University of Exeter and the South West Country

Well, you'd better tell me what kind of rent you can pay first. I'll check with DH (yes, dear husband!) to see how he found our house because it was initially thru the internet that he found it. You can also go to Yell.com and type in letting agents in Exeter. You can search some sites for rental property but they do go quickly so just use them as a guide. Ultimately I think you'll need to phone a letting agent/landlord directly and tell them your exact circumstances.

When are you looking to move again?

Oh, DH is a geology/geography PhD. He studies rivers.

Anyway, get back to me on ball-park price and I'll see if I can gather some names of landlords, etc. For example, there is a man who owns several of the houses on this street and is well-regarded by the long-term residents. For that matter, our house may even be available come autumn as DH is hoping to be finished by then.

Well, that's a difficult question to answer.  I've heard Exeter is quite expensive...but by wht standards?
I don't want to sound too nieve and much of what I can actually afford is, at the moment, still depedant on the money I'm able to gather for start up funds...loans, sholarships, etc.

I'm hoping to find a modest flat  - one bedroom - somewhere between $500.00 and $900.00 USD a month.  Now, I'm still learning the system.  I know some places charge by the week and some by the month and some depend on occupancy.  I would be willing to share with one or two other people as long as we had our own bedroom (of course) and preferable en suite.

I know the pound to dollar transfer is going to make a huge difference here too because the dollar is so weak there. 

I'm sure this sounds a bit hopeful for a place by ourselves which is why I've been looking into shared houseing....but I'd like to avoid that if possible.

Could you let me know what is average price for this area?  If these desires are too unrealistic then I just need to prepare to spend more money.
Thank you so much for all this info.

By the way....if you do end of leaving your place this fall - I wonder if there's something we could work out with your landlord?

oh yeah, I forgot....I begin my first term this October.  I should be hearing, in the next few months, about the finalized loans, etc. Then I can start making more informed choices about what to get.

Exeter isn't too expensive, compared to other areas like London or Bristol, but it's not as cheap as in the north. The average student rent is between £50 and £70 (about $100 - $140) a week per room (which may or may not include water, gas, electricity - usually not), but you do usually need student ID (which may have to be an Exeter ID) to get a room in a student house or flat - otherwise you'll have to pay the higher non-student rates'.

I would avoid letting agents (for example, Cardens is one to stay away from) that try to charge an administration fee (about $60) and you might be better off asking the university for their private housing list. Every year around Jan - Feb, they release a document containing all the houses and landlords in the private sector that rent to students and who are approved by the university -  www.studentpad.com . This is a safer method to use (if it is suitable for international students, that is) as you can avoid unreliable and irresponsible landlords who will try to get away with charging you a lot of money and don't get things fixed when they are broken!

Looking at the Exeter Uni website, it seems that they can only guarantee accomodation for unaccompanied international students, but I think the accomodation office also deals with private rented accomodation. Also, the student's union (the Guild) has a site intended to help with finding private housing - http://www.guild.exeter.ac.uk//helpandadvice/adviceunit/housing which may be of some help.

My feelings of Exeter now? It's a lovely city and a beautiful campus and I enjoyed my time there, but if I'm honest, the best part was the year abroad. I enjoyed it so much that I've actually applied to do my PhD at the same university in the US. I studied at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and it was the best year of my life - I spent my last year in Exeter missing it like crazy, expecially the sunshine!

One little thing about Exeter is that you will always need to carry an umbrella with you - it often starts raining with no warning (which apparently is the reason why the university grounds are so green) and being caught without an umbrella is really annoying, so it's a good idea to always have one handy. It was difficult to get used to again after spending 10 months in a state which gets 330 days of sunshine a year!

By the way, what will you be studying at Exeter?

I have to agree with the above - if your budget is that low, you will be better off sharing. Now, our house was shared - before we moved in - by 2 Polish couples. Now it's just the 3 of us. Our landlady is very nice and relatively responsive. I'm happy to discuss the possibility of putting you forward as the next tenant but let's discuss that via PM - btw, I've already sent you one if you haven't seen it.

I would have to say that working thru the Uni offices mentioned above will also be a good bet, though I'd disagree that letting agents are 100% evil. We've had good and bad luck with them in the past.

Agreed on the rainy bit. So annoying! But honestly, I find that in most of England!!

Exeter, in my opinion, is really a rather large town. It does not have the variety of a true city. Nevertheless, it is a pleasant enough place to spend a few years.

