If your plans for the summer mean leaving your college or university accommodation, we’ve got some tips to make your life easier.
Start moving out early
The end of the academic year is often a rush, particularly if there is not much time between the end of term and the date you have to move out. Planning ahead will help, and consider paying for services like cleaning or transport (rather than relying on the good will of that one friend with a car). You could also consider paying to stay on a little longer so you can avoid the rush.
Know your rights as a student tenant
Make sure you understand fully what your responsibilities are when you are vacating your accommodation. For example, do you need to clean before you go?
Use your tenancy agreement and inventory to head off disputes about damage.
Get help with disagreements with your accommodation provider or landlord from your university welfare office or the charity Shelter.
Declutter before you pack
Don’t waste energy and money moving or storing stuff that you don’t want or need any longer – but be mindful how you dispose of stuff. It’s likely that bins will be overflowing at the end of term, so start early if you can.
Leaving rubbish or unwanted possessions in your accommodation could see you slammed with a fine or penalty. So it’s to your advantage to dispose of your rubbish responsibly – including unwanted food in the fridge and freezer. It could even be worth paying a junk shifter, particularly if you club together with housemates or other students living nearby.
Some of your unwanted stuff could be donated – but remember that charity shops will only benefit from household goods that people will buy. Food banks might take non-perishable food that is in date. Charities and non-profit organisations have to pay to dispose of rubbish, just like everyone else, so if you give them goods they can’t use, you’re taking money away from their cause.
You’ll probably get a better deal selling text books in a college town or even within your department, rather than taking them home and trying to sell them online.
Check out any student community sales and swaps – this could allow you to pass on things like toasters, kettles and university-branded clothing that you no longer need. You could even organise an event yourself.
Use social media to sell or give away items, and look beyond the university community to increase your chances of finding a buyer.
Leave some of your things at uni
Rather than bringing everything back to your family home over the summer, it might be easier to leave some of it behind.
Your university accommodation might allow you to store some items in a box room or storage cupboard over the summer. Or you could club together with friends and rent a room and store your stuff there.
This can seem like a convenient choice, but if you are not happy with the security, insurance arrangements or formality of this, then opt for self-storage.
Using self-storage over the summer
You can rent a storage unit for a short period, although you may find storage companies fill up over the summer in a university town. So it could benefit you to book your storage early on.
To work out the cost of storing your possessions during the university holidays, you’ll need to work out how much you want to store. Storage companies use various methods to describe their spaces, but it can be helpful to think of your stuff in terms of car loads. A small car can carry 7.25 cubic metres (255 cubic feet).
Once you’ve got an idea of how much you’re going to store, get quotes from a few different self-storage providers. Remember to ask about student discounts.
Remember that you’ll need to get your stuff into storage, so factor transport into your costings, and book it in advance if necessary.
We have a post on costing up self-storage that may be helpful.
Moving out of student accommodation is hard work
Give yourself (and your parents) enough time on the day, particularly if you have a long drive ahead of you; and schedule in some downtime once you get home.
