Queen’s University Belfast is a famous Russell Group of Universities member. Although it is a bit remote in comparison, it has attracted more and more international students due to the rapid development of its academic level and hardware facilities in recent years. The first concern of students and parents is where to live when they go abroad to study. Below, from my personal experience, I will talk about the experience of living in the Belast student housing and renting rooms off-campus in Belfast, plus a small analysis of the pros and cons of each of them. I hope I have provided you with some references.
On-campus student accommodation
After receiving the unconditional offer, I asked the agent to help me apply for the dormitory on the school’s official website, and QUB has a very humane policy. All international students can apply for at least one year’s accommodation. So we can be different from other schools, we have to grab the hostel offer before we get the major offer, and then we will lose the deposit if we can’t go to the hostel.
At the time, I applied for a room at Guthrie House, which was £100 per week rent, inclusive of water, electricity, grid and heating bills. Guthrie House is a three-storey building on a large plot of land, a two-minute walk to the school. The ground floor has a laundry and a mailroom. There is a set of flats on each floor’s left and right ends. Each set has several single rooms, beautifully decorated, with dominant blue tones. The room has a sink, wardrobe, bed, desk, lamps, and chairs. It’s easy to move in with a handbag. The kitchen is enormous, with a new fridge, microwave, oven, induction cooker and cooker hood, and a cleaner comes on Wednesdays to clean and remove the rubbish. Although the room has no bathroom, the shower and toilet are separate, so you don’t have to worry about privacy.
There are also Willow Walk, Elms Village and Mount Charles dormitories to apply for at QUB. The former is mainly for PhDs and staff, with a variety of room types suitable for families and prices starting from £200 per week; the latter two are relatively far away from the university, taking about 10 minutes to walk, with prices and room types similar to those of Guthrie House. In contrast, the double rooms will be a little cheaper and are under renovation.
Advantages of on-campus accommodation
- Safely: enter the building and flat door to swipe the electronic key; no unauthorised people can go out.
- Save your mind: if there is a power or water outage, the school has someone to fix it.
- Time-saving: all dormitories are within 10 minutes’ walking distance from the main building and the medical school.
- Improve yourself: Roommates come from all over the world, so you can improve your English and social skills to a great extent.
Disadvantages of on-campus accommodation
- Expensive: Prices are about 1/4 higher than off-campus rentals.
- More chores: Since the halls of residence are managed by Queen’s University, there are weekly meetings organised by the Residential Team, which wastes time because of the formalism and lack of concrete content.
- No choice of roommate: Every flat has its fair share of bad guys, with ghosts screaming in the middle of the night, kitchens not being cleaned, and food and deliveries being stolen. Since the school rules forbid cameras even in common areas, you’re left to your own devices.
- Smoke alarm sensitivity: sometimes, ironing may be triggered, and at two o’clock in the morning, the whole building’s people draped in pyjamas run out of the building in the cold wind, causing a shivering experience quite a lot.
Off-campus Student Housing
There are three types of housing in Belfast: the most popular is the House – a small two-storey building with a courtyard on the street with four or five rooms, multiple bathrooms, balconies and kitchens, the equivalent of a small villa in China. The most popular is the House – a small two-storey building on the street with a courtyard and four or five rooms, multiple bathrooms, balconies and kitchens, which is equivalent to a small villa in China. The latter two types of housing are mainly concentrated in the city centre.
First, introduce uhomes, a safe and secure rental website, to your buddies. In addition to looking for a room by yourself, the girl also recommends that you look for students who will return to their home countries to renew their rent in the WeChat group. This will save you a lot of energy in travelling around to look for a room, and you can take care of each other when you live with your friends. Most importantly, if a tenant is living in the house in Belfast, then the landlord cannot increase the rent during this period. After the expiry of the dormitory, the girl and her classmates renewed the rent of a PhD house, enjoying the price level of the previous years, as long as 200 pounds per month, including a variety of bills, saving a lot of money.
Belfast House facilities are generally more complete, and various furniture and appliances are available. The landlord is responsible for repair or replacement if there is a fault. It is usually written in the contract that the tenant has to keep the house clean. The house also has smoke alarms, but you can switch them off yourself. Keys are very, very important, as they can be a real pain in the arse and expensive to get here. Also, fewer landlords allow pets, so it is advisable to communicate this in advance.
Advantages of Off-campus Student Romms
- The price is at least 1/4 cheaper than the equivalent dormitory in the school, and it is expected to pay one deposit or two deposits, which is much less stressful than the dormitory’s one-time payment.
- It is much less stressful than paying a lump sum in a dormitory. The comfort and freedom of living is much higher.
- The housemates know each other’s backgrounds to communicate better in the same language.
Disadvantages of Off-campus Student Rent
- Some remote areas may need to be more peaceful, so make sure you enquire about the security situation around you before renting a room.
- There are many cases of shady landlords deducting deposits privately and second landlords increasing rents privately.
- As the saying goes, distance produces beauty. When you live with your fellow countrymen, small frictions in life can quickly escalate into significant conflicts.
FAQ
The average cost of rooms for rent in Belfast varies widely, depending on several factors such as location, size, and amenities. Rooms for rent in Belfast are among some of the lowest in the UK, with an average price of around £270 a month, according to a survey by Belfast Telegraph.
The Holylands, Lisburn Road, Stranmillis Road, and Botanic Avenue are often mentioned in student area guides as popular residential areas for students. Queens Quarter, Malone, Upper Ormeau, and South Belfast have also been recommended as peaceful and safe living areas.
Most rooms for rent in Belfast come with basic furnishings like a bed, desk, and wardrobe. Utilities such as gas, electricity, and internet are generally included in the rent. Some may even include cleaning services in shared areas. you can view more detailed information on uhomes.
