Choosing Your Student Accommodation with Unihousing

Whether you are looking for solo or shared accommodation, Unihousing offers a wide range of properties to suit various needs and budgets. Solo and shared living both have their perks, and it really depends on your own lifestyle and personal preference.

Regardless of what you choose, all of our properties are located in the student hub of Selly Oak and are only a short walk away from the University of Birmingham. This makes your journey to and from university extremely quick and easy. Keep reading to learn more!

 

Student Studios

Studios are a great option for any student seeking more freedom, as they offer you a private space and an independent lifestyle. Having your own personal space to live in is a great way to ease yourself into student life after moving away from home. Our student studios offer a quiet, open-plan living space, with an ensuite bathroom, which means you don’t have to worry about any schedule clashes or cleanliness issues. 

Additionally, as you are having to manage a smaller space, it is significantly easier to clean and maintain a studio than a shared house. You have total control over your own space. All of our studios come with a desk area, flat screen TV, food prep area and plenty of storage throughout, providing you with all of the necessities of a comfortable student life. Although you will likely be sharing a kitchen with 1 other person, our large-sized kitchens are fully fitted with the necessary appliances, including a washer/dryer, oven, electric oven and plenty of storage for dishes and food. 

 

Student Houses

There are many benefits to shared accommodation. Whilst some students will want a more private living space, many others thrive in the community environment that a shared house brings. Frequently, students will choose to live with friends they meet in their first year, which means they already know their housemates fairly well, making their student experience fun and exciting.

All of our shared accommodation offers students their own private bedroom with a desk space, double bed and storage. This gives tenants a place to hide away when they need a bit of alone time. In addition to this, you will also find a good-sized lounge and kitchen, which are great for hosting and spending time together as housemates. Students who are more social will likely thrive in a shared house, as they will have plenty of friends they can see when they want.

Another benefit of shared accommodation is the amount students can save on bills, groceries and cleaning supplies. Not only will you split all of the bills, but as a group, you could alternate who cooks meals and who buys various groceries and cleaning supplies. This will allow you to split things evenly between you, and it will likely cost you less.

 

How We Can Help

Regardless of the accommodation you choose, Unihousing are here to help you find the best fit for you. Our properties are all created with students in mind, to make their time at University as enjoyable and stress-free as possible.

Unihousing is a student accommodation provider near the University of Birmingham, operating since 1984. All of our accommodation in Selly Oak is owned by us, so we can respond quickly to any requests using our qualified team of tradesmen. Our property office is located on Bristol Road, only a short walk away from all of our accommodations. This means we can deal directly with our tenants.

Unhousing was selected as the Number 1 Student Letting Agent in Birmingham by the UK's biggest fresher community, Unifresher.

Contact Unihousing today to find out more!

Navigating Group Project Work: Our Top Tips to Help You Succeed

Group work is a big part of most University courses, as it helps prepare students for most jobs that involve collaboration. There are so many good parts of collaborative work, as it’s a place where you can bounce ideas off of one another, split the workload amongst each other and constantly have people who are working alongside you throughout the project.

That bring said, it can sometimes be tricky navigating people’s personalities, work types and even personal schedules. We all have our own way of learning and many students will also be working alongside their studies, which will make their time even tighter. Here are a few tips to help you navigate your workload and optimise your group experience!

 

1. Understanding Your Group’s Dynamic

When you are first assigned group work, it is essential that you take the time to get to know your peers and understand the group dynamic. Your team will likely be made up of different personalities, strengths and weaknesses, but if everyone can be honest about what they are good at, as a group you can then navigate a way through the workload.

You will likely find that some of your peers will want to work all together, while others will want to buckle down and work on their own. Additionally, some people will have more confidence, while others might be a bit quieter, so finding a way to utilise everyone’s strengths will benefit you in the long run.

 

2. Focus on Clear and Smooth Communication

Dealing with all types of personalities and work types can be quite challenging at first, so having good and frequent communication is essential! Regular chats and updates will not only help the group feel more connected but will also help you stay on top of things.

To start, get everyone’s contact details and create a group chat, where you can all share your progress and ideas. Sometimes you might also find that certain group members aren’t great at responding, so it could be a good idea to contact them separately, in case the big group dynamic is something they find overwhelming.

Once you have had the initial discussions about roles, what people will be focusing on and the brief in general, it’s a good idea to write it all down in a shared document that you can all update. This way, everyone will know what their role is, and they can manage their own workload and the group progression too.

 

3. Create an Action Plan Together as a Group

Making a plan is not only a great team exercise, but it will also help you stay on track throughout the project. Your course leader will most likely be providing you with a project brief and a rough timeline, but chatting through your objectives and planning out the project as a whole is essential. Additionally, knowing your group goals will help prevent any unnecessary stress and anxiety building up, both individually, and as a team. Having your objectives for the project written out will also help to ensure you are ticking all of the necessary boxes to meet the criteria.

  

 

4. Meet Regularly and Track Your Progress

Once the project has kicked off, it can sometimes feel overwhelming staying on top of everything. Having regular group meet-ups to discuss the projects is essential to the success of the group, and it will also help you manage your stress levels. Knowing that you are all in this together is an important part of boosting the team moral too. You all succeed together, or fail together, which means you have a common goal that you are working towards!

To help track your group’s progress, there are various apps you can use, including:

Trello – Visually manages projects

ClickUp – Has customized task views

Wrike – Has spreadsheet-like features

GoogleDocs – Great for shared spreadsheets and documents

 

To Ease the Stress, Unihousing Can Help You Find Your Ideal Student Accommodation!

Unihousing is a student accommodation provider near the University of Birmingham, operating since 1984. All of our accommodation in Selly Oak is owned by us, so we can respond quickly to any requests using our qualified team of tradesmen. Our property office is located on Bristol Road, only a short walk away from all of our accommodations. This means we can deal directly with our tenants.

Unhousing was selected as the Number 1 Student Letting Agent in Birmingham by the UK's biggest fresher community, Unifresher.

Contact Unihousing today to find out more!