House Hunting 2012....Why Rush?

Unipol, supported by your University, the students' union and Nottingham City Council, is the focal point for advice and support for students looking for private rented accommodation. We are not a housing supplier ourselves and take on the role of honest broker, providing you with information about properties so that you can make the best decisions for you.

House Hunting......A Waiting Game

It is estimated that in Nottingham over 30,000 students will live in privately rented accommodation and as Christmas approaches many students will be turning their attention to finding a property for next year. The Official start for House Hunting 2012 is Monday 23rd January. As of this date thousands of bed spaces will go live on the Unipol website as landlords advertise their properties for the 2012- 2013 academic year.

Please don't be tempted to start your search for your next home before the 23rd January. There is a surplus of good quality student housing in Nottingham so it is not necessary to rush to secure your house. By waiting until the official start date you will be allowing yourself some extra time to get to know your potential housemates and also the city of Nottingham itself, enabling you to make a more considered decision about exactly what you want from your next student house. Additionally if you search for your house prior to the start date you will be dramatically reducing your choice of accredited properties. In 2010 Unipol advertsied over 10,000 bedspaces so by searching before the Unipol 2011 adverts go live on January 23rd you will be missing out on the chance to view a significant proportion of the properties in Nottingham.

Housing Myths and Rumours

Every year some students fall foul of the various housing myths and rumours which can panic them into making ill informed decisions. Some of the rumours that you may have heard include:

• there is a housing shortage. This is simply not true. There are more student bedspaces than students in Nottingham.
• you have to look for a house before Christmas. Also not true, many students leave their house hunting until May or June or until the summer before they return to University and still secure good houses and a better deal.
• all the best places go first. The only areas where there might be a shortage are the larger houses 8's and above. But if there are 10 of you, why not look for two houses next door to each other, or in the same street?
• everyone pays sign up fees. Many owners do not ask students to pay admin or sign up fees. Ask what you are paying for. Take your time and look at a good selection of properties.

The Unipol DASH Code

The vast majority of landlords on the Unipol website are member of the Unipol DASH Code. These landlords voluntarily sign up to abide by a number of conditions that exceed current legal requirements, so you get more protection covering more areas. Unipol checks that the landlord is meeting the standards they say they are and last year inspected over 700 individual houses and many of the larger developments to ensue standards.

We hope that by renting from a Code of Standards owner you will have a trouble-free house hunting experience. You can check whether a landlord has registered to be a Code owner for  by clicking here.

Student to Student Notice Board and Single Lets

If you cannot attend a house hunting event or would prefer to house hunt alone Unipol can help you. As there is a surplus in accommodation in Nottingham many owners are happy to sign students for individual lets rather than requiring you to be in a group to sign for a joint contract. The owners advert will state “will let individually” if this is possible.

In addition you can use the Student to Student Notice Board on the Unipol website (Click on the 'Notice board' button). This is an online forum where you can post messages to look for housemates or respond to existing messages. To use the boards you need to register. Any messages posted are checked by a member of Unipol staff before they appear on the website.

Returning Students

Some house hunting tips:

• work out who you want to live with
• explore areas of Nottingham to decide where you want to live
• work out how much you can afford (do not forget gas, electricity and water charges sometimes come as extras)
• discuss what you want in the property
• look into the legal aspects of renting: what are your landlords responsibilities and what are yours
• make sure, if you pay a deposit that it is protected under a Government scheme