadn't lived with, was a big mistake. to put it very very lightly, we didn't get on. In the end it resulted in me not spending much time there and when I was home I was usually asleep. It meant I didn't study well at home and ended up with lower grades than i'd have liked.

So move on to 3rd yr - I'm now living in another house of 7 with most of the people I lived with in first yr and life is much better. We're in a house that I actually looked at properly and as a result my room isn't damp, my radiator isn't so wonky that it looks like it'll fall off the wall, the basement isn't hosting the crookesmoor road lake and (touchwood) I haven't been broken into...I also didn't sign until April.

So not to say don't sign too early because I know loads of people who did sign early and to a result are still living together now but I'm saying don't rush, look round a house PROPERLY, just because you've left home don't be afraid to ring your parents, if you've got a house at home that you like then your parents know what to look for.

Come into the union as well have a chat to the advice centre but also don't be afraid to come talk to the officers. We've all signed for at 2 houses now throughout our time, in most cases 3. If you're unsure...wait. I can think of houses of all sizes that this year are empty because noone signed for them...nice houses too.

There's more beds than students don't forget that! - Happy Hunting