Lancaster University vs University of Cumbria: where to live for each campus

Lancaster has two universities, and advice written for one is often useless for the other. Lancaster University sits at Bailrigg, about three miles south of the city. The University of Cumbria's Lancaster campus is on Bowerham Road, much closer in. Three miles does not sound like much until you are doing it twice a day in February.

So before you take anyone's recommendation about where to live, check which campus they were at.

If you are at Lancaster University

The campus is largely self contained, with a library, shops, a sports centre, bars and cafes. First years are almost all in college accommodation on campus, which means the real decision comes at the end of your first year.

At that point there are broadly three ways to go.

Stay close. Galgate is about a mile from campus and Bailrigg is the campus itself. Shortest possible commute, cycling is practical, and you are four miles from Lancaster proper. This suits people with heavy timetables who treat town as an occasional trip.

Split the difference. Scotforth sits on the A6, the main bus route to campus, so the journey is about ten minutes and services are frequent. Hala and Greaves are just off it and quieter. This is where a lot of second and third years end up, and for good reason.

Go into town. The city centre and Moorlands put you near the pubs, the shops and the station, at the cost of the longest daily commute. Worth it if your contact hours are low and your social life is not on campus.

If you are at the University of Cumbria

Your campus is on Bowerham Road, which makes the decision much simpler. Bowerham is a five to ten minute walk from most streets, and it is the obvious first place to look.

Primrose is the other strong option. It sits between the campus and the city centre, so both are walkable from the same house, which is unusual in Lancaster. The area is small, so houses there tend to go early.

Moorlands works too, particularly if being able to walk into town matters to you more than being on the doorstep of the campus.

What generally does not work well is Galgate or Bailrigg. They are built around the other university, and from there you would be travelling into Lancaster and back out again.

What about a house share across both universities?

It happens more than you would think, usually when people meet through work, sport or a shared interest rather than through a course. The good news is that it is workable, because the two campuses sit at opposite ends of the same bus corridor.

The areas that split the difference best are Scotforth and Bowerham. Bowerham gives the Cumbria student a walk and the Lancaster student a bus of around fifteen minutes. Scotforth flips that, shortening the Lancaster University journey and lengthening the walk to Cumbria.

What you want to avoid is picking somewhere that is a compromise for both and convenient for neither. Being equally inconvenient for everyone is not fairness, it is just two unhappy commutes.

First year, and what changes after it

If you are in your first year at Lancaster University, most of this decision is not yours yet, because you will almost certainly be in college accommodation on campus. Use that year to work out what you actually want. Notice whether you are constantly heading into town or barely leaving campus, because that answer is the one that should decide where you live next.

University of Cumbria students often go straight into private housing, which means making this choice earlier and with less to go on. If that is you, Bowerham is the safe first move: it is close, it is used to students, and you can always move further out in your second year once you know the city.

A note on the buses

Bus services along the A6 corridor between the city centre and Lancaster University are frequent during term time, and that route is what makes most of these areas workable. Timetables and route numbers do change, so it is worth checking the current service for the specific stop you would be using before you commit to a house.

It is also worth walking the route from the front door to the stop when you view, at the time of day you would actually be doing it. Distances that look trivial on a map can involve a hill, and Lancaster has plenty of those.

In short

• University of Cumbria: start with Bowerham, then Primrose, then Moorlands.
• Lancaster University, shortest commute: Galgate, Bailrigg, Scotforth.
• Lancaster University, balanced: Scotforth, Hala, Greaves, Bowerham.
• Lancaster University, city life first: city centre, Castle and Fenton Street, Moorlands.
• Mixed group: Bowerham or Scotforth.

Each of those has its own page with travel times, what is nearby and the usual questions answered, over on the student areas section. If you already know which campus and roughly which areas, register your interest and we will come to you first when something suitable goes live.