Accommodation – home away from home

This episode focusses on the Accommodation offered at the University. Hear about how to apply, the different accommodation options available to you and all of the facilities on our sites.

What is Ask Aberdeen?

Thinking about applying to university? Want to hear from current students at the University of Aberdeen? Join our hosts as they interview students and staff alike, asking the questions you want to hear answers to, and find out more about the University of Aberdeen.

Speaker 1: [00:00:02] Hi, everyone. I'm Emily. I'm the regional manager for sub-Saharan Africa. [00:00:05][3.6]

Speaker 2: [00:00:07] Hi, everyone. My name is Ron Peter and I'm the international officer for the sub-Saharan region. [00:00:11][4.0]

Speaker 3: [00:00:12] Hi, everyone. I'm Blessing. I'm the country manager for the University of Aberdeen and I'm based in Nigeria. [00:00:17][5.2]

Speaker 1: [00:00:18] Welcome to our University of Aberdeen West Africa podcast series. We're going to talk about lots of relevant and interesting topics which we hope you find useful. Join us for this week's episode. Hi everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of our West African Series podcast. This week we're going to be talking all things accommodation and we're very lucky to be joined by Chris Berryk, who works in the accommodation team. Welcome, Chris. [00:00:48][29.7]

Speaker 4: [00:00:49] Welcome. Thank you for having me here. [00:00:51][2.0]

Speaker 1: [00:00:53] And I'm now going to pass over to our team to ask some questions. [00:00:55][2.4]

Speaker 3: [00:00:56] Hi, everyone. This is Blessing. I hope we're having a really great day, so as Emily mentioned We've got Chris and he will be speaking about accommodation processes, especially for students who are looking to come study with us and stay in the university accommodationb. So Chris, I'd like to know what's your specific role in the accommodation office? What do you do? [00:01:18][21.7]

Speaker 4: [00:01:20] Hi. Yes, I'm operations manager for the accommodation and there are two of us operations managers and we share the duties between us. We manage the hall and student accommodation provision throughout the University of Aberdeen, so everything accommodation related comes to ourselves. [00:01:37][16.8]

Speaker 3: [00:01:38] That's great. Well, over to you Ron. [00:01:40][2.2]

Speaker 2: [00:01:41] Hi, Chris. So let's start with the basics. Why hillhead and what makes it special? [00:01:46][4.5]

Speaker 4: [00:01:49] Why choose our accommodation? We are owned and operated by Aberdeen University, so we are the university and there are other providers, but they have nothing to do with the university at all. So everything we do is for our students. That's the first thing and the most important thing, the students. So our aim is to make sure that you come here, you can stay here and you can no issues with your accommodation. That way you can enjoy your studies. You can enjoy the city and go along with everything else. You don't have to worry about your accommodation and then that's taken care of for you because of the issue. The problems will sort that out for you. When you go to go, just you can go and study and enjoy your year maybe two, three or four years with in Aberdeen University. That's our job. [00:02:27][38.1]

Speaker 1: [00:02:28] Amazing. So at hillhead you have lots of accommodation, but do you also service other accommodation that the university owns? [00:02:37][8.9]

Speaker 4: [00:02:38] Yeah, we've got we've got the Hillhead student village, which, quite frankly said we've got 2000 rooms, 2000 bedrooms, various different types of accommodation, which we'll probably touch on later on. We've also got and that's about a 15 minute walk from the main university campus, but we've also got other accommodation for postgraduates and for returning students on campus itself in the form of King's Hall and Elphinstone Road. And that's about another 190 rooms we've got down there as well. [00:03:05][27.1]

Speaker 1: [00:03:07] Amazing. So do you tend to find that at the Hillhead student village It's mostly undergraduate students who stay there. [00:03:14][6.6]

Speaker 4: [00:03:15] Yeah, we've yes, it's I mean, of 2000, I would imagine about 1800 would be undergrads, first year students. But we do have other students post graduate staying up here as well and doing various courses and everything. The specific needs will always be taking care of the students as well. Again, it's the first time away from home for most of them, so we've got to help them so that when they get ready for the university. Super. [00:03:37][22.5]

