Signing your life away

As a fresher, the first term of university is daunting enough. . . New people, a new environment and a new way of learning are all being thrust at you at once. One particular pressure, however, was never mentioned when you decided to move away from home and that is the pressure of finding a house for next year.

Every year, the point at which we decide to start looking for our Cathays castle seems to creep up quicker and quicker. As freshers, we all found ourselves scrambling to make sure we knew who we were living with. This is definitely a cause for concern as in most cases you have only known your future housemates for a few months… It can cause trouble: What if you find yourself not really getting along a couple of months down the line?

The process of trying to get out of a house share while finding a solution that also suits your housemates is more hassle than being sure of whom you want to live with.  Despite the vast amount of houses in the area, students are becoming so eager to get a house.

None of this is necessary, not really. If we all took a little more time, we’d realise that there is an abundance of decent houses in Cathays. Some of these are a little further away from the union than we perhaps wanted, but they are there, and some of these houses tend to be in the best condition and have cheaper rent.

The hurry to have the house hunt out of the way definitely causes us to make bad decisions when choosing. Agendas such as a good location do sway people to take the grubbier house, and this can cause so many problems the following year. Be cautious! So many houses in Cathays have damp issues due to the old nature of the buildings, and while it’s often your landlord’s job to help you out, some will leave you to deal with it on your own (ie. You’ll slowly become mouldy yourself… Shoes in wardrobes, clothes in drawers: there is danger everywhere.) Many renters don’t take factors such as damp and other house problems into account when looking, and end up having a miserable time the following year. Trust me, it happens.

It’s annoying because we are being rushed for no reason. There are so many great houses to choose from, a large amount of student letting agencies, and such a long time to do it. Taking our time to look couldn’t hurt, could it?