Choosing the Right University Housemates: It’s About More Than Being Friends
Ask graduates what made university memorable and most won’t start by talking about lectures. They’ll remember the people they lived with. Some become lifelong friends. Others simply become familiar faces who made everyday life a little easier. Either way, the people you share a house with have a bigger influence on your university experience than many students realise before they move away from home.
Choosing housemates isn’t about finding people who are exactly like you. In fact, that rarely happens. It’s about finding people whose lifestyles fit together well enough that everyone enjoys living in the same home. Friendship certainly helps, but it isn’t the only thing that matters.
Don’t Assume Your Closest Friend Will Be Your Best Housemate
This catches people out every year. Someone might be brilliant company on a night out, yet frustrating to live with. Another person you barely knew during your first few weeks at university might turn out to be an excellent housemate because they’re considerate, organised and easy to get along with. Living together introduces a completely different side of people.
You’ll discover who likes cooking, who enjoys a quiet evening, who naturally keeps shared spaces tidy and who somehow never notices a full kitchen bin. None of those things make somebody a bad person. They simply affect how easy it is to share a home for the next academic year.
Similar Expectations Make Life Easier
No two people have the same routine. One housemate might have early lectures most mornings, whilst another studies better late into the evening. Someone else might work part-time at weekends. Differences like these aren’t usually a problem.
What matters is respecting each other’s routines. A house where everyone understands basic consideration often feels far more relaxed than one where nobody has spoken about expectations beforehand. Simple conversations before moving in can prevent plenty of awkward moments later.
Talk About the Practical Things Early
Money isn’t always the easiest subject to bring up but it’s one of the most important. Before agreeing to live together, it’s sensible to discuss a few practical questions. How will household shopping work?
Will everyone take turns buying cleaning products? Who’ll organise shared items for the kitchen? What happens if something breaks?
Nobody expects every answer immediately but, knowing everyone has a similar attitude towards shared responsibilities usually makes life much smoother once term begins.
Every House Has Different Personalities
Spend enough time in student accommodation and you’ll soon notice that every house develops its own character. Some become lively social homes where friends are always dropping in. Others are much quieter, with everyone happy to spend evenings studying before meeting up elsewhere.
Neither is better. The important thing is choosing an environment where you’ll feel comfortable.
If you enjoy peaceful evenings, moving into the busiest house in your friendship group might not be the best fit. Likewise, if you enjoy having people around, you may find a very quiet household doesn’t suit your personality. Being honest with yourself at the beginning is often easier than wishing things were different halfway through the year.
Cleaning Doesn’t Need to Become an Argument
Very few students move into university hoping to discuss whose turn it is to clean the kitchen. Unfortunately, it’s one of those conversations that almost every shared house has eventually. The easiest solution is usually the simplest one.
Keep shared areas reasonably tidy as you go. Wash up after cooking. Take the rubbish out when it’s full rather than waiting for somebody else to do it.
Small habits like these stop little frustrations building into bigger disagreements. Nobody expects perfection. People simply appreciate living with others who make an effort.
Give Everyone Their Own Space
One of the nicest parts of sharing a house is always having people around when you want company. At the same time, everyone needs a little space now and again.
Sometimes a closed bedroom door simply means someone wants an hour to themselves after a long day. It isn’t personal. Learning to recognise those moments is part of becoming a considerate housemate.
Interestingly, the households that respect each other’s personal space often end up spending more enjoyable time together because nobody feels they’re constantly surrounded by other people.
Disagreements Happen – It’s How You Deal with Them That Matters
No matter how well you know the people you’re living with, there will probably be the odd disagreement during the year. That’s perfectly normal.
It might be about the heating, whose turn it is to empty the recycling or someone borrowing a saucepan and forgetting to return it. The important thing is not allowing little annoyances to build up.
Most problems are easier to solve with a quick conversation than several days of silence. It’s surprising how often something that felt like a major issue turns out to be a simple misunderstanding once everyone has had the chance to talk. Nobody gets everything right all the time. Living with other people teaches patience just as much as it teaches independence.
A House Feels Different Once Everyone Settles In
Moving day can feel slightly awkward. Everyone is unpacking, learning where things belong and trying to remember each other’s names if you’ve only recently met.
Give it a little time. Within a couple of weeks, you’ll probably have fallen into a routine without even noticing it. Someone will always make the first cup of tea in the morning. Another person might become the unofficial chef of the house, whilst somebody else always seems to know what’s happening around campus.
Those little routines develop naturally. Looking back, they’re often the things people remember most because they make a house feel like a home rather than just somewhere you’re renting.
Respect Goes Further Than House Rules
Every shared house has a few unwritten rules. If someone’s revising for an exam, perhaps the music stays a little quieter. If you’ve used the last of the milk, you replace it. If somebody has family visiting, you make them feel welcome rather than disappearing into your room. None of these things usually appear in a tenancy agreement.
They’re simply examples of people showing consideration for one another. When everyone makes that small effort, living together becomes much easier and far more enjoyable.
Choosing the House Matters Just as Much
Students often spend weeks deciding who they’ll live with yet, give surprisingly little thought to the house itself. It’s worth taking your time.Think beyond the photographs.
Is the kitchen somewhere people will actually enjoy spending time together?
Does the living room feel comfortable enough to relax after lectures?
Is there enough storage in the bedrooms?
Can you picture yourself living there through the middle of winter when coursework deadlines begin to pile up?
Those details make a much bigger difference than people expect during the first viewing.
If you’re still comparing different properties, it’s worth looking at Student Housing to Rent in Ormskirk to get a feel for the different styles of accommodation available close to Edge Hill University.
Sometimes you’ll know almost immediately when a house feels right.
University Is About Learning Away From The Classroom Too
Most people arrive at university expecting to learn through lectures, seminars and assignments. What often surprises them is how much they learn simply by sharing a home with other people. You’ll become better at organising your time.
You’ll work out how to compromise. You’ll discover that everyone has different habits and that there’s rarely one perfect way of doing things. These are lessons that stay with people long after they’ve collected their degree.
Without really noticing it, you’ll probably become far more confident than you were when you first carried your suitcase through the front door.
Questions Future Students Often Ask
Is it better to live with friends or people you’ve only just met?
There’s no single answer. Some friendships become even stronger after living together, whilst others work better when everyone has their own space. Equally, plenty of students move in with people they barely know and end up making lifelong friends. What’s usually more important is having similar expectations about day-to-day living.
Should we agree some house rules before moving in?
A simple conversation is often enough. Talking about cleaning, visitors, noise and shared shopping before everyone moves in helps avoid confusion later. It doesn’t need to feel formal. It just gives everyone the same understanding from the beginning.
What if somebody has completely different habits?
That happens in almost every student house. The key is speaking openly and politely before small frustrations become bigger issues. Most people are happy to make changes once they realise something is bothering someone else.
How many people should share a student house?
That depends entirely on what you’re looking for. Some students enjoy the atmosphere of a larger household, whilst others prefer living with just a few friends. Neither option is better. It’s simply a matter of choosing the environment where you’ll feel most comfortable.
The Best Houses Aren’t Always the Loudest
It’s easy to think the perfect student house is the one where something is happening every evening. Sometimes it is. Just as often, though, it’s the house where everyone feels comfortable enough to be themselves. Some evenings you’ll all eat together. Other days everyone will be busy with lectures, coursework or part-time jobs and the house will be unusually quiet. Both are part of university life.
Years later, people rarely remember whether the kitchen cupboards matched or whether the sofa was brand new. They remember the conversations that lasted far longer than planned, the takeaway that became a weekly tradition and the people who slowly stopped feeling like housemates and started feeling like friends.
