Choose a university residence, or flat for rent? What is the best accommodation option for students in Madrid? Discover the advantages and inconveniences!
University residence or a flat for rent? This is the Question
If you go to Madrid to study with an Erasmus scholarship, or you come from another place, perhaps you are thinking to choose between university residence or flat for rent like options of lodging. What is better? Which of the options should you choose?
You will pack your suitcases soon. You are going to study in Madrid! If it is your first college year, congratulations.
You will be living a very special emotion. If it is not your first year, but you come to Madrid to study with an Erasmus scholarship, with the SICUE program, or simply you are changing your university on your own initiative, you also have reasons to joy: you will see a lot of things, you will meet new people, and you will have a great time!
But when you go to study to another city, to another region or even to another country, the first problem that you have to face is accommodation. And for many students, the first important question that arises in this new stage is, “University Residence, or Flat for Rent?”.
If you are going through that time and you are facing this decision, you must know the advantages of every type of accommodation for university students.
University residence versus student flat
The option of a student residence has several advantages versus the option of a student flat for rent.
1. You have guarantees: you will not fight with the landlord nor will throw you off the floor, nor will you find facilities in bad conditions or other problems with the equipment. University residences offer greater guarantees. With a rental agreement to a private owner, you have some risks, even with a contract in between.
2. You will not have problems nor headaches: In a shared flat, bills for electricity, water, Wi-Fi, etc., must be paid by all, the university residences include them. You will not have problems with flat mates that do not pay their share.
3. Guaranteed comfort: university residences include certain services that guarantee you a minimum comfort that in a flat for rent you will not always have.
4. You enjoy a good area: usually university residences are well located, in downtown areas, close to the university or, at least, well connected. Although in a flat for rent you can also choose a good area, if you do not know the city you have a greater risk to choose a bad neighborhood.
5. You can focus more on the studies: having some services covered, you will not have problems, such as paying bills, dealing with landlords, agreeing on cleaning shifts and other rules of coexistence, etc. You have better conditions to focus on the studies.
6. Do not lose the attractiveness of living with other students: if the greatest advantage of a student flat is the coexistence with other people of your age with whom you can share experiences, you also have it in a university residence, with common spaces enabled, where you can share great moments with your fellow travelers.
7. Your family is quiet: we understand. It is a very special moment when you need to think about yourself. But do not forget that your family cares about you. In a residence your parents and the rest of relatives are more calm, because they know that you are well attended in a safe place. You can avoid your family is worried about you.
You know the main advantages of a university residence. Now we will study the other alternative.
Student flat versus student residence
Some students prefer a shared flat with other students because of:
1. The price: although it depends on other factors such as the location of the flat for rent, its quality, or the number of people who share the monthly payment, it is usually a cheaper option than a university residence.
2. Greater freedom of schedules: it is true that in a flat for rent you can organize your time in another way, without schedules and without rules beyond those you agree with your colleagues. But that is not always an advantage, because having to deal with more tasks, you will have less time.
3. The coexistence intensifies: the element of coexistence you also have in a residence. But in a student flat goes to the extreme. You have to organize with cleaning shifts, set rules, share expenses, bills, landlord … Sooner or later the frictions arise. It is something that has its negative side and also its positive side. It is an experience that serves you to mature, despite the difficulties.
4. You take responsibility for your things: by not having help, services that solve problems and rules beyond those you establish with your flat mates, you have to learn to take responsibility for your things. This also happens in a student residence, although in a shared flat you will have to take responsibility for more things.
So what accommodation option for college students is better?
There is no definitive answer. It all depends on what your priorities are for the period you will be away from home.
For some students, having the necessary accommodations to focus on studies is critical. Others may prefer free time, for example. You choose!
From Vitium, and with our experience hosting high-quality student flats, we hope to have helped you make the decision.
The future is yours. You choose!
And if you decide to choose a student flats in Madrid, do not forget to take a look at our website. We have the best located student flats in the city, so that you can focus on what really matters.