tell the university's accommodation services that you want something cheaper. They are bound to have a list of possible private properties going around the university.

If you are a first-timer, I would strongly suggest you go for the university-run accommodation. Finding lodging in the UK is tricky, even for people who are experienced.

advise noted.

"Finding lodging in the UK is tricky, even for people who are experienced."

Finding lodging is easy. What's the tricky part?

There are lots of unscrupulous landlords out there. I'm referring to mostly privately rented houses. The premises might not look like in the pictures, or are not actually located at the advertised distance from campus (eg 10 minutes from university or whatever).

Well its a matter of luck really. But I would say you can easily find a room for £65/week. If you're lucky you'd get one for £50/week.

i wanna ask that.. if we buy notebook at uk
could we able not to paid the VAT also?
since we not uk citizen

Uni accommodation - 96 per week.
Outside - 65 per week inc. bills.

Understand my motivation here? >,<
Plus uni residence halls will be full of 17/18 year old freshies, more interested in party and all those stuff.
Uni has free shuttle bus, so all I have to do is to live near one of the stops and I'm set.
And I don't really mind walking like 30 mins to college. I like to count my blessings

I think I'll get short-term accommodation for like 2 months first, and in the meantime browse around for better places.

Things to look for in private properties:

1) Include water, electricity, gas bill
2) Good heater
3) Near shops like tesco, ect.
4) Bonus if have utilities like washing machine, dryer, stove, ect
5) What else?

anyone have any source to get cheap student ticket fly to newcastle?

nope you'll have to pay for it coz ur on student visa..

only if ur on a visit, then u get to claim vat at the airport

Newcastle? erm. fly with Emirates? i think Emirates now fly to Newcastle

[quote=sense_less143,Jul 29 2008, 01:56 PM]
Uni accommodation - 96 per week.
Outside - 65 per week inc. bills.

Understand my motivation here? >,<
Plus uni residence halls will be full of 17/18 year old freshies, more interested in party and all those stuff.
Uni has free shuttle bus, so all I have to do is to live near one of the stops and I'm set.
And I don't really mind walking like 30 mins to college. I like to count my blessings

I think I'll get short-term accommodation for like 2 months first, and in the meantime browse around for better places.


which university u r going to ? i had some kind of mind same as u..
i have a link u may check out...hopefully it will help..
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/

I would stick to university accommodation if I were you. Have you considered the following?

1) Including bills, what bills? Internet? Council tax? Or is it everything inclusive? Replacement of broken items? Broken furnitures?

2) For a £26 difference, are you sure the outside accommodation would be safer? Would you need insurance etc?

3) If you are unhappy and if you think your mates are noisy, then you can ask to be moved around. I've done this before. But when you're outside, are you sure that your surroundings neighbour would go to bed at 10pm every night?

4) Shuttle bus? Is that 24 hours? You can chose to stick in the library until 12 midnight without having to worry about going home.

5) Are you prepared to walk during winter, when it's snowy, slippery and extremely windy out there?

Once you have considered all these issues, an extra £26 a week wouldn't seem that bad

letting agencies, usually scattered around the campus uni. offering letting services.

listen to us, none of us has advised you to go for private accommodation for newcomer.

what is tricky? lack of experience. you wouldnt want to learn from error. you wouldnt want to pay £55 per week but with utilities bill coming at another £60 at least per month with a bad living conditions.

no. only applicable to visitor only.

you will get to learn more of their culture if you stay in uni accommodation. not to say you will build up more friends as well as newcomer.

water, electricity, gas bill and internet easily comes to £80 per month, considering gas/electric is expensive nowadays. i might as well fork extra money for uni accommodation but get the peace of mind from handling all the bills etc.

sense_less143, yes.. i agree with youngkie and Geminist. If you come alone and first time live in uk, university accommodation is the best option. unless you have friends/senior/relatives in uk, you can rent private house outside university. As there's a lot things you need to consider.... The most important is 'house viewing', as sometimes landlord/landlady won't display/tell you bad side/problem of the room. If i were you, i would say stay in university accommodation for the 1st year. then second year only rent private house outside university. At least 2nd year, you will have more clearer picture on how is UK and you will have more friends help you choosing private accommodation.

echoing what liew_jls, geminy and youngkies have said, it is recommended for a first timer to go with the university accommodations. get urself settled down with no worries about security, bills and other stuffs. when u come here going for private accommodations, the landlords know u're desperate for a place. they can push anything towards u and there's a huge chance u'll take it, as opposed to if u've already got a place and looking for a new place at ur leisure time.

private accommodations have its drawbacks. most landlords would take the position of "if anything goes wrong, u're responsible". plumbing services alone costs GBP80 per hour, regardless of how complex (or easy) the job is. most affordable houses in the UK are atleast 25 years old, and their workmanship arent that great either. expect something to go wrong in ur house every 6 months or so. ofcourse, their maintenance skills are one of the best in the world. but that'll cost alot.

we malaysians are better in workmanship, however we're not maintenance-minded. we expect everything to last forever .

anyways, i'm speaking out of experience. i've had boiler problems, leakages, wiring problems and all that. but as an architect i'm well aware of my rights as a tenant, which is why i've detailed out everything in my contract. tenants need protection - something we malaysians are not aware of. this also means some landlords can prey on u to pay for everything...

Advises really appreciated. Uni accommodation it is

I'm only there for less than a year anyway My uni contract is for 38 weeks, then I'm graduating.

Usually how long do you have to wait from getting your final results to getting your diploma scroll?

Even more reason to not go for private accommodation. Private accommodation contract from my experience will usually require you to pay for 52 weeks regardless of the length of your stay in the UK unless you can find someone else to take your place.

Normally exams will end around early to mid June and graduation will take place in July or early August. Your degree will be shipped to your out-of-term address (I imagine this will be your Malaysian address). That'll take several weeks after the graduation ceremony.

If your uni hall contract is for 38 weeks (til end of June), when will you come back to Malaysia? If you wish to stay for the graduation ceremony, you might have to find alternative accommodation for a few weeks.

I haven't actually decided yet whether to stay for graduation or not since my family won't be there. But maybe it's wise to stay on for 1-2 weeks to tie up all loose ends (banks and whatnot) before leaving back to Malaysia. I'll try to find youth hostels nearby.

edited

This post has been edited by sense_less143: Jul 30 2008, 05:29 PM

Can you recommend which uni in UK that is good for IT course ? Currently I'm taking Diploma in Internet Computing and my CGPA is 3.52. Do I eligible to apply for studying in UK ?

Uni for IT/computing? I would say University of Cambridge or University of Nottingham is the best.. If you have no problem with tuition fees, then i would say.. go for it.. hahaha... Usually qualification for university in UK is minimum second upper class (2.1) or second lower class (2.2). erm.. not sure how to calculate CGPA.


By the way, should we close this thread.. and open a new thread for Studying in UK? it's quite a lot post in this thread.. 2k-3k....

For the tuition fees, I might be applying for scholarship.. If I didn't qualify for it, might getting a loan, maybe from MARA.. Can I ? And might working part time as this September I'll already finished my diploma and can only apply for next year's entry..

http://www.onestopphoneshop.co.uk/mobile-p...egory/clearance

Onestopphoneshop offers clearance phones by REDEMPTION, with really good price (7 months, 600 mins, unlimited text @ 2pounds??). What does by redemption mean and how do I get it?