We highlight the various support and options you have available to source accommodation when applying through Clearing.
We know that finding student accommodation can be stressful, especially if you’re trying to find it with just a couple of months before you’re due to begin your studies. It can feel like all the ‘good’ options are booked out well before you’ve had time to even think about where you want to live, but we’re here to tell you that isn’t the case.
Thanks to our partnerships with both Hybr and amber, the options available to you for student accommodation are bigger than ever, regardless of the dBs city that you’re hoping to study at.
Below we’re going to share some top tips and more details about how our partners can help you find the perfect housing for your time at dBs Institute.
Which accommodation is right for you?
Before you even begin looking at your options, you need to decide what you want to get from student accommodation. We recommend going through the following list and answering each point as this will help narrow down your choices so that you’re only focusing on accommodation that applies to your needs:
- What can you afford?
- How close to the campus would you like to live?
- How many people do you want to live with?
- Do you want to live with students or house-share with professionals?
- Would you like to live in student halls or private housing?
These all come down to your circumstances and your personal preferences, but we would say that there are a few simple variables that can help you decide between student halls or private housing.
| Student Halls | |
| Pros | Cons |
|
Centrally Located |
Highly competitive |
|
Price includes your utilities such as internet, electricity and water |
Considerably more expensive than private housing |
|
Amenities located on site, e.g. gym, cinema, laundry |
Potentially overwhelming with the number of people |
|
A chance to meet with a large group of students from across the city |
No control on the people that you live with |
|
Cleaners, security and 24/7 reception |
More likely to encounter distractions and noise from neighbouring flats, common areas |
|
More of a student community and people of the same age |
Smaller living space |
| Private Housing | |
| Pros | Cons |
|
Much more cost-effective than halls. Many properties will include bills in the rent price, which further reduces costs |
You may need to travel further to get to uni, which can come with an associated cost |
|
Greater control on the people that you live with |
You and your housemates will be responsible for cleaning the property |
|
Many more options when compared to student halls |
Communication with estate agents / landlord can be slow |
|
Less likely to encounter noise issues from neighbouring properties compared to halls |
|
|
Ability to split bills with your housemates |
|
|
Much more living space compared to halls |
|
|
A greater sense of independence |
|
If you’d prefer to live alone, there is always the option to rent a room in a private house with professionals or mature students. Online resources such as SpareRoom are massively helpful in seeing what options are available in your city of choice.
How much student accommodation is still available during Clearing?
Lots is the simple answer. It’s quite a common misconception to think that there’s next to no accommodation options during the Clearing period.
Thanks to our partnerships with Hybr and amber, you are able to stay on the pulse of what properties are available in Bristol, Manchester and Plymouth. Let’s talk about how each organisation specifically helps you in your hunt for accommodation.
Hybr
Working with private landlords, Hybr works predominantly within the private housing market. The properties listed on their website are not to be found anywhere else, and thanks to our partnership, dBs students can access exclusive properties and also receive greater 1:1 support from the Hybr team.
To put in perspective how many properties are still available, in the last month (at the time of writing) Hybr has sent over 20+ properties for both Bristol and Manchester*, all within a budget of <£200 p/m, and that often includes bills. It should be noted that some properties are available for individuals to secure a single room in a shared house, while others require an already formed group to secure the entire property.
Outside of the properties listed, Hybr can support with booking viewings, placing you with other dBs students and arranging third-party guarantors.
Head to Hybr.co.uk and see what options are available.
*Hybr do not currently have a presence in Plymouth
amber
Focusing on student halls, amber have created a dedicated landing page for all prospective dBs Institute students, which allows you to set your campus, filter by price, move in month, and room type.
At the time of writing, there are 47 different student halls options for Bristol, 61 options for Manchester and 12 options for Plymouth, though it should be noted that Plymouth’s student housing market is far less competitive than our other home cities.
These options, while mostly more expensive than student housing, still include options starting from £233 p/w (Bristol), £170 p/w (Manchester) and £130 p/w (Plymouth).
You can check out these options over on the dedicated landing page.
Start your search
Hopefully, that has helped assuage some of the anxiety you may have had around accommodation. Our recommendation is always to sort accommodation as soon as you can so that you can focus on getting excited and preparing for the start of your course in September.
In addition to this feature, you can find downloadable accommodation guides for Bristol, Manchester and Plymouth on our website which include more specific information about student halls, as well as student letting agents.
FIND OUT MORE
https://www.dbsinstitute.ac.uk/joining-dbs/accommodation
dBs Bristol Accommodation Guide 24-25
dBs Manchester Accommodation Guide 24-25
dBs Plymouth Accommodation Guide 24-25
Has this given you the motivation you needed to study this September? Check out which courses have Clearing spaces and start your application today.