Speaker 3: [00:03:38] In addition to Emily’s question about student housing, do we have any for students who are looking to come with family to Aberdeen? Do we have such? Yeah. [00:03:46][8.0]

Speaker 4: [00:03:48] We've got we've got very limited accommodation for families. We do have a couple of options. However, we do have the university staff and staff accommodation as well and they have had students and families staying indoors as well. It's actually a different depart from a much different department from us, but we can quite easily get you in contact with them etc. and give you all the details etc. so you get something organised through them as well. So there's some we've got limited but we do have some things, but staff housing has got quite a lot of accommodation which would suit farmers. [00:04:20][31.7]

Speaker 3: [00:04:21] So you've mentioned that we have limited family housing now where we perhaps would have exceeded the spaces for students. We're looking to come with family. Do we recommend private accommodations for those students? [00:04:33][11.9]

Speaker 4: [00:04:36] Well, yes, we would do that again. And the students support have. They will have various numbers available for you to contact. If someone is looking for something that we can't provide for it, which happens very rarely, happily, if we can provide that there are other options for and students come across with families or wishing to take the families. Of course we've got it. They've got contact details, etc. for that. [00:04:56][20.8]

Speaker 3: [00:04:57] That's great. Thank you. [00:04:57][0.8]

Speaker 4: [00:04:59] Thank you. [00:04:59][0.1]

Speaker 1: [00:05:00] And during. Obviously, we've all just hopefully come out the other end of this pandemic. Our accommodation team definitely had to adapt and overcome during that time when we had lots of students. And so when when students ask me, should I stay in university accommodation or should I look for private accommodation that are huge benefits to staying with us because we have a duty, as you said, to look after them first and foremost. So could you maybe before we kick off into technical questions, tell us about your experience during COVID and why we why we have such a high reputation for being wonderful, because we dealt with our students so well. [00:05:40][39.9]

Speaker 4: [00:05:42] COVID was hard for everybody as everybody all around the world. We never closed, even for we were in lockdown. We never closed. We stayed open. All our staff were here. There was only a couple of areas the university security, etc. were here all the time. We never closed. We didn't take any additional time off. We just we just got on with it because we still had students here, students who couldn't get home, students who didn't want to go home. They want to stay and continue their studies. So that was all looked after and it was very much, same as with restrictions and it set in place, but it didn't affect the students accommodation at all really. The studies obviously were affected slightly, maybe with online learning, etc., but the accommodation there were still in the accommodation. If they actually caught COVID, they were tested positive. We made sure they got food packs, food boxes and we made sure they got their milk. We even made sure they get laundry done as they couldn't do it. So we did take care of and we came out of it looking very good, but we couldn't have done it without the help of all the whole university. And that, as I said earlier on, we are owned by the University. So everything we do is the University of Aberdeen and some of the private I mean we have got the welfare teams in place here as well. So any issues during the COVID there were the management teams are all trained in mental health, as are the teams of staff and mental health from state, as are the welfare teams. So there's always somebody here for somebody to come and speak to, to listen to them, have a cup of tea or a cup of coffee with them. So during the COVID as the same as everyone else in the world, we had to adapt to change things around, but we did it and hopefully we are now out the other side of it slightly and we do have to go through that again because it was a tough time for everybody. But we got there and the accommodation say we're quite proud of the students weren't really that affected and they were catered for if situation required. [00:07:35][112.7]

Speaker 1: [00:07:35] So yeah, you guys did a great job. And another thing, I think students who are listening in to this, whether they're from West Africa or from other parts of the world, are very conscious about safety as well. And one of the questions we get asked is if we come to Aberdeen, is it safe? So could you talk us through the safety measures around our accommodation? [00:07:56][20.8]

