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The summer vacation is coming to an end and students are about to enter a new semester.It is worth noting that in recent years, many universities have announced that they will not provide dormitories for some professional master students.For example, Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Communication University of China, Nanjing University, Fudan University and other universities clearly stated in the 2024 master's degree admissions brochure that they would not provide on-campus accommodation for all professional degree students (professional master's students). This has left many professional master's students who are about to enter the new semester facing a realistic problem - how to find a warm "home" around the campus. In order to cope with this problem, they chose to act in advance, establish contact with real estate agencies through online platforms, list their rental needs in detail, and even conduct field visits around the school in person, just to ensure that they can move in smoothly.

At the beginning of last year, Nanjing University's Future Editorial Department, New Trend, conducted an in-depth study of this phenomenon and published an article titled "Data | Survey on Housing Rentals Around Nanjing University's Master's Program Campus". Now the focus is once again on this issue, aiming to draw the attention of all sectors of society to this issue, in the hope of providing more understanding, support and even solutions for master's students in difficult situations.

Settling down and traveling

In 2023, there will be approximately 4,340 NTU master's students who need to rent off-campus housing.NTU studentsHow did you find housing? What kind of housing did you find? What are the conveniences and inconveniences of living off campus?In order to answer these questions, Xinchao launched a questionnaire survey. Since the Pukou campus provides accommodation and the Suzhou campus does not recruit full-time professional master students, this survey is mainly conducted on professional master students from the Xianlin and Gulou campuses. As of October 17, a total of 287 valid questionnaires were collected.

As the main campus of Nanjing University, Xianlin Campus accommodates the largest number of full-time professional master's students. There are many real estate projects around Xianlin Campus, and Heyuan Community, which is closest to the south gate of the school, has become the first choice for most students. Wanda Mao, Xincheng Xiangyue Lanshan, Jindi Lake City Art Realm, Gaoke Rongjing, and Guanjun Building to the east of the school, and Zhongnanshan Jinhuacheng and Jiuxiang Yayuan to the south are all popular choices. If you can accept a longer distance, Vanke Golden Domain, Xingye Fengqing Waterfront, Yufengyuan and more housing sources are all within the consideration range of students.

The Nanjing University Gulou Campus is located in the center of Nanjing, surrounded by typical "old residential areas". In order to go to school, some students choose to rent houses in Yuansheng Lane and Xiqiao Road in the north, Beiyinyangying Community, Nanyinyangying Community, Nanbeixiu Village Community, Hankou Road Community, Shanghai Road in the west, etc. However, some students choose to rent houses more than 5 kilometers away from the school in order to reduce rental expenses, and even rent houses in Xuanwu District, Jiangning District and other places.

Most people will initially shortlist properties online before visiting them in person.Nearly half of the students find housing through online rental platforms. Online platforms such as Anjuke and Beike use VR technology to present a panoramic view of the house environment, giving tenants the possibility of "cloud house viewing". The second-ranked rental channel is online communities such as the "Nanjing University Rental Group". The group not only has housing information, but also posts seeking roommates. It is no longer difficult to find classmates from Nanjing University to share a house.

It is worth noting that two students rented houses through "security guard introductions." In some residential areas, security guards act as "human intermediaries" who have a lot of information about sub-landlords. After getting the contact information, tenants can negotiate directly with the landlords without middlemen making a profit from the price difference.If you already have a target community in mind, looking for a security guard may be a convenient way to find an apartment.

After solving the problem of “housing”, students studying for a master’s degree must also solve the problem of “transportation”.53% of students choose to ride electric bikes, 23% walk to school, and 15% ride bicycles to commute. In the vicinity of Nanjing University, you can buy a new electric bike for about 1,500 yuan, and some people buy second-hand bicycles for 200 yuan.

What do you care about when renting a house? It’s not just about money

The two factors that master's students consider most when renting an apartment are price and distance.Nearly 43% of students consider cost as the first factor to consider when renting a house, and 27% of students put the distance to school in the first place. Basic conditions of the house such as orientation, floor, room type, and home appliances ranked third, while factors such as the community and surrounding services and roommates ranked last.

(1) Money or proximity?

Before the start of the school year, Yang Xiaoshui applied for a student loan. With the salary of a student assistant and scholarships, her "monthly income" was just over 2,000 yuan, which was enough for her to live on.

