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founding

I wonder how much the market has changed. When I lived on the Carnatic Halls of Residence in Mossley Hill in the seventies and eighties, many students (but by no means all) took a second year in hall rather than moved straight out of uni accommodation into houses at the end of their first year. Pushing students into city centre rooms with en suite facilities (however compact) I would have thought leads to a more isolated existence and a desire to move into shared accommodation as in HMOs

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As a foreigner (32) and young professional living in an HMO in Wavertree/Picton, this article was quite surprising to read.

Where I come from, Zurich Switzerland, more people living together is considered to be a good thing, because it means less empty rooms/houses, shorter commutes and in general less carbon emmissions from heating and traffic.

I just arrived here two months ago and I also noticed that there is a lot of litter on the streets and in frontyards compared to my home country. I don‘t see many people in my area, and especially not many that I would recognise as students. In general, the street I live at (Kempton Rd) is rather too quiet even for my taste. I can only speculate who is responsible for the litter, as I often see children/teenagers on their way home from McDonalds/Iceland with snacks in their hands, which corrensponds to the litter being mostly snack and fastfood packaging.

I live in an HMO with five people, with three or four (not quite sure) of us only owning a bicycle. I doubt that many people in HMO and especially students own a car and thus contribute much to traffic, as more people living denser together means shorter commute with public transport, e.g. no car is needed.

Maybe we are not a representative sample, but I haven‘t seen any party happening here yet, whereas the neighbouring family is quite loud (which is absolutely fine) and I frequently hear many dogs barking through the night.

Just wanted to add my perspective. Sorry for the bad english, I am not a native speaker.

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