Speaker 4: [00:07:57] Please get no problem at all. One thing out loud is Aberdeen City have won the purple award, which is the safest city award with one of, I think it must be closer to 9-10 years in a row now and the actual the student village anyway hillhead we've got, we, we've got a 24 hour managerial presence. I've got my night managers on duty every night as well as a security team, as well as a coaching team as well as everybody else during the day. So there's always somebody there. We've never closed 365 days a year. We've never closed. And so there's always somebody here to need. And we have got CCTV, all of them, the village, those old buildings, entrances and exits have CCTV on them. So we know who's going in, we know who is going out. And it's not spying on students, but it does mean we can know that the students are going to anybody else is going in and we know who they are if something happens. I'm glad to say nothing has happened, much of it at all, really. We are quite lucky. Like a brick. And why staff wise? Nothing. For years though, about 50% of the accommodation is door systems with your ID card. So we could identify where if you were to go to your flat to pick up something, we would know when you were. Then if someone else went there, we would know who it would be because they've got the one card. They wouldn't get into your bedroom, but they might get to your front through your flatmates, but we would know who gave them the code to the card to get there. So safety wise, it's very good. But as I said, we've also got the security team and the carry patrols, all of the accommodation, every building, all 2000 rooms for every building. But the rooms are flat, so all the stairwells are covered multiple times, walking up and down around the site, keeping an eye on everything and just a piece of me maybe having maybe to load of a party. We don't stop, but we just have to turn it down a bit because other residents have got to take into account the other students as well. But the security aspects are quite an important aspect of the village and it's we are again quite proud of our reputation, particularly with parents and carers of students, because they know that their students are going to be very safe when they're with us at all times. [00:10:06][129.0]

Speaker 1: [00:10:07] Definitely. Thank you. [00:10:07][0.9]

Speaker 2: [00:10:08] Because how students can make an application for the university accommodation. [00:10:12][3.2]

Speaker 4: [00:10:15] Yup. The best way to fly to shoot accommodation is to go to university website and click on for student accommodation and they'll take you straight through to the Student Accommodation Office where we've got two amazing ladies, Lennon, Kerry, who will look after you and they will take it from there. They will organise everything with the they'll see what your needs are. They'll put their application forms to you. Any particular special needs, for example, if you've maybe got medication, you know, and it needs to be refrigerated, we can put a small fridge in your room for you, specifically for medication, things like that, to organise their time. But they will look after you all your requests or your questions. They will sort that out simply by clicking at the website and student accommodation. [00:10:55][40.1]

Speaker 3: [00:10:57] So just to confirm in booking accommodation, students need give the application number, right? Yes. Student Yes, yes. Yeah, we all need that. [00:11:06][8.9]

Speaker 4: [00:11:06] Okay. Yeah. What they could do just know is if they are coming here to set them up to study, but they're not sure about accommodation. They can still contact the accommodation office and say, I'd like to make a note of interest. And so I am considering coming to stay with you. If you can just make sure I am, you know, of my interest and you can take it forward a little bit. So maybe waiting for the exam results to come through before they've got the correct qualifications to come, etc. And again, but they've noted interest. That means we are aware of the accommodation. they will be followed or followed through to see how you'd still wish accommodation or whatever. Again, it's all done through the fantastic student accommodation. [00:11:44][37.8]

Speaker 3: [00:11:45] Okay, so I have another question. So for students who are looking to resume this September, can begin the booking process now. And is there a deadline? [00:11:54][8.9]

Speaker 4: [00:11:56] The the deadline I'm not too sure about, however. And if you'd like to just contact the student accommodation office, they'll talk them through it. And the advice, if they can apply them then or where they can apply. But I think most of the can apply. Now, we have taken bookings just now for the accommodation and if they're coming in September, they know they're definitely coming. They will get their booking sorted out for them. All the good you speak to Kerry and Accommodation Accommodation Office. [00:12:19][23.0]

Speaker 3: [00:12:20] Okay, so this I'm not quite sure if you would be able to help now because I want to try the price range for students who would like to stay with us. Is that something that Kerry would want to talk about or you can speak some about. [00:12:33][13.0]

