Living in halls will always be better than living in a house

For someone who has spent almost the entirety of their uni life in halls, it is infinitely better than living in a student house.

When staying with friends or looking round houses to potentially rent, I’ve accounted mouldy ceilings, bathrooms with unforgivable stains, broken appliances, doors that refuse to lock and hideous smells. In halls, these problems don’t exist.

First off, it’s warm. My room temperature is currently set to nice and toasty. I don’t have to worry about stocking up on extra blankets or sticking bath towels and cling film to my windows (I’ve seen it happen) to keep the heat in. There is no need to sleep in layers upon layers when we have a scorching, functional heater in every room and corridor.

Hall lyf

<3

The flat also smells great. We’re not living in the constant fear our wardrobes and book shelves will become a mould breeding zone, or the walls will be damp, leaking and gross. Our cleaner comes once a week to disinfect surfaces, scrub the cooker, sweep and mop the floor. Our bins get taken out every day, saving arguments and lowering the risk of insects and rats getting into the accommodation – which is common in student housing, so it seems. And by the time I wake up after pres or a flat party, the kitchen is already dealt with and it looks and smells fresh all over again. Plus, our pres are bigger and better.

We might have a small single bed and a lack of decoration, but with halls you can always guarantee everything is fully furnished and functional. If something is broken, there’s too many leaves on the path, or your windows aren’t quite clean enough, the maintenance guys will sort it out.  They are always on hand to deal with excessive noise and letting you back in if you’ve forgotten your key. I don’t imagine housemates or landlords appreciate getting woken up in the middle of the night to let you back into your room.

Payment is more or less hassle free. There are no petty arguments about who has the longest showers (we all have our own anyway) or who owes more for the biggest room. Paying extortionate prices in Oxford for a rotting shell of a house seems ridiculous if you then have to fight about splitting bills and skimp on heating and electricity to save a few quid. Why not get it all included?