Our community
Living in a University flat provides an opportunity to learn about the New Zealand way of life in a range of housing options from one to six bedroom flats. The majority of flats are mixed gender (i.e. co-ed) with students from across the globe. All of our flats are furnished.
Students have their own bedroom but share kitchen, living, bathroom and laundry facilities.
Each flat is an independent unit, managed by the students themselves, so quite autonomous. However, University Flats management provide an excellent maintenance service and pastoral care throughout its community.
Most of our undergraduate flats also have a New Zealand student living there too, called Kiwi Hosts. They are familiar with life at the University of Otago as a student, and can help overseas students settle in.
More than just a flat
With University Flats, you get more than just accommodation, you get to be a part of our collegiate community. Our community is enhanced through a variety of events and functions ran by the Uni Flats team. These include quiz nights, volunteering activities, day trips, College Sports Day, museum and marae (Māori meeting house) visits, and a series of dinners and functions for students living in the flats.
Residents can participate in the Inter-College Sporting, Gaming, and Cultural Competitions. This means students can be involved in social sport teams (e.g. volleyball, basketball, soccer), cultural performance evening, and other events ran by the Inter-College team.
There is also great support available to all students with Uni Flats staff able to provide assistance for any issues or concerns student may have.
Sustainability
University Flats is committed to supporting sustainability. We use Tī Kōuka (Otago University Sustainability Strategic Framework) and work closely with Toitū te Taiao | Sustainability Office. This partnership has allowed us to become central to sustainability planning across our whole division. We are proud of the growth and impact of He Kāika Toitū, He Kāika Ora: The Sustainability Neighbourhood, which has won an Australasian Green Gown Award for student engagement in sustainability. Every year we renew our commitment to the University's Green Your Scene Programme.
What does this look like for our residents? We have a drop and swap in the office that Uniflats residents can use to donate food to and take food from. Alongside the drop and swap, residents can find free organic period products and other items provided by Uniflats. Where possible, we buy and repair furniture locally, always doing our best to find durable products. Each semester we run our Drop for Good initiative. This assists residents in donating unwanted items such as clothes to Te Oraka, a thrift shop run by the Sustainability Office.
Uni Flats also provides used furniture to ‘Drop for Good’. This goes towards helping other students at university set up their flats.
We re-use chairs/ tables from other departments and re-share towels, coat hangers, washing baskets and lab coats. Our Sustainability Neighbourhood even produces honey for sale!
Things you can do to support our sustainability efforts:
- Turn off all lights/heaters when they are not needed to conserve energy
- Correctly recycle using the yellow and blue recycle bins provided
- Consider your buying habits – try sourcing upcycled items from Te Oraka, the Sustainability Office’s thrift shop
- Consider your water use, e.g. have a shorter shower or wash the dishes all at once
- Hang your washing on your washing line outside (when weather permits), rather than using the dryer