Speaker 4: [00:12:34] But I can't tell you offhand of the prices and because there's quite a few different packages, etc., the shooting accommodation office, well, they would send you all the details you would need and we'll see as we've got self-catered accommodation, we've got catered accommodation for meals, we've got en suite accommodation, we've got shared facilities accommodation. So you can imagine, I mean with different styles about the buildings as well. So you can imagine that all different places. And again by simply clicking on university website student accommodation, they'll be everything you need. They will send you the details and the different types of accommodation as well. And there's also a chance to do a 360 degree tour through that as well. She could see the accommodation online. You don't have to come and visit us or try and get photographs and you can see all the things secure. [00:13:21][47.2]

Speaker 3: [00:13:23] Okay. Thank you. [00:13:24][0.8]

Speaker 4: [00:13:25] Thank you. [00:13:25][0.2]

Speaker 1: [00:13:27] I would just like to add that all of the prices are very, very much on the website for students to have a wee look at. So just hop on over, as Chris suggested and each flat, it's quite clear what you'll be paying for each one. So I think some things that we get asked are about the size of flats and the different options available. Can you talk us through the different options? [00:13:49][22.5]

Speaker 4: [00:13:50] Okay, yeah. For instance, what we've got is we've actually got we've got two mean different styles of styles of accommodation. We've got m traditional hall type accommodation. We're basically not dormitories but corridors where you've got your own bedroom and that could be maybe another eight students in that corridor. But that's the student that's in the three houses either.ADAM SMITH We've had five and there's but one that's about 40, 42 students per floor over three sites. So that's an they'll have shared bathroom facilities and shared kitchen facilities. Now, for that 40 students, there's actually six kitchens. So it's a fair there's plenty of kitchen space, there's plenty of bathroom space, shower space, etc.. The other accommodation we've got four bedroom flats, five bedroom flats and seven bedroom flats, and they have shared accommodation. So you'll have your bathrooms on your share with your share with your four flatmates or your face like each or six flatmates, and you've got a big kitchen and a lounge, etc. For that we also have the only three accommodation which are five. And yes, so for individual rooms again your own fees, etc., etc., just it it's just an a flat basis. They, we've got the Carnegie Court one, which is the en suite accommodation at the student village and that's 500 plus students in there and that's five bedroom flats. But again, you've got your bathroom, your own shower, etc. within your. Your room and then you share the kitchen, the lounge, etc. with the rest of your students still. [00:15:18][88.2]

Speaker 1: [00:15:21] Thank you. So lots and lots of options for our students. [00:15:24][3.2]

Speaker 4: [00:15:25] You could actually get if you want, you can have same sex once if you want to. You can have mixed sex once. We've got quiet buildings. If you don't want a lot of noise because, you know, undergraduates tend to have a great time in the first year, partying, etc., which is fantastic, but you may not want to do that. Or maybe you can go in a quiet block. We have blocks where there is no alcohol allowed whatsoever and so we would just try to give evidence over those needs. [00:15:49][23.6]

Speaker 1: [00:15:49] So it's amazing. And I had I've been a few times you have like a central building and can you talk about the facilities that are available. [00:15:59][9.9]

