A foolproof guide to finding the perfect student house in Leeds

Returning back to uni in January is a stressful time, however, in theory finding a house should be simple enough. Although you’ve only just geared yourself up to complete the looming exams and prepeare for the start of second semester, it’s also the time to think about houses.

This is the time to find a group of people (who you’ll hopefully still want to live with in eight months time). Once you’ve got your housemates, check out these helpful hints to find the best house for you next year:

Book lots of viewings

There may be hundreds of estate agents in Leeds but properties get rented out pretty quickly. The more houses you go round, the best chance you’ll have of finding one that you all like. There are many popular student areas, paticularly Headingley and Hyde Park. Estate agents will happily take you round on a whirlwind tour of Leeds to find you a house.

Remember it is true that the house you may have visited yesterday, may be signed up by a group of students that view it the next day. January is the time for house hunting and Unipol open up their houses on the 19th January, so it's the perfect time to begin googling houses.

Negotiagte and compromise

When searching and booking viewings, it’s always good to agree on what you want. More than one bathroom or a creepy basement? Close to uni or closer to the start of pubs for the Otley run? Whilst it would be nice to imagine the perfect, clean house, student houses are in no way your dream house, so be prepared to compromise on something. Otherwise having big bedrooms may be great but not when you're stuck with a 40 minute walk away. Some of the houses you view may not be the cleanest (or have the nicest smell) but your landlord should clean it up for when you move in July.

Landlords just want your money

Whilst the landlords do want you to rent their house, they also want your money. Whilst Christmas may be over, you will still have to part with some of your January student loan thats just arrived in your bank account. Everyone will have to pay a deposit and a signing fee so be prepared to hand over part of your money to pay for this. Remember that the landlords just want to have people in the house, so they will rent to the student group that agrees to it first. It's an expensive time of year but hopefully you should get your deposit back from your current accomodation later this year…

Bills (you gotta pay)

Okay it's not the most exciting topic you want to be thinking about straight after Christmas, but it's important before you sign for the house. Agree on your budget and make sure you find out exactly how much you will be paying. Again, the exciting question of whether you should you have an all-inclusive bills package or go through it all yourselves? There are lots of houses available, and the house next door may have cheaper rent becuse it's let through an alternative estate agent.

Agreement

Probably the most important point when house hunting is to make sure you all actually are prepared to live in the house. Trust me, it will save many arguments later so no one can say: "I didn’t want this house in the first place!"

If you don’t like the house you’re viewing (because some of the houses you go round will NOT be nice) then just say so. It’s YOU that has to live in the house for the next year, so make sure you want to.