Student Accommodation in Leamington Spa

Almost nobody stays on campus after first year, and of the towns within reach of the University of Warwick, Leamington is the one most students choose. It is worth understanding why, because the reasons are practical rather than romantic.

It is a town, not a suburb

Leamington has its own centre — Regent Street, the Parade, the Royal Priors — with the shops, supermarkets, gyms, pubs and restaurants you would otherwise be getting a bus to reach. The Pump Room Gardens and Jephson Gardens are five minutes from the middle of it. In practice this means that when you are not at the university you are still somewhere, which is not true of everywhere near a campus.

The commute is the real argument

The campus is about eight miles away and the U1 and U2 run to it through the day. The journey is the single thing most likely to make you miserable over three years, so it is worth being honest about it: from the south of Leamington, near the station, you are at the start of the route rather than halfway along it, which is the difference between getting a seat and not.

Leamington Spa station is on the Chiltern line, so Birmingham is about forty minutes and London Marylebone a little over an hour and a half. That matters more than students expect — for going home, and for anybody interviewing in either city.

Where in Leamington

The town divides roughly into the centre, the north — Clarendon, Beauchamp, the Georgian streets — and the south around the station and Sydenham. The north is handsome and quiet and further from the bus. The south is closer to the station and to the university route, which is where both Moss House and Moss Yard are.

What it costs

Rooms in Leamington shared houses generally run from about £120 a week for a room in an older terrace to £170 or so for a new-build en-suite. The number that matters is not the rent, though — it is the rent plus bills. A £120 room with bills on top has, in recent years, landed a good deal closer to £160 by February. Both of our buildings are all-inclusive for that reason.

Living here

Both of our houses are within a few minutes' walk of Leamington Spa station and about fifty metres from the nearest bus stop, which puts the campus bus and the train on the same short walk. Rooms start at £135 a week with everything included.

Studying at Coventry University?

Leamington is about fourteen minutes from Coventry by train, and plenty of Coventry students choose it. How the commute works, and who it suits.