Speaker 4: [00:16:00] Yes, I well, I can I can put some brand new information up to the as well for you. We've got the Central Belt and this is very much the the flagship over catering, organising and provision. And this is a building it's called headspace. It's such a social space for students, but within the social space we put them in reception, which the staff but as I say, they live on 24 hours a day, over 70. They are. We've got a supermarket in the Central Belt, which is a co-op which gives a huge selection of food and drinks, snacks, table stationery, everything you could possibly need for your flat. We'll be in this shop. We've also got study rooms with computers so the students can study the silence there. Of course, we've got games, areas, pool tables, some space invaders machines, retro type things and air hockey. We've got a GP hall which a performance area where you could have Zumba classes, yoga, there's badminton, courts, table tennis, there's actually an electric seating, it comes out. So we have a huge wall for the movie nights that's run by the residents assistants who are the welfare team. They're there and from six the evening until six in the morning, every years there's always somebody there as well. And they have a training kitchen in the community centre where you can learn to cook. You have dinner parties if your flats are big enough for your dinner party, if it's more than like seven or eight people, you can come across the and cook all there and have your dinner party in there. Again, there's a big TV room in there as well. There's also areas for welfare, for for reflection, for for help and advice. That's it as well. We've got the Works Cafe Bar Diner, which is a big, huge diner where you can buy food if you're a cater student, you get your meals there. But if you don't, if you're not fit to shoot, so it'll be one that you just do what it does because we don't have a meal. There you go. Friends come up to visit Hillhead. You can be downstairs and there's a bar and have a drink. Coffee, very much socialise at juke box pool tables and table football tables. Is everything there for the student as well? So it's it's quite the first aid room and it's very, very rarely used, which I'm very pleased to say. But it's there anyway. If someone maybe cuts a finger or maybe I don't know, I may leave it just it's about peace and quiet. They can go with the the central buildings are fantastic thing however a new addition we've just added a we opened last month just inside an inside outdoor area an external space and it has opened and we've still got a couple of machines, extra machines working for it as it's just an outdoor social space. No, those decking there for performances. If students want to do a little concert gig for themselves or they could study there in the sunshine, which they have been once a couple of months. And there's also a gym, there's an outdoor gym and there are half a dozen machines. We are at another two. There's an outdoor table, tennis table there. And I'm actually good at something. I'm actually really, really pleased. We're getting is a food table, which is basically for the residents of site. It's a table, tennis table, but it's curved to either end and they could use a football. So basically get four or six people running around. It just had to look at table tennis. It just put the ball back in and that's really good because also there's a herb garden, there's plants and hedges, all of that are just for some nice fresh here, waterfront. And if you have a subsidy, there's going to be picnic tables. We're just waiting for coming in. No, with benches, etc.. There's loads of things. It's a really, really good space and it's, it's open and I'm very happy about that as well. It's a great thing for the students as well as the two massive laundries on site as well, which are important. [00:19:24][204.8]

Speaker 1: [00:19:26] Yeah, definitely. That sounds great class. I think I might move in. [00:19:30][4.1]

Speaker 4: [00:19:30] Yeah, but everybody wants to come. You just know it's great. [00:19:32][2.2]
Speaker 1: [00:19:33] Yeah. [00:19:33][0.0]

Speaker 2: [00:19:34] I think apart from these, we are also offering free gym membership to our students at Hillhead accommodation. Yes. [00:19:39][5.5]

Speaker 4: [00:19:40] There's. Yes. If they sign up for this. Year. They will get free membership for the year. I think it's nine months of university year for the first year of the first year anyway and they will get free membership for the university. That's part of our thank you for coming to us and you go. And that's a fair statement. I mean, I think it's over £20 a month that we'll be paying. So that's actually a ceiling and it's a fantastic facility, the sports village. And there's a real, very, very good facility and I recommend it as well. [00:20:07][26.3]

Speaker 1: [00:20:08] Some students might have a question about transport, so I know that there are car parking spaces on campus. Is there bike lockers? And also, could you talk about the bus that comes in? [00:20:19][11.0]

