The Student Guide: How To Find Flatmates For University

Finding flatmates at university isn’t always an easy process, especially if you’ve struggled to make friends within your student accommodation during your first year, or perhaps you have met people but you’re not really too keen on the idea of living with them.

Whatever the reason for wanting to find flatmates for university, you can be rest assured that with our help you’ll find people to live with in no time at all!

So how can you find flatmates at university? Find out here…

How To Find Flatmates

Finding flatmates you’ll actually enjoy living with and get on with isn’t always a walk in the park.

Don’t stress too much, we’re sure you’ll sort out your housing arrangement for the next academic year and find the ideal people to live with.

Whether you’re in the process of finding flatmates for first year, second year or even third year and so forth, we’re sure our 8 tips we’ve listed below will prove useful to you!

1. Don’t Rush Into Things

Our first tip for finding flatmates is to not rush into things, you may think that you need to get accommodation sorted and sign up to live with any Tom, Dick or Harry that seems semi decent, but we’d recommend not doing this.

You shouldn’t rush the process of finding flatmates as you could end up having a nightmare living arrangement if you’ve moved in with people that are completely different to you.

This is especially important if you’re currently living somewhere with people you don’t get on with.

There’s plenty of students who will be in the same boat as you and are searching for flatmates for the next academic year.

So, take your time and find suitable people to live with by thinking about the type of people you’d like to share a space with and what would work and wouldn’t work for you.

We’d recommend asking questions about them and their lifestyle to see if they’re the type of person you’d like to live with.

If you’re not too fussed about making friends with any potential flatmates then that’s fine, but it’s still worth taking your time as you may end up in a living arrangement that really doesn’t work for you.

2. Use Social Media

Finding flatmates in the 21st century has never been easier thanks to social media, but sometimes it can be a struggle to find people to live with in your specific city or town.

We’d recommend using groups and pages for your university on Facebook and searching for potential flatmates on there, whether it’s posting something yourself or replying to someone else’s posts.

Even uploading an Instagram story could be a good way to find flatmates as you could ask other people to share it around.

We never thought we’d say this, but people are actually using TikTok to find flatmates with the video search finding flatmates currently at 325.4K.

Users are posting videos stating that they’re looking for people to live with and including details like the location they’re looking for, price range, and what type of people they’d like to live with.

Of course, not everyone will feel comfortable videoing themselves saying they’re looking for people to live with, but if you are, why not go for it and see what comes of it?

The best part about using social media to find flatmates is that you can find out a bit about them from their online profile.

So, you can see if you have anything in common from things they’ve shared or posted – it’s a winner!

3. Make Use Of Apps

There’s plenty of apps you can download to help you find people to live with, with one of the most popular being SpareRoom.

The way it works is you can search for rooms and properties to find people who are looking for flatmates or housemates, or for those who are looking to rent out their property.

You can search for flatmates and scroll through other people’s ads, or post your own ad with some information about the type of flat share you’re looking for and a bit about yourself.

Additionally, you add photos and videos to your ad to give people a real sense about you, or keep it simple and see who contacts you, it’s up to you.

What makes using this app so great is that you can search for a location and budget to narrow down your search and make it more specific to you.

Is there anything worse than finding a flatmate to live with and their budget is much higher than yours?!

Whilst Spare Room is free to use for both iOS and Android, you do need to sign up and create an account to message people directly and there are some paid features on the app.

4. Head To Online Sites

There are plenty of online sites which can be valuable resources when it comes to finding flatmates for university.

We’d recommend using Ideal flatmate if you’re on the hunt for people to live with.

Take part in the ‘Compatibility Quiz’ which is quick and easy to do, taking around 90 seconds to complete, with 20 questions to answer to match you with your perfect flat share or flatmate.

It does all the hard work for you based on your compatibility, so you don’t need to ask all the awkward questions and try to get to know a potential flatmate – it becomes a pain when you’re doing this numerous times!

