Moving into student accommodation, especially with people you have never lived with before, can be a daunting experience… That’s why the team here at Escape Campus have put together a list of all the Dos and Don’ts of living in off-campus student accommodation in Lancaster centre.

Here are some things you definitely should do!

A lot of students like to keep a communal kitty for shared household items such as milk, tea, coffee, sugar, toilet roll and cleaning supplies.

On the topic of cleaning, a diplomatic approach to keeping your student house clean is to create a chore list! Cleaning is one of the biggest causes of arguments between students living as a group, and there’s nothing worse than someone who makes a huge mess and refuses to clean it up. That’s why we encourage tenants to work together early on and decide who is doing which job.

One of our most important tips is, don’t forget to spend time together as a student household in your student home! Whether you’re all best of friends or total strangers, you’re going to be living together for the next year. So taking the time to spend time together as a group and enjoy each other’s company is key! Whether this is a monthly movie night, going out for a meal or night out, or even something as simple as cooking and eating your meal as a student household.

Try your best to be mindful of your housemates. If you know someone has a test coming up or they’re working from home, make sure your student home is a place where they can do this without lots of people or distractions around. Whilst you may prefer working up at the library on Campus, not everyone feels the same way, and may work best in their room. We understand that moving from halls up at the University into an off-campus student home in the centre of Lancaster can be a big adjustment for everyone. So, we encourage you all to be kind and respectful to your housemates.

And here’s a list of things you should try to avoid…

Our number one tip for living together harmoniously in your shared student accommodation is making sure that you don’t leave too many pots in the sink for them to build up! Even the closest-knit group of students can fall out over a sink full of dirty washing up.

Don’t be disrespectful of others’ personal space. Whether it’s their shelves in the kitchen, their section of the bathroom or their bedroom- try to be mindful of their preferences. Also, we don’t feel like we really need to say this one BUT don’t take your housemates food without telling them!

If you’re wanting to have friends over, make sure you let your housemates know in advance, this is just the courteous thing to do when living with others.

Is this your first time in off-campus student accommodation, or are you returning from the summer break? Remember that a happy student household can make the university experience. As a last piece of advice, we give you our most important tip- have fun!