Introduction to finding good student accommodation in Plymouth

Hi, I’m Jonathan Burrows and I manage (or jointly manage) over 200 student rooms in the Plymouth area. I’ve also had experience of working in a large letting agent. So anyway, how do you find decent student rooms in Plymouth? On the surface of it, finding a student room in Plymouth is simple enough. You could even list the requirements as follows:

Good Plymouth Accommodation

In other words:

• Quality – of furnishings, appliances, fittings
• Space – large enough for a double bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers, bedside cabinet, desk and chair. Remember, having a large room isn’t to everyone’s tastes and in any case, there is more to renting a house than the bedroom
• Facilities – provision of double glazing, new boiler, Internet, TV, shower rooms etc

Good landlord

Amenable, understanding, quick to fix things, doesn’t abuse his position with regards to money/deposits.

Good location

Anything within 15 minutes (or more if you like walking or have a bike/car) is usually a good distance from Plymouth University for most students.

Price

Or rather, value for money. You could pay £70 per week which sounds cheap but will you need to pay bills on top? Maybe the quality is poor and the reputation of the landlord is bad. Maybe you need to walk 30 minutes to get to Plymouth University too! So cheap doesn’t necessarily mean value.

I work with one landlord who is always reinvesting in his properties, is always keen to ensure maintenance is kept on top of and also his reputation is good for being fair and helpful to his tenants.  However, because the quality of his accommodation is really nice, the prices start at around £85 through to £100 per week.

However, it’s not so simple

There are many factors that can get in the way of successfully finding a good student house and one that you and your friends will be happy in. For instance, you could go on a few viewings and choose a house you like only to find that when your decision is made, the flat or house has been taken by someone else! You could also find that a landlord moves the goal posts which upsets your plans too. Your might go to see a student house that looks promising (close to Plymouth University, good price and photos on the site make the place look great), then when you get there, you see it’s not as nice as it seemed!

Suffice to say that it can be stressful finding a student house in Plymouth just like any other student university town. Try not to get stressed and seek advice from whatever source you can and don’t always rely on the information provided by the landlord or agent.

Finally

Some advice. You might want to talk to people you meet about their accommodation/landlord. You should also try and speak to tenants already living in the house/flat for their view.