Speaker 4: [00:20:19] Yep. Talk like it's basically a touchstone and we've got hundreds of car parking spaces on site. And the best thing, a whisper at telling the university, students.. Don't pay for the park, student don’t pay for the parking. We've also got multiple bike sheds for locking at bikes up. I think it's with 8-9 large rooms on site. And so it's always something for you to put your bike. We've got setups, a bus service, we've got two buses. Actually, the whole head though Hillhead will be the terminus for both bus services. One is, if you're a medical student in particular, takes you straight to the course to foresterhill the university's medical campus before that, stay up there, put up a huge help. Whether the weather is cool, that's a great thing. It's a really good bus that just takes you there and takes you back to the other university as well. So if you're a medical student, that's a great thing for you. Ten, 15 minutes to give there. The other bus is the service bus from the city. That's a number of 20. That comes from leaves Hillhead goes all the way through the university, drop in York University and then cross into the city centre. The best thing is it actually stops there and at the railway station, the bus station and the biggest shopping centre we've got with all the supermarket there. So with all the super cinema, the restaurants, everything to go with, it's a great thing for students because it just catch the bus and and they've they are basically the cinema for me your poetry in front of us, whenever they want to see such a great bus service will go really as all the taxis come up here as well. Take us students. About nearly all the taxis these days seem to be the multiple, multiple people carriers, like five or six people. So there's five or six of you paying maybe £1.50 each. It's actually cheaper than the bus. So if you're going to maybe socialise with people, if everybody be shopping, you come back together, you're actually cheaper, getting taxi together and that's a lot quicker with the bus as well. Although the bus service is very quick and I think it's every 20 minutes the bus runs and it's first thing in the morning from like 6:00 chopper six to midnight onwards, some of the times as well. [00:22:18][118.5]

Speaker 1: [00:22:18] Amazing. Thank you. I just want to add as well that the bus service that takes students from Hillhead to the uni to Forester Hill, it's free if they show their ID card. [00:22:29][10.7]

Speaker 4: [00:22:30] Exactly. Yes, you are quite correct. You have to show that student ID card, which will have some of the medical tech on it. They will get a bus service fee, which is, I think, the big saving for the students. [00:22:41][10.5]

Speaker 1: [00:22:42] Perfect. Okay. Any more questions? [00:22:46][4.2]

Speaker 3: [00:22:47] I was going to say that that's a plus for those who are considering whether it's beneficial to stay in, university accommodation or just in a private accommodation. The fact that they can move freely, you know, using the buses on campus is a good one for those. Consider those options. So thank you. Really good to know. [00:23:04][17.0]

Speaker 4: [00:23:06], I mean I mean, one another thing. As you students may be able to mirror already. We have actually we have the villages. We've actually a ten minute walk from the beach, the coast. And you can actually walk along the coast of it 30 or 40 miles if you wanted to. And with one slight jump over that bit of water, it was all the way down to the harbour where it's like an old area as well. So it's a great walk from here and especially the sunshine of today. So it's great and it's a really lovely walk down the beach as well. And it's great students. The students who turn into the have barbecues and parties that are near as well. So. [00:23:39][33.6]

Speaker 3: [00:23:41] So just wondering if you have anything else or do you think it's more beneficial for students to stay on campus or to stay in private accommodation? What would you advise? [00:23:49][7.8]

Speaker 4: [00:23:50] I, I mean, I do the talks for prospective students every year that open days offer days. We always recommend that the first year of undergrad. Stay with us for the first year. The reason being is they when they arrive they really don’t know and they don't really know the city. They might not know what to do when they arrive in the village. Everything is there for them. So that we as I said earlier on, you don't have to worry about anything. The accommodation, everything's there. All you gotta worry is about , you get whatever I say for what is. Oh, yes, yes. Prepare yourself, get to your studies and you're making friends towards the students. You're going to be friends, probably best friends for the rest of your life. And another good point is, whatever you're studying within two sets of students here with your study, there will be 40 or 50 people to the same courses. You will have 2 minutes of your SO for study notes, for help, for crying at each other shoulders. Why am I study of this subject? There's always somebody there doing the same course, of course, of the same things. It's a self. So we always recommend, together with a wellfare of security coverage, what we provide. We always recommend that the first year undergraduates deal with us and they nearly always do. To be honest, it's just great. I mean, even if we cannot accommodate and we guarantee accommodation for them, so we'll take care of that as well if we can't do it. But we always manage to get that done as far as the focus. [00:25:07][77.5]

Speaker 3: [00:25:09] Okay, that's great. So what about a much for students? So you know what you do? Would you recommend to stay on campus or you know, they could stay anywhere. [00:25:16][7.5]

