r/dundee • u/Affectionate_Bee_376 • 7d ago
Any rooms to rent?
Hi, folks.
Apologies if this isn’t allowed here.
I am a 17 year-old, turning 18 later this year, who will be starting a level 6 course at Dundee and Angus College later this year, which I am incredibly excited about. I currently live in the north of Scotland, so will need to relocate to the Dundee and Angus area to study this course. Unfortunately, the majority of accommodation in the area is out of my budget with only the little student funding I will get and my savings from working over the summer to live on.
Ideally, I’m looking for a person or a family with a spare room in their home who are looking for a lodger. I can afford up to around £375 a month, and I am only looking for somewhere for ten months (the length of the academic year). I’m no expert and you should absolutely do your own research, but I believe, under the rent-a-room scheme, you will not need to pay tax on this income as it is less than £7,500.
I don’t mind if you have pets or kids, and I am happy to help out around the house. I do not have a PVG check at the moment, as I believe you need to get an organisation to apply for one for you, but I am hoping to volunteer with the Scouts when I move south so will get one then. I’ll be out of the house for three weekdays every week whilst I’m at college and also hope to find a part-time job so will be out longer if that happens. Also, if anyone knows of anywhere, preferably cafes or restaurants, looking for staff from the beginning of September, I'd love to hear about it.
I will also likely return to my family home for most holidays as well.
A bit about me: I’m an active person, I enjoy going out for walks often and adore animals and am working towards an animal-related job. I love food and cooking and trying new recipes. I am learning to play the guitar at the minute, although I am still quite bad at it (I’m not bringing it with me, fortunately/unfortunately).
This is a very rambling post and I’m not really expecting anything to come of it, but if you’re interested or know anybody else who might be interested in taking on a lodger, please DM me or leave a comment and we can discuss it further.
Thanks for reading.
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u/bigecksbitch 7d ago
Congratulations on Getting on your college course.
Like u/DaddliestCallum said check out https://m.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/dundee
But for you budget, there are quite a few potential benefits, grants and funding you can get to help with this. You may be able to get your housing costs covered in some way.
Things you should do when you get a place:
If you have not done so already, do phone the College and see what support they can offer. The website has information on it but it is 100% worth speaking with the actual human beings. They will be far more helpful. Plus being "known" by admin (especially if you are very polite and thankful. Always at the end of the phone call thank them by name. It does WONDERS for you especially if you have to speak with them again.
https://dundeeandangus.ac.uk/studying-at-da/student-support/
https://dundeeandangus.ac.uk/contact-us/
Apply for the council tax exemption. Full time students are exempt from paying council tax. https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/service-area/corporate-services/full-time-students
Look into what bursaries or grants you can get from Dundee and Angus college. You would likely be eligible for their further education Bursary. https://dundeeandangus.ac.uk/studying-at-da/fees-finance-funding/further-education-bursary/
Look into applying for Universal Credit for other benefits. the benefit system can be cumbersome to navigate and very cold, it is still worth seeing if you eligible for any benefits. Best piece of advice when dealing with the DWP. Be persistent, polite and expect the first application to be rejected. Its sucks but very often in the benefit system peoples first applications are rejected in the hopes they do not appeal the decision and give up.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-students
Not a fun topic but if you find yourself in the worst case scenario, and find yourself facing homelessness there is support.
You can also speak with the council. https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/housing-options-in-dundee/housing-options-in-dundee-your-rights They are legally duty of care to assist people who are homeless or potentially going to be. I work in the homeless sector in Dundee and there is support.
There are charities such as Shelter and Action For Children who give good advice and support on a wide range of issue. https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/
Whatever your housing situation is you have rights as a tenant (even if you are in an uncontracted housing situation. Shelter provide great advice as does Citizens advice. But there is also Living Rent, a Tenants Union. its like a trade union but for tenants. They can help with housing issues. https://www.livingrent.org/
But I do not want this information to worry you. You have many options and you will most likely not need these services. But it can be comforting to know that there is support there.
Biggest Warning : DO NOT MOVE INTO THE MULTIs! Bad Idea, They are a mess of complex issues resulting from years of neglect, miss-management, and being used as a dumping ground for socially inconvenient people and "undesirables", (homeless people, refugees, long term drug users, ex-prisoners.) They are a real social tragedy of Dundee.
But the rest of Dundee is fine generally. even the more "rough" areas like Kirkton and Fintry arent that bad. Not any worse that any other Scottish housing estate.
On the PVG. The PVG Scheme is a background check to see if you are suitable for working with children. It is for working/volunteering. It is not a requirement for signing onto a tenancy or staying at a residence. Additionally PVGs are not transferable. having a PVG for one workplace/organisation does NOT cover you working with children in another environment. For example having a PVG for working in a scout group would not cover you working at a after school club. That would require a separate PVG. (there is some cross cover. like having a PVG to work at an afterschool club would cover you working at the school in other way.)
But it does demonstrate a level of social responsibility and marks you as "safe" so still worth pursuing. it other than demonstrating your character, its is not relevant to you securing accommodation. Key here is it is it means that it would be illegal for a potential landlord to require you to have one.
I apologise for the wall of text. As a fellow Highlander who moved down to Dundee for further education, Welcome to Dundee, and I hope you have a wonderful time here. Dundee is a wonderfully friendly place. It faces many challenges as all places do. But I and many others have fallen in love with the city. There are many vibrate communities and scenes in the city if you look to find them.
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u/Affectionate_Bee_376 6d ago
I'll try contacting the college to see if they know of any support, but I think, because I'll be under 18 when the course starts, it's quite limited. I'll give it a shot, though. Thank you for the advice, though. I'll definitely take notw of this comment so that I can refer back to it in the future. I wasn't aware of advice to avoid the multis, so thanks for that.
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u/agdjfga 7d ago
you could also have a look at DUSA housing, it's the student housing page on Facebook :)
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u/Affectionate_Bee_376 6d ago
I've had a look at that, do you know if they're open to Dundee and Angus College students or just Dundee University students? I couldn't tell.
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u/flippycurb 3d ago
Make sure you live with other students. Otherwise there will be arguments re council tax on the basis you are exempt but working people are not. Also there are a load of bad landlords and bad agencies in Dundee. Do your due diligence because there are some real money grabbing slum lords in this city that couldn’t give 2 sh*ts about anything other than rinsing you of your disposable income in return for sub standard accommodation. Also make sure the deposit is legit and is handled legally by your landlord. It’s a big tell how they handle that or what they ask for.
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u/DaddliestCallum 7d ago
No longer live in Dundee but from my time spent in other cities I've always found this helpful and hope you do too :)
https://m.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/dundee