Accommodation

Letting agents function on a rolling basis. See the How to Rent Guide below for more information about local letting agents. You might consider finding a group of people you want to live with around December/January, to start planning paperwork together. It's best to decide what suits everyone's needs, in terms of price and location, before you return to St Andrews for semester two.

You may have heard that your best friends aren’t always the best people to live with, and this is for a reason. However, this is far from a rule, and you'll never know exactly how compatible someone will be as a flatmate until you live with them.

If you know you’re a morning person, you might want to avoid living with people who are night owls. If you like a fairly calm, peaceful environment, you might want to avoid living with those who prefer hosting house parties. Be prepared to have a long conversation about likes, dislikes, and dividing up tasks with future housemates, and establish good communication as soon as possible.

The Accommodation Subcommittee has previously held Flatmate Matchmaking sessions, so like their Facebook page to keep up with future events.

Every letting agency and private landlord is different, but you can expect to need the following documents:

• Application form provided by the letting agency
• Scan of your matriculation card
• Scan of your driving licence or passport (depending on nationality)
• Character reference
• Reference from previous landlord
• Proof of address and/or study
• Guarantor form

It's best to prepare as many of these documents as possible over winter break, especially if you're an international student.

Check the How to Rent Guide for a full breakdown of which forms are required by each letting agency.

The CCMFL Subcommittee  offers support if you're staying outside St Andrews and commuting in to study (including if you're in University-managed accommodation like Old Mill). Check out our Commuters page for more information.

1. This service is provided by the St Andrews Students’ Association ("the Association"), only to current or prospective students of the University of St Andrews only (hereinafter referred to as "clients" of the service).
2. The service is offered only in relation to properties let in Scotland for the purposes of accommodation while engaged in study on a course at the University of St Andrews.
3. The service consists of reading a draft or final copy of a lease proposed by the prospective landlord or agent, explaining terms and conditions therein, and suggesting points that the client may wish to discuss with the prospective landlord or agent. Such suggestions may refer to requirements of relevant legislation and associated guidance, principally the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 and government-published guides to this act.
4. The service is provided on a good faith basis with reasonable skill and care, but it is not professional legal advice that clients can rely on. Clients are advised to take appropriate professional legal advice on any matters that they are not comfortable with.
5. The Association will ensure that this service is only offered by appropriately trained staff. No other staff or volunteer may offer comment on a lease. Appropriately trained in this case denotes successful completion of a course such as Shelter Scotland/Scottish Government Private Residential Tenancy training, or equivalent.
6. The Association will not, under any circumstances, direct a client to sign or not to sign a lease.
7. The Association shall not enter into direct contact with the landlord or their agent, nor any associated regulatory bodies such as Fife Council, concerning the lease. All such communications and the decision on whether to enter into them are, and remain, the sole responsibility of the client.
8. Comments are made on the lease as presented by the client, and any additional information supplied by the client about the property etc. The Association accepts no responsibility for changes made to the lease after the consultation, material facts that were not disclosed during the consultation, or erroneous information supplied by the client.