[HDNG]IN COLLEGE:[EHDNG][PARA][GRPH]A2[EGRPH][STAT][BULL] Self-catering: 18% [BULL] Cost: £35(40wks)[ESTAT][PARA][BOLD]Availability:[EBOLD] The self-catering halls are based at the Westbourne Road site in Edgbaston (near [ULNE]Birmingham University[EULNE]) and in the city centre (nearer [ULNE]Aston University[EULNE]).  5% of rooms are shared. Overseas students get special preference at Cambrian Hall in the city centre.  There's also a 'student village' with 432 study bedrooms at Perry Barr, and university-leased houses and flats for 900 students.[PARA][BOLD]Car parking:[EBOLD] Easy enough, [ITAL]but a car isn't really necessary. [EITAL][HDNG]EXTERNALLY:[EHDNG][PARA][GRPH]A1[EGRPH][STAT][BULL] Ave rent: £32[ESTAT][PARA][BOLD]Availability:[EBOLD] [ITAL]Accommodation is cheap and easy to find.[EITAL]  Selly Oak and Selly Park are the closest and the most student infested.  [ITAL]Harbourne is a bit posher, where yuppie, filofax-flashing students park their Golf GTIs (elsewhere parking ain't so easy, but cars aren't necessary).  It's quieter and not so much of a student ghetto, unlike King's Heath and Moseley, the homes of the more bohemian students and which are really cheap and have a villagey feel, [EITAL]but are further from the University (2 to 3 miles).[ITAL]  Edgbaston is Brum's poshest part, but, the part of Edgbaston that's near the cricket ground is a red light district, quite run down, poor, multi-racial - being so cheap, it's ideal for students. [EITAL] [ITAL]Incidentally, they often get propositioned (£20 in the car, £25 in a bed - fancy being a [EITAL][PUSH]push[EPUSH] [ITAL]researcher?). The scuzzier parts of Balsall Heath are best avoided. [EITAL][PARA][PARA][STAT][BULL] Renting: 25%[ESTAT][PARA][BOLD]Housing help:[EBOLD] The Private Property Unit helps students find accommodation ([ITAL]which isn't too hard[EITAL]).[PARA][PARA]