Thanks for the help. Personal experiences is what I really need now after 5 months of websites and "official" information.

To answer your question, ksand:  I'll be getting my MFA in staging Shakespeare.  I found the connection with the Globe theatre very attractive as well as the interaction with the RSC.  As an actor I don't think that any of this could be detrimental - although (in the world of US Regional theatre) taking 2 years off can be suicide for one's career.

I'm very interested in the academic side of performance as well as the actual performing.  I'm counting on Exeter to be a perfect melting of study and performace.  Too many schools in the states focus on one or the other.

and yes, balmerhon, I will definatly talk with you PM about your place or others near there.

Actually, I'll agree that not all of the letting agents are evil - my friends and I went with Cardens for a year and had no problems at all, but a lot of people have had bad experiences with them (i.e. taking several weeks to fix a blocked drain or a broken washing machine), so I'd just advise to be a little wary of them. Most undergrads go with the university housing list rather than a letting agent.

balmerhon - Yeah, Exeter is more of a large town (although my home town is considered large and it only has a population of 15,000), but a city is usually classified by the existence of a cathederal (at least, that was how a city was defined originally), which Exeter has, so it's a city.

west_0515 - I was thinking I could perhaps offer you some advice about the department you'll be studying in, but since my degree was in Physics, I don't think I'd be of any help!

However, I can tell you that the Drama department is located just off campus on New North Road, which is close to St. Davids station and the popular student pub, The Imperial (The Impy for short), so it might be worth considering finding a flat on that side of town, otherwise you may end up with a 15-20 minute walk to campus and then another few minutes down to the Drama dept. on the other side - just a thought.

As noted, we're in St Davids and you can walk to the Imperial - as well as the Dinosaur Cafe and town centre very easily!

Well, what's the job market like?  My wife is planning on working (possibly) with her job here vie internet....but if she needs a little extra or that doesn't work out what are the options?

I guess what I'm really asking is - are there alot of jobs to be had?  Are they hard to get?  What's the general playing field like, i.e. Mcdonald's, clothing retail or office work, designers?

What does she want to do?

hehehe

well, she's a graphic designer.  So ideally she'd either work for a firm or have some personal clients.  But given that she has no exposer over there (as of yet) she's open to pretty much anything sans working the register at a fast food place.

Working in a nice art gallery, retail in a specialty foods store (although she's currently the company designer for one here and she'd like to expand from there), pretty much anything that is in relation to food, art, or disign she'd be happy to do until we get a little more settled and she feel a little more brave about being picky.

Ultimatly, I think, we both want to get over there and be secure first before we start picking too much and cut our noses off.
She also Swiss and speaks Swiss German fluently, high German almost fluently, and very well in a few other languages - that might be an edge (possibly) for something.

Does the university hire for situations like that?  I know some here in the states will have office jobs that are open application.

Heh heh. Well, I'm a graphic designer (8 years experience in the US) but I don't really work in the field anymore. This is due to many reasons but one factor is, indeed, getting anyone over here to look at you with no UK experience. IMO, the UK design industry is very insular and expects you to come up through one of the MANY design programs over here. Which leads me to my next opinion of the design industry. There are too many designers!!

Anyway, my advice, since she won't have the luxury of unemployment is to get any job she can live with at first. BUT if she really wants to stay in design, she needs to work really hard to pursue any lead she can get on design jobs including freelancing. The longer she stays out of the field, the harder it will be to break back in.

There are a couple small art galleries and one (that I know of off the top of my head) food shop in the town centre. Needless to say, those jobs will be in high demand. The Uni is probably a good source for jobs. DH works at the library but I'm not sure they employ anyone full time.

I don't know much about the job situation in Exeter, as everyone I knew was a student and had just a part-time job in a shop or a pub, plus I didn't work during the school year, but had a full-time job back home during the vacations.

However, the my friend's boyfriend, who was not a student, managed to get a job as a cook for one of the residence halls (Duryard Hall, I think), so it's not impossible for non-students to get a job at the university. There are plenty of on-campus jobs available, but most are in the bartending/shop assistant/kitchen capacity, although perhaps there may be something available on the admin side.

Balmerhon,
What was your experience like getting your house?  Using an agent (is that right?)...was it complicated with lots of paperwork, deposits, etc.?  What's the protocol?

Ksand,
I take it you're not originally from Exeter.  Where is "back home"?