If you are going into your second or third year and sharing with friends you will need to consider how to manage household bills.
First things first, don’t open a joint account with your flatmates, however much you trust them. If your friend fails to pay a bill you will be held liable for the debt, and your credit score will be damaged for as long as six years, which will it make it that much harder after graduation to get onto the housing ladder, or even to get a mobile phone contract.
It is better to use a bill-splitting app on which you can quickly tot up who owes what. Santander’s new KiTTi app, for example, allows the “owner” to set up a pre-paid contactless MasterCard, and invite up to 100 friends to pay what they owe to the app. A fee of 35p is applied whenever a payment is made into the KiTTi.
When it comes to broadband, look out for special student deals offered by bigger providers such as BT and Virgin Media, says Ewan Taylor-Gibson at uSwitch.com. “These run for the nine-month academic year rather than the usual 12 months, meaning you don’t pay during the summer when you’ve probably moved back home with your folks.
“But be warned that, sometimes, 12-month broadband packages actually work out cheaper. That’s especially apparent when you compare a nine-month fibre broadband deal from the likes of BT and Virgin Media and a 12-month contract for a no-frills copper broadband service. An entry-level broadband deal over 12 months could be just right if there are only one or two people in your accommodation. Plus, sweeteners and freebies like high-street vouchers are more common on 12-month contracts.”
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If you live with three or more people you’ll need an unlimited download allowance. Having everyone’s laptops, smartphones and set-top boxes connected to the internet at once will put a huge strain on your allowance.
Don’t forget that if you watch television you will need a licence, which costs £145.50. You can claim a rebate worth £36 for unused months at the end of the academic year when you move back home for the summer. Visit tvlicensing.co.uk/studentinfo for more information.
If you don’t watch much live TV, stick to online streaming services and avoid the licence fee altogether. You could piggyback on your parents’ Netflix or Sky accounts, too, as most services allow customers to watch programmes on several devices at once. Sky Go enables you to nominate two devices on which to watch Sky’s TV output live. So as long as you’re studying in Britain you just need to make sure the laptop or tablet you’re taking with you is registered.
Mr Taylor-Gibson says: “If you like sport but can’t afford either Sky Sports or BT Sport, try a NOWTV Sports Pass from £6.99. These passes give you the option of watching sport without being tied to a 12-month contract.”
Full-time students do not pay council tax, as long as they live with other full-time students. You’ll have to pay if you live with non-students so consider this before signing a tenancy agreement.
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You should be able to save a lot of money on rent by shopping around for your student house, Matt Hutchinson, of the website spareroom.co.uk, says. “Compare room rates for the area you want live in. In most uni towns there are several streets that everyone wants to live on, and these are the priciest. You may find a bargain just a few minutes’ walk away. Living in a bigger house share is usually cheaper, because the bills are split between more people.
“In many instances, you’ll be dealing with a lettings agent. Make sure you ask what any admin fees are for and how much they are. If you pay a deposit and your tenancy agreement is an asssured shorthold tenancy, be sure to get the legal documentation about which tenancy deposit scheme your landlord has used.”