When you think of University – apart from the studying – one thing comes to mind. Freedom. For probably the first time in your life you will be living independently from your Parents. And, while this might sound like the recipe for one long party the reality can be far, far removed…
Unless you are one of the sensible students that make The Hive your home, you may find yourself in shared student accommodation. While our Hive residents are enjoying our comfortable and more importantly CLEAN self-contained studio flats and stylish communal areas, those in shared student accommodation will be living with a houseful of other students all experiencing living away from home for the first time.
Living in close proximity to people who, at the beginning of the year, are essentially strangers, is not without its pitfalls. While at home everyone understands the hierarchy and, while you might share the chores, let’s be honest your parents do pick up a lot of the slack. Dinner is cooked for you, your washing is probably done and the bathroom doesn’t smell like someone has died in there. Often.
10 people, one house, no rules… what could possibly go wrong?
Mess
Every single room – well the communal ones at least, are, well what can only be described as squalid. The problem is, with no one to nag your housemates into not being the messiest people on the planet it just sort of happens. Any attempt at a house cleaning rota is futile and NO ONE wants to take out the rubbish.
I just want to make particular mention of the bathrooms and kitchens of shared student accommodation. Shared bathrooms in partticular are a warm, damp breeding ground for everything nasty. This is movie filth. Toilets, surprisingly, don’t flush themselves and WHY IS THERE SO MUCH HAIR EVERYWHERE. The poor person that ALWAYS ends up cleaning the matted, slimy (why is it slimy) hair from the plug hole deserves a medal. If you have ever endured the sheer grossness of someone else’s hair gunk actually touching your bare skin, you’ll know why.
‘Borrowing’
Some say borrowing; others may call it theft, but that’s just splitting hairs (see previous point). Now, this could be anything from food – which was quite clearly marked as yours – to books, clothes and lovely clean smelling toiletries that you mistakenly left in the (gross) shared bathroom, rookie mistake. There’s always one housemate that is perpetually broke who pilfers from the communal kitchen with promises to replace once they have some money….
Washing up
There is no magic washing up fairy. If everyone just washed what they used instead of trying to recreate the leaning tower of Pisa in mouldy plates then the house would be a happier place. It’s not too much to ask for there to be clean mugs in the cupboard right?
Uninvited Guests
There always seems to ‘extra’ people in the house. And what don’t these extra people do. Clean. That’s what.
Living in shared accommodation is no walk in the park but, for the students that make their University home at The Hive well, they get all the good bits of student living and none of the bad. Each of our self-contained apartments has a fitted kitchen and en suite bathroom. That means the food in the fridge stays in the fridge. The hair in the plughole is your hair – slightly less gross to clean out and when you want some peace and quiet you can have it.
To find out how you can join our thriving student community please contact us today on 
020 3551 2550 to arrange a viewing.