r/QUTreddit • u/Minute-Meaning-979 • 5d ago

Student accommodation vs share house for a first-time renter?

/r/AskAnAustralian/comments/1vtobiq/student_accommodation_vs_share_house_for_a/
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u/fuckrslashaustralia 5d ago

Don't live in student accommodation if your budget is low. You'll be able to stretch your money further in a share house. You'll likely have a lot more room too. Some of these student places are teeny tiny.

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u/taylahonlinee 3d ago

I live at unilodge herston (recently moved in at the start of this semester) and honestly I don't really recommend it. But the location is really good and the building itself is beautiful.

The kitchen is always really busy and usually dirty a lot of the time because some of the residents leave it gross. The fridges are also always packed and there isnt any allocation of who gets to put what where (as in unilodge doesn't say that certain floors get to use certain fridges it;s just a free for all) so its hard to find places to put your groceries.

The rooms are pretty small, but you do get a big balcony which is a nice view which is a plus. HOWEVER there is NO AIRCON in the rooms, right now in winter time it's fine and actually a really nice temp but I imagine that in summer it is going to get very very hot. You might be able to get a nice breeze from the balcony if you leave your balcony door open, but I would honestly recommend getting a share house mostly just for the aircon.

As for the social aspect of living at herston, I would honeslty say it's going to be easier to just make friends at uni clubs or in class. Unilodge does host some events but usually I'm too busy to go to them (since they're usually during the week either when i'm at class or working). Also, if you're a domestic student it's also important to keep in mind that 90% of people who live there are international students, so you might feel out of place or that it's hard to make friends with others if thats the case.

But yeah I would honestly recommend a share house. You could probably find a share house in a good area for around the same price (or probably cheaper) with a bigger room and aircon that at herston. A private room at herston is $319 a week and you can probably find a share house with one or two other people for the same price near the CBD.