The Student Room is another good online resource you can use to find flatmates for university.

If you’re not familiar with it, it’s the largest online student community in the UK with forums to discuss different topics.

It can be difficult to find people to live with this way, but some people may get lucky so it’s worth trying out!

5. Word Of Mouth

When looking for people to live with at university, what better way to begin your search for the ideal flatmate than by speaking to people on campus?

You can ask your course mates if they’re looking for somewhere to live with or if they know anyone who is.

At least this way, if you find potential flatmates who know people you know, it won’t be a complete stranger and you’ll know if they’re a decent person.

Sometimes word of mouth can be super useful, and this way your potential flatmates will go to the same university as you!

You could even spark up some conversations with people in the student union bar.

If you don’t really want to ask people face to face if they’re looking for a flatmate or know someone who is, then why not send out a few texts?

You could also speak to people within your student accommodation, your current flatmates might not be the people you want to live with for the next academic year, but you could very well find other people you get on with and wouldn’t mind living with!

Ask around and attend social events at your accommodation to expand your social circle, like we said earlier, you won’t be the only one on the hunt for people to live with next year.

If you have a part time job whilst at uni, it could be worth asking around to your colleagues to see if they know anyone, or if they’re on the hunt for a flat share themselves.

Chances are, if you’re living in a uni city or town, there’ll be lots of students also working at the same place as you.

6. Find People Through Clubs & Societies

If you’re struggling to find people to live with for university, why not join a club or society on campus if you haven’t already?

You’ll meet like-minded people and you should already have some things in common so chances are, living with them wouldn’t be too bad!

Each university has different student-run societies with different interests and activities as well as sports clubs, so we’re sure you’ll find something of interest to you.

Not only are these great extra-curricular activities but they offer you a chance to meet new people which could = potential flatmates!

Although, some do require a joining fee so bear this in mind if you do want to sign up!

7. Talk To Your University

Are you finding it hard to find flatmates for next year?

If so, speak to your university as they will be able to offer you advice and support for finding accommodation for the next academic year.

There’s likely other students in a similar position to you so don’t stress.

Your university is there to support you so don’t shy away from talking to them if you’re not successful in finding anyone to live with.

There may be housing fair events which can be a good way to connect with housing providers and student services staff too.

You can even receive housing advice from local estate agents and landlords, plus there may just be some competitions and freebies on offer so keep your eyes peeled!

8. Don’t Be Disheartened

Our final tip to takeaway from our guide to how to find flatmates is to not be disheartened during the process.

It can be stressful trying to find people to live with, especially if you’ve not had a great housing experience this year and you’re after something different for the next academic year.

Don’t worry though, we’re sure you’ll find the ideal people to live with, and if you don’t, you could look into a self-contained apartment to live independently.

Living on your own doesn’t mean you won’t have a great student experience or meet new people, there’s still plenty of social opportunities whilst at uni!

After all, if you do end up living on your own, you’ll have more space to yourself and you won’t have to worry about flatmates with different living habits to you.

Of course, this type of student living isn’t for everyone, so if you’re set on living with others, we’re sure you’ll find people who you get on with – trust the process as we say!

Finally, we’d also suggest being realistic about finding the ‘perfect flatmate’.

For some people a house share is exactly that, living with people in a shared space, rather than living with people to become the best of friends.

For others, it’s the complete opposite and they want to live with people they can be friends with and make memories with during student life.

So, bare this in mind when you’re on the hunt to find a flatmate!

How Prestige Student Living Can Help You

Now you know a bit more about how to find flatmates at university, take a look at our property page to find your ideal living space for the next academic year.

When choosing to stay with us at Prestige Student Living, you can choose to rebook with your besties or book into a shared flat where you’ll be allocated flatmates and meet new friends.

We offer luxury student accommodation in cities across the UK with all inclusive bills and first class communal spaces so you can meet new people – talk about convenience!

Read next: How To Change Courses Or University During The Academic Year.