How to Examine your Student Housing when Moving in

In this article, we look at how to examine your student housing when moving in.

You put a lot of effort into your studies to make your dream of living in a different country come true, and the results are in: you’re headed to your dream city and your dream college!

Congratulations! we are as excited as you are.

Adjusting from living at home to living in student accommodation is a major one, especially if you’re new in the country.

When you move into the halls or off-campus living, most or maybe all things will be changed, and there will be a lot to learn about.

Moving into student housing might be stressful, but don’t worry. We’ve assembled our finest moving advice.

Moving in

Checklist before you arrive

Once you decide on a place and move, you want it to be your home. You might be new in the area or an international student who is new to the rules and regulations of housing, fear not!

We’ve got you covered. Keep these tips in your mind or note them down somewhere to examine your student housing.

Make sure you have contact details for your landlord and decide a time for collecting your keys. If there is a burglar alarm, make sure the landlord teaches you how to use it if you don’t already know, this will be helpful to you during any emergency.
Get contact details of your housemates and share them with the landlord.
Make sure you have a copy of the tenant agreement.
Decide the bank account you will pay your rent through. It is important that rent payments are made on date. You will be charged extra if the payment doesn’t happen on time.
Check and ask about how the parking works outside your house. How many cars can you park? How many of your flatmates are going to need the parking space?
You might need a visitor parking permit while moving in your luggage. The pass helps you avoid any kind of fines and tickets while you are being helped to move in.
Make sure you have checked the space before you move your luggage so that you can.

Select your roommates carefully.

student accommodation select roommate carefully

Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels

Since you will be sharing a house with your roommates, it is very important that you make a sensible choice. Who doesn’t want to live with friends?

But it is better to consider your college mates who are attending the same university as you. For instance, you’re living in London, and student housing in London pages online provides you with people looking to share student accommodation.

You might want to check it out online through the social media pages of your college or the city you are moving into. But keep in mind that adjustment is bound to happen in this situation.

Have a chat with your friends and set your boundaries and rules.
Some disagreements might happen despite you being great with your roommates, but that’s okay. Learn to move forward and be honest to avoid unnecessary drama or disagreements.
Just make sure that you have a healthy relationship with all of them and that you share the accommodation responsibilities together.
We would advise you to have these conversations before you move in so that you can decide whether or not you like them enough to live with.

Moving day

student accommodation moving day

Photo by cottonbro studio

It’s probably been a while since you last visited your new home, so when you get your keys and can finally move in, it might not be exactly how you remember it.

So this is how to examine your student housing when moving in.

When bringing your items in, take care. Avoid keeping the house or car unattended when you have valuables inside, as this is a prime opportunity for greedy burglars to steal them.
When you are inside your apartment, give it a thorough inspection and think about how it differs from the last time you saw it before you signed the contract.
Look for signs of pests, such as droppings or nests, and inform the landlord if any are found.
To document the property’s condition as you take over the occupation of the accommodation, take pictures of it, including any wear and tear damage.
Check for any damages or issues with the walls, floors, and ceilings. Make sure to note any cracks, stains, or leakage problems.
Test all the electrical appliances, such as the refrigerator, stove, and oven, to ensure they are in good working condition.
Test all the electrical outlets and light fixtures to ensure they are functioning.
Check all the windows and doors carefully to ensure they are in good condition and locked up properly.
Check the plumbing and make sure you have running water and that all sinks, faucets, toilets, and showers are working properly.

It’s always a good idea to take pictures or videos of any issues, document them in writing, and communicate them with your landlord. This will protect you if there are any disputes about the condition of the unit when you move out. Anything that worries you should be immediately reported to the owner so that they can get it fixed for you.

Checklist for examining with the landlord

If there are still tiny details of the housing that should be rectified, get them checked with the landlord in writing via text or any other way that you can communicate with your landlord but try to make sure you do it in writing. Since it helps you have a track record of what went wrong while moving in and avoid any complaints or disturbances with the landlord.

