Finding somewhere to live is always a stressful experience, and I found that to be true especially when moving to Manchester. As someone who didn’t study here for my undergraduate degree, I didn’t know anyone who was living in the city. Starting from scratch was definitely nerve-wracking at first, but after I got into it, I found it was easier than I expected.  

I chose not to live in student accommodation, so I was plunged straight into the rental market. As living alone was not an option for me, it was important for me to investigate options with housemates. I had tried messaging a few people about rooms on Spareroom and house shares on various letting websites but got disappointed when places were snatched up quickly. After this, I decided the best approach was to find housemates first, and then look for places together. Using SpareRoom, I found housemates on their “Buddy Up” system, as well as student groups on Facebook. There are always people looking for housemates, especially in the run-up to the academic year, so you’ll be sure to find some like-minded people! 

For me, living with people I get along with is a must. After living for four years with friends, it was a worry that I wouldn’t be able to find people that I clicked with. But I definitely found that making a SpareRoom ad with some information about me — like what I’m interested in, hobbies, and what I’d be studying — helped this process immensely. It meant that I was able to look for people whose profiles were similar to mine, and the people who messaged me were also into similar things. One of my future housemates then made a Facebook student group ad with details about us, and we were able to find someone else too! From here, we started booking viewings. This was easier as one of us was already living in Manchester, so I recommend coming for a weekend to have a look at places if you don’t already live here. Otherwise, it’s always worth seeing if you can take a place from a video or do a virtual viewing. 

One bit of advice I wish I did have before I started looking though would be to look as soon as you can. I only started looking when the lease on my old place was up, but that meant I was looking in July and August. For places on the academic calendar, this was cutting it a little bit close! It is certainly doable, and I’m happy with my house now, but I could have done without that extra stress! 

Now that I’m here, I really love living in Manchester. My undergraduate city was much smaller, so I feel like I’m never going to run out of things to do here. There are always events on, and there are so many places to go that there really is something for everyone. I’m close enough to university to walk in everyday, but the public transport is also great, which means there are tons of options for areas to live in. It’s a great city, and I definitely plan to stay here after graduation too! 

Written by SJ Kennedy Scott, a Medieval and Early Modern Studies MA student

Related