University term starts at the beginning of October. Why are we having to make decisions on where we want to live, the next academic year as soon as we move in? I have lived in my current house 2 weeks and I have already been informed that people are viewing the property this week in regards to the next academic year. I remember last year I arrived at uni and within 4 weeks of moving in, I had to decide who I wanted to live with next year and where. Everyone that I knew was doing the same.

This is partly down to there being a lack of quality student housing in Lancaster, but mainly due to housing companies being able to advertise their houses too early. If student housing companies were not allowed to advertise their houses until after Christmas, it would relieve a lot of pressure on students. With regards to first years; it is extremely unrealistic to expect people to move to uni and decide within a matter of weeks what they want to do about accomodation for the next year. I remember being in first year and worrying that I would end up homeless for second year; as did many of my friends. This meant that I and many others rushed into things, making bad choices, meaning now people are living with people that they have grown apart with since October when they first met and decided to live with. This not only makes people unhappy, but it can affect mental health and many other things. Surely the system is failing people by allowing this to happen.

Now as a second year, I can see the first years starting to panic as I did about housing for next year. This in turn is stressful for second and third years etc already in houses, because they are then forced to think about the next year too.

If housing companies were prevented by the university from advertising housing so early on in the year, it would take a lot of pressure off. People would be able to take more time and put more thought into their decisions, and therefore make better decisions. This would also solve a lot of problems down the line as by making better decisions, a lot of people would be happier. Yes there would still be the rush of people trying to view properties, no matter what time of year they were made available to view but at least people would be able to settle into uni properly, and form solid friendships before making decisions.