STUDENT digs have come a long way since my college days back in the 1980s. My halls of residence at Stirling University were famously modelled on a Swedish prison; the cells, sorry rooms, designed to be just big enough to stop you going mad.

We had a pull-out single bed, a desