Welcome to our new home!

Hello everyone! I hope you have all been enjoying your Freshers’ Fortnight here at Cardiff and have settled in to your new homes! Whether you are now living in student houses for your second and third years, or you’ve just moved into halls I’m sure you all would have had a very exciting week!

I myself have just moved into my new student house (so exciting!), and as much as I loved my flat last year and my cosy room in halls, I’m definitely ready to start living in a house. You have no idea how good it feels to be able to sit on a sofa after a year without one!

I often get asked by many people looking to apply for medicine whether medics always live with medics and whether they live in Cathays or nearer the hospital. But the truth is there isn’t much of a rule at all! I myself am living in a house of 5 girls, all of which do medicine, but I also know loads of people who are living with non-medics and especially their flat mates from last year. There is also no need to worry about whether you live in Cathays or nearer the hospital. It all depends on what you prefer. The great thing about Cardiff is that nothing is ever too far away! I actually live closer to the hospital, but lots of my friends on the course live nearer to the main Park Place Campus in Cathays, and it still only takes me about a 10-15 minute walk to get to their houses.

Choosing who you are going to live with in your second year especially, can seem like such a daunting prospect! Many freshers feel too awkward asking people if they want to live with them early on in the year, as they worry about seeming too keen and fear rejection. But equally you don’t want to leave sorting it out too late that you end up on your own. The best thing to do it try and remember that you are all probably thinking the same thing, so don’t be afraid to discuss it! You’ll definitely feel a weight off your shoulders when you start talking about it and get the ball rolling!

It is also really important that you don’t rush into deciding who you are living with and where. Who your friends are in your first couple of months in university might not necessarily be your best friends after Christmas and in the second term. Try not to get worried if you hear people all talking about how they got their student house back in October and that there are no ‘good’ houses left. A few of my good friends didn’t even start looking at houses for second year until February/March and they still found a house that fitted their budgets and expectations perfectly.

Another really great thing about being a student in Cardiff when it comes to living in a student house, is that the average rent per month here is significantly less than most other major university cities. The typical amount students pay per month for a house in Cardiff (often in Cathays/Roath) is around £275 per person per month. However it can go up to £325-350 depending on the quality of the property and its location. Now if you compare this to Edinburgh for example the average rent is closer to £450-500 a month and if you study in London you could even be paying up to £600! So by studying in Cardiff you could easily save at least £1000 on your accommodation costs a year; which when added up could be used to go towards travelling/holidays with your friends or…back to the bank of Mum and Dad!

Now like I said I am actually living closer to the hospital which is proving to be pretty awesome! It only takes me around 5 minutes to cycle up to the Cochrane Building, 5 minutes to walk to Roath Park and less than 2 minutes to reach our local deli for our weekly cakes and milkshakes. So in true through the keyhole fashion… the pictures below are of my new house!

So I hope that I have been able to give you a little insight into living in a student house in Cardiff, I did the best I could- my house isn’t the most typical of examples considering we had a cake stand but not a tin opener! I hope you all enjoy your last night of the fresher’s fortnight! I’m incredibly jealous of all of you going to the freshers ball to see Scouting for Girls tonight! Good luck to you if you have a 9am tomorrow!

Lucy