It’s better to do our part and keep things as simple as possible.

Furniture and decor

Only start hanging shelves or driving nails into the wall after first getting the owner’s permission because most landlords don’t allow tenants to decorate as they wish to cause it might damage their property.

Check this as well because some landlords would not permit nails on the walls.

Ask your landlord if they can supply any new furniture or more cabinet space if you need it in your room.
If you plan to move the landlord’s furniture but bring your own, make sure they are okay with you keeping it somewhere and make sure to have a chat about this with them.
Do you think any decorating items are necessary? If so, who will carry out the task and bear the cost? Be open and honest about your requirements with the landlord.

Cleanliness

Ever since the pandemic, cleanliness has become even more of a big deal to keep in mind.

This is also why it is necessary to make sure everything is clean and tidy to avoid any kind of problems with your health. Check whether, when you first arrived, the home was clean and tidy.

Did you find any pesticides or insects lying around? Did the previous tenants leave anything behind? Make sure to inform the owner through a message if it isn’t.

Emergency Getaway

Could you escape if there was a fire in the house’s major access corridors?

Most countries have an emergency getaway. Look for fire alarms, fire escapes, extinguishers and fire blankets.

People who are new to this kind of lifestyle might need to be made aware of what to do and how to use specific tools. In that case, please ensure you learn all these practices and be ready for any kind of emergency.

Ask the owner and let them help you understand these techniques.

Setting up your accounts in utilities.

Take readings from your water, gas, and electricity metres immediately.

In order to avoid having to assume someone is taking individual responsibility, it is better to register with the appropriate utility companies. And, if necessary, register everyone in the accommodation.

It will be incredibly challenging for you to collect the other person’s significant chunk of the costs if you don’t jointly register and they happen to move out.

Changing your Address

There might be many places where you have to change your address. Make sure to do that to receive your packages and for many other purposes.

Suppose you lived in Nottingham student accommodation before and now you’ve moved to a new area on the other side of the country like Manchester, you are bound to change your address so do not forget to do that.

Change the address in your bank.
Change the address in your university.
Your insurance providers.
Send the full address details to everyone back home and have your local guardian acknowledge that you have moved into a new place.

Making friends with the neighbours

Keep in mind that you belong to a community. You may do a lot of things to live in that area successfully.

Introduce yourself to your neighbours as soon as you arrive and get to know them.

Be aware of this if they have young children who could be upset by the noise. Be considerate towards their children if they happen to make noise.
If you are having a party, let your neighbours know and try to keep the noise down after 11 p.m.
Avoid talking aloud outside or shutting your car doors if you’re returning home late at night to avoid disturbance to your neighbours as everyone is tired and tries to relax by this time of the day.
Being considerate will probably make your neighbours less willing to complain and more likely to watch over your home while you’re away.

This helps you have a lovely group of local people around you who can help you get used to the new area, and you might end up making good friends with your neighbours and start hanging out with them regularly, and you wouldn’t be as homesick.

Conclusion

We know you might be worried about the number of responsibilities you might have to take on now.

We hope this article helps you to identify and understand how you need to examine your student housing when moving in.

You are probably a student trying to figure out all the adulting life responsibilities in a new foreign country.

About Amber

Amber is a student accommodation provider that helps you reduce your hassle during home hunting in a foreign country.

Amber student is a one-stop destination for all your accommodation to airport pick-up requirements while you move abroad.

Amber helps with prices and accommodation booking, airport pick-ups, and luggage shipping. amber aims to provide a stress-free move abroad to students that are making the big move away from home.

Author’s Bio

Deepshikha Katuri has been into books, films, and poems for the longest time. Being a coffee/tea lover and a big-time foodie, you won’t be surprised to find her at the cafe brewing conversations.

Her love for writing developed while she was doing her undergraduate in Mass communication and journalism.