Yang Xiaoshui originally wanted to try to apply for a dormitory on campus, but after seeing the counselor say in the group that "students from the Xianlin campus should not apply, as it cannot be arranged," she gave up the idea and decided to rent a house.

Compared with the higher price, Yang Xiaoshui is more willing to accept a longer commuting distance. "My budget for finding a house is 1,000 yuan. Based on this, the closer the better." At first, she planned to rent a house in Jurong, Zhenjiang, adjacent to Nanjing, about 7 kilometers away from the school, with cheap rent and good decoration. But in the end, she gave up because the distance was too far and the lease period of her roommates was not synchronized.

By chance, Yang Xiaoshui saw a rental post on Xiaohongshu. The house was in Zhongnanshan Jinhuacheng, about 4 kilometers away from the school. He finally rented the smallest bedroom of the three-room apartment for 800 yuan per month. Including the shared property fees and water and electricity bills, the monthly rent was less than 1,000 yuan.

As for Dai Shikun,Being close to the school means more convenient commuting and a stronger learning atmosphere.Price is a consideration, but distance is the primary factor.

After initially deciding to rent a house in Heyuan, Dai Shikun visited 7-8 houses, with prices ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 yuan. As he was looking for houses late and had some "social phobia", he was embarrassed to find other people to share the house, so he finally rented a whole house for 4,500 yuan a month.

After all, there are only a few people like Dai Shikun who have sufficient budget.Most students’ rent is between 1,000 and 2,000 yuan, accounting for nearly 82%; about 8% of students’ rent is less than 1,000 yuan.

Under the dual constraints of budget and distance, the majority of students choose to live in a house 1-3 kilometers away from the school, accounting for 41%.About 29% and 25% of students live within 1 km and 3-5 km of the school respectively. In addition, nearly 5% of students live more than 5 km away.

(2) How to consider housing conditions?

In April this year, Huang Chenglong and his undergraduate classmates who were admitted to Nanjing University through postgraduate study began to consider the issue of renting a house. They looked at four communities in two batches, with a total of 13 apartments.They consider the "comfort" of the house comprehensively from aspects such as decoration, driving time, and rent, and take the house type as the main consideration when renting a house.

An 89-square-meter house with a monthly rent of 2,800 yuan located in Longyue Mansion in Jiangning District met their expectations overall. The layout was very good, with a small study room and two south-facing bedrooms with little difference, avoiding unnecessary trouble in choosing a room.

Unlike Huang Chenglong, Yu Xuri doesn't pay much attention to the hardware facilities of the house. As long as the distance is close and there is a bed, it's fine. When he was in the first year of graduate school, he rented a 15-square-meter partitioned room in Yuhu Shijia, which had good lighting and a monthly rent of 1,300 yuan. But because the top floor and floor-to-ceiling windows did not block the wind, it was very cold in winter. He tried to find the second landlord to solve this problem, but to no avail. In June this year, he came to Heyuan and rented another partitioned room.

The room is located in the attic, only about 4 square meters, and the monthly rent is 800 yuan.Originally, seven people lived in the house with three rooms and an attic, and there is currently one vacant room.There are two partitioned rooms in the attic. Yu Xuri's room faces south, has small windows, and is covered with a thermal insulation layer. It is very stuffy and hot in summer. There is a small table in the room, and the air conditioner is very old, creaking, and falls apart at the touch. The partitioned rooms are separated by hollow boards, and the sound insulation effect is very poor. The tenants living in the attic open the door every night to chat. But Yu Xuri, who spends every day in the library from morning to night, doesn't care about these: "I just need a bed, so I don't think the room is bad."

(3) Shared rental or living alone?

When it comes to the question of whether to share a house or live alone, about 76% of the students chose to share a house.Many students have been torn between sharing a house and living alone, but eventually succumbed to their budget and chose the former. Safety issues are also one of the factors considered by some students.Lin Xiaowen's primary consideration for choosing to share a house is safety. Of course, there are also students who cherish the collective life of their student life and hope to gain as much sense of belonging as possible in the process of sharing a house.

Unlike most of her classmates, Cui Ruize decided to live alone from the beginning. "I'm afraid of meeting weird roommates if I share a house, and it's not convenient for my parents and friends to come over." In addition, the rent for sharing a house in Heyuan is basically the same as the rent for living alone in a slightly farther area, which made her more determined to live alone.