Speaker 4: [00:25:17] I would recommend all undergraduates to stay hillhead now. No, actually, I got the other accommodation on campus as well, but hillhead to me, 2000 students all the way from home for the first time. All doing the same thing. Same feelings, same emotions. I think it's fantastic and it's a great way of learning and very, very soon, within about two or three weeks, to be experts of everything. And again, when you go to the second year, we understand they may wish to go to private accommodation, maybe get their own flight, etc., but the first year prepares them for that because they're going to meet people they'll probably got flat with. They don't have that when they first arrive, but they do have, but they've had their first year with us. So there is help for finding accommodation for the second year, but then maybe feel we don't feel we want to stay together but we don't feel like we want to get private. We've got the accommodation down in the campus as well so they can move in there together as well. And then just no spaces, all of them energy bills are going through the roof and we're getting more and more students phoning us, asking about possibly coming back because they're paying a fortune for their energy bills, etc.. Well, the energy bills are everything is included in your price free accommodation, including your Wi-Fi, your water, your heating, etc.. That's a massive thing as well. Especially just just know really it I. [00:26:28][71.7]

Speaker 1: [00:26:28] Think that is a very big point. Chris, again, why? Again, why I want to move into accommodation. [00:26:33][4.6]

Speaker 4: [00:26:34] Yes. Oh, no, I agree with that. Yeah, I saw my bill last week for the month. [00:26:38][3.4]

Speaker 3: [00:26:38] So I think that's one point to push out to West African prospective students because it's majorly a postgraduate market. And I get this question a lot, so why should we need accommodation? So this energy bill is one that I think many of them would jump out. Okay, let's think to cut costs. [00:26:56][18.1]

Speaker 4: [00:26:56] Oh, yeah. [00:26:57][0.5]

Speaker 3: [00:26:57] So that's what we know. [00:26:59][1.6]

Speaker 4: [00:26:59] We do it what students from various parts of the world get from Africa, from Asia, they are used to a lot of heat, etc. So we've got the heating systems in place and if for some reason it's still too cold, we've got heaters, we can get them as well, just to be sure they will be quite happy. But no, it's, it's, it's a big thing just knowing the energy costs. But apart from that, just staying hillhead just sets them up because we've been meeting people from all over the world as well. I mean, I've got one flat just now. I've actually got written down beside me because I think it's brilliant. I've got a student from Africa, a student from Russia, a student from Mexico, from Argentina and from Finland all the same flat. And they have the perfect flat. They all love each other, they really do. And the three of them are getting a lot together, fellow to a good home. The three of them are getting a flat together next year together, which is great. [00:27:47][47.3]

Speaker 1: [00:27:47] Really. [00:27:47][0.0]

Speaker 4: [00:27:48] Really good. But that's the thing. They're just, you know, empty. When you first arrive , you will do with a two weeks, you know, everybody with a two weeks and then you can decide their make sense. Yeah, we'll get a flat together, but we help with that. So that will be again, it's just seamless. It just let you go. We are studying, which is the most important thing of all, but also the student experience was by far is the real big thing of it. [00:28:09][21.3]

Speaker 1: [00:28:11] Amazing Chris. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. I'm sure the students listening and will be super happy that we brought you along to chat with us because that was so informative. [00:28:21][9.8]

Speaker 4: [00:28:22] Well, I mean, anybody who wishes to speak to us directly, all they do is contact the university student accommodation and let the student accommodation team see where we spoke with Chris, etc. Come and speak to them again. They'll put them. Of course, that will be. We'll take it from there. . [00:28:36][14.3]

Speaker 1: [00:28:37] Thanks so much, Chris. It was great speaking with. [00:28:39][1.8]

Speaker 4: [00:28:41] Thank you. Have a great day. Everybody together. [00:28:42][1.2]

Speaker 2: [00:28:42] Thanks Chris for sharing this valuable information. [00:28:45][2.5]

Speaker 3: [00:28:46] Thank you, Chris. Bye. [00:28:46][0.0]

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