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Uni Accommodation For Couples

Written by Sam | May 2, 2021

It is quite common that students will want to live together and share their accommodation. This is known as dual occupancy.

This is where two people share the same tenancy agreement for one room.

You are more likely to get dual occupancy in purpose built student accommodation over private rented housing. You won’t see it in houses because of space, even though others may have their partners over and stay for a while, they won’t be on the tenancy because the house won’t be big enough and the utilities could be stretched.

A quick example, would be a 5 bed house could turn into a 10 bed house if it allowed dual occupancy.

For this article, I am assuming that both are students.

Where to Look If You Are a Couple

If you are searching for dual occupancy as a couple, you need to look for studios and one-bed apartments. Why? Because you have everything in the room anyway, such as kitchen, bathroom, double bed and dining area, so instead of having just for one person. You can add in an extra person and not be too cramped!

When it comes to local letting agents, in many cases unless they have a big block of studios it is often that they won’t have many one or two bed places to rent, they are usually slightly cheaper than the purpose built student accommodation, however, they won’t come with all the added extras, such as, gym, cinema study rooms etc.

If you can’t find any with the local letting agents, then the big purpose built student accommodation providers will have plenty available and they are not always a bad option. Why? Because they can come with a lot of added extras such as:

  • Gym, cinema, study and games rooms
  • Free breakfasts and coffee in communal areas
  • Social events
  • Bikes to use
  • Bills included, sometime content insurance
  • Accommodation manager
  • CCTV and key fob access to the building and your room

There will be far more that I have missed, however, the one big difference that no one really tells you about is, the laundrettes.

With a local letting agent, you have your own washing machine, in the big blocks of accommodation, you usually have to pay and it’s not the cheapest!

How do You Know if They Accept Dual Occupancy?

They will usually say it in the property description whether or not dual occupancy is allowed. However, if you are looking at a studio, one bed flat or something similar then take a look at their other rooms and see if they say it and if not, contact the letting agent or company.

Usually if they do accept it, they will tell you the payment arrangements if you did want to take the room as a couple, some of the payments I have seen are:

  • No added extra
  • Amount for extra bills
  • Extra rent on top of the stated price

Why Would You Rent as a Couple?

Well here are just some reasons, besides the fact that you want to live together here are some of the other benefits:

  • Cheaper rent in some cases – not all cases!
  • You might be able to afford more accommodation
  • Saves paying for a house you might not live in
  • Share any bills, food, and any other expenses you might have

Downsides of Renting as a Couple

For me, the one major downside is that you are both locked into a contract, if you break up you will then either need to pay the balance in full or try and find someone who will want to live in the accommodation.

Often it isn’t a bad idea to still rent separately and then stay over, but this can be a breach of tenancies if you are staying for long periods.

Other than you can share a lot of the experiences and costs that come with being a student. This can also be a test for after university as well, but that is another part of your life!

If you have any questions about renting as a couple, then please just email me and I will be happy to help

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