Why is it better to live at a modern hostel like Tribe than living at a flat? - Tribe CoLiving & Student Accommodation

Why is it better to live at a modern hostel like Tribe than living at a flat?

7 June 2019

Admin

It’s a familiar, time-tested story: you’ve received a letter of admission to your dream college, and you’ve got everything ready to go: except one thing: where will you stay? And thus begins your search for a place to stay for at least the next year.

One of two likely scenarios then presents itself: you may be the one looking for a flat to rent, following which you search for flatmates, or you may choose to look for people who are already seek.

Today, Facebook is the most popular platform for these referrals. Often, those looking to find flatmates will post on internal forums reserved for institutions, or groups related to flats and flatmates in order to find people to rent a flat with.

Here’s why that is not a good idea anymore.

Often, there are big caveats to finding flatmates online. Unless you have mutual friends with your future flatmate(s), the odds are that you don’t know what their living habits are like. If you’re the kind of person who prefers to keep things tidy and in order all the time, you may not be in for a pleasant surprise if your roommate is the opposite.

You will end up spending a significant amount of your time with the people you live with, and this can present a number of issues if your lifestyles don’t gel with each other. But while friends can be made, and lifestyles worked around, there are a few non-negotiables that come with renting a flat.

Sometimes, renters luck out with good landlords. Often, however, this is not the case. Landlords are often restrictive and may not respect privacy. Repairs that need to be made in the home, although they should be brought to the attention of a landlord, may not always be dealt with timely. In addition to this, the logistics of household repairs are often both time-consuming and expensive, two things of significant value to a student. When you are already dealing with an intensive course of study, searching for a repairman for a leaky faucet or a lack of water is the last thing on your mind.

Bills, too, will pile up separately living in a rented flat, and bring with them the added responsibility of tracking and paying them. The equal sharing of those costs may also bring in even further issues that could complicate the living situation. In shared accommodation, the cost of utilities is already built into your cost of living: so you don’t need to worry about surprise bills and additional costs coming out of nowhere, because everything is already taken care of!

Chores, too, can pile up. While renting with flatmates brings a degree of independence, what it also brings is all the tasks that you could once take for granted now being contingent entirely on yourself. Cleaning, daily chores, maintenance and upkeep are things you cannot take for granted when renting: but in student accommodation, that, too, is staggered into your overall costs. It brings to you all the independence and the joy of living with friends, without the burden of small things that could snowball and divert your time and attention.

Shared student accommodation brings with it the added benefit of those of a similar cohort and age group to you, living on the same ____. With a large group of students, you are more likely to find friends with whom you can share a wavelength, and who become part of your social circle.

Good things come to those who wait.
Great things come to those who don't!