Cui Ruize also considered the issue of safety. She learned that there were many hotels in Blocks ABC of Wanda Mao, and the flow of people in and out was complicated; while there was no hotel in Block D, and it was close to the mall and very busy at night, so she finally decided to rent a room in Block D. After moving in, Cui Ruize reinstalled the blocked cat's eye at her own expense to facilitate checking the situation outside the door. When she usually ordered takeout, she always left her name as "Mr. Cui" and asked the takeout man to leave it directly at the door.

"Living alone", "70 square meters", "two bedrooms and one living room", "1,300 yuan"; these keywords seem difficult to put together, but they are Yue Anyu's actual rental situation.In order to have a complete and clean personal space, he chose to rent the entire house and live alone.Yue Anyu's budget is 1,500 yuan, and he can accept a commuting time of more than 20 minutes. Therefore, Mingxiu Yingjiangyuan, which is about 8 kilometers away from the school, becomes his best choice.

"Graduate study is already a very independent state." Yue Anyu basically does not eat in the school cafeteria and usually cooks at home.He is very satisfied with his current house, including his current life of living alone.

In August 2021, after comparing prices and selecting, Yao Xin finally chose to share a house in an old residential area 1 km away from the Drum Tower Campus of Nanjing University. Living in a "second-hand house" that is more than 20 years old, Yao Xin was prepared to frequently repair the equipment. What she didn't expect was that the problem was not with the equipment, but with the people.

One of the roommates showed obvious "incompatibility" from the moment he moved in. After a while, the conflict between Yao Xin and her roommate not only did not ease, but intensified because the roommate wanted to cancel the lease. The police station, counselor and landlord had to come forward to negotiate and resolve the issue. The final solution was that the four of them canceled the lease together and jointly bear the penalty for breach of contract. After this incident, Yao Xin had no choice but to live alone.

Whether it is school or "home", familiar environment and close relationships can bring a sense of identity and belonging.Mingxiu Yingjiangyuan, where Yue Anyu lives, has relatively complete supporting facilities such as convenience stores and vegetable markets, but the occupancy rate is low. There are only two households living on his floor, and people usually don't see each other. Every morning, Yue Anyu rides a bicycle with nearby office workers and goes to school in the crowd to prepare for morning classes. On rainy days, he has to queue up for a taxi. "I'm like an office worker. I go to class, punch in, and go back home."The life between the dormitory area and the teaching building, the close-knit "acquaintance society", seems as if everything is an illusion of undergraduate studies.

In addition to a sense of belonging, economic reasons are also a reality that everyone has to face. Yang Xiaoshui's family conditions are average, and since she cannot apply for a dormitory at the Xianlin campus, the rent is very expensive, which will put some financial pressure on her. Yao Xin also applied for a student loan. At present, she has applied for a dormitory at the Pukou campus across campuses and plans to move in in the second half of the year.

For master's students who rely on scholarships to go to school, renting a house is very stressful.Therefore, opening dormitory applications on campus to students with financial difficulties may be a more humane management method under the current system.

In addition, what kind of housing assistance the school provides for master's students is also a concern of students.Fudan University has rented an "Aijiu Apartment" outside the campus for professional master's students. Students who have successfully applied can take the school bus to and from the school and the apartment; professional master's students who are unable to move in will receive a monthly transportation subsidy of 800 yuan; Southeast University has also set up off-campus accommodation to arrange accommodation for students.It is understood that Nanjing University issued a one-time transportation subsidy of 2,000 yuan to the 22-level professional master's students in December 2022, but the subsidy news for this academic year has not yet been notified.

After two months at NCU, Lin Xiaowen has basically adapted to the life of renting a house to study. Renting a house off campus requires facing more unknown challenges, which is inconvenient but generally acceptable."However, I still hope that the school can provide rental subsidies in the future, or arrange accommodation outside the campus to reduce the rental expenses of professional master students."

This article was first published on the WeChat public account "Xinchao", with the original title "Data | Housing Rental Survey around Nanjing University's Master's Campus".

This article is a practical work of students from the "WeChina Micro China" project of the School of Journalism and Communication of Nanjing University and the first-class course of the Future Editorial Department.

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