Student Houses to Rent

The Fitzhugh area of Southampton from a resident's perspective

Fitzhugh is a residential area just north of Southampton City center, bordering on Bedford Place and the Polygon. In essence it consists of the two main roads: Cromwell Road and Milton Road, the land bordering Wilton Avenue plus the side streets heading north from these roads.



The houses are mainly 3 bedroomed Victorian terraces with some semi-detached houses, most originally built to serve the Ordnance Survey Barracks in London Road The odd exceptions being corner properties or specialist buildings ( Pubs, Coach Houses Dairies ), properties affected by war damage or those redeveloped by design.

In the main, the original terraces are intact, with enough original features to identify their Victorian legacy, which offers a bit of solid character to the place.

Inevitably some properties are split into flats or shared houses, but most  properties not used as a private residences are shared student houses. These are largely true to their original layout inside, with the properties offering a fair sized garden, for plants, sheds and barbeques etc.

Practically the area offers a well serviced and extremely convenient location for the would-be resident, single, family or student.


The City Centre the University Campuses, Railway and Coach stations are all in walking or cycling distance, with the Common also near for those in need of open spaces.

On the property ladder the area lies somewhere above the economy of St Mary's and St Deny's but has not quite the status of the properties you might find bordering the Common, which leaves it in the middle ground of the "Yet to be affluent".

The local properties are attractive to small families and the young professional and of course parents looking to buy Student accommodation for their University bound offspring

The presence of three major teaching establishments, creates a huge market for Student accommodation in Southampton, which in practice means that when these properties come onto the market they tend to sell quickly, as their potential as Buy-to-let is quite high.

Fitzhugh does have its share of Students but not of the density of parts of the Polygon or some other areas. It also has a strong  enough core of  permanent residents  to provide a stable social environment made up of all generations from toddler to the retired.

Bedford place is to be found at the east end of Fitzhugh and provides a remarkable and interesting local shopping area. The Co-op provides all the general necessities of life, now supplemented by a local Sainsbury's.

  Bedford Place also provides a comprehensive selection of Takeaways, Fashion Boutiques, Art shops, Hair dressers, Pubs, Restaurants and much more, serving Residents, Students and "Ladies who lunch" alike.

 The area  survives as one of the original local shopping streets of Southampton dating back to the days of the Regency Spa Town with shops such as W.J. French & Sons (Shoes)  boasting  histories that pre-date the  present Victorian houses.

The houses would perhaps not be a first choice for someone looking for modern structures and conveniences. as they were  built about 1880 to 1910 and have undergone several eras of modernization since then.  



In their time gas has given way to electricity, kitchen ranges given way to modern cookers and outdoor privies and coal sheds replaced by modern bathrooms etc.., but they do offer a lot of scope as private or family accommodation, especially to those looking for an older property with a bit of character.

The location is  convenient for all the facilities of the City, without the noise and bustle of living on a  major road.

Parking is controlled by a permit system that  ensures residents can park locally and there is a friendly, if discrete,  local community, especially for longer term residents.

 As the Colleges are near Southampton water, I suppose some might want to venture on the idea of living on the water.
Southampton water is probably a little busy for this and alas the canal was filled in many years ago, so Narrowboats and Canal barges are not really an option. The River Hamble is probably the best option, with even the odd Narrowboat being seen, though it did not get here by means of an inland waterway.  

A few years ago a Prison ship was moored in the Eastern Docks for some time, rumored to be prospective Student accommodation, but it seems the idea was never taken up ....Whether this is a loss or otherwise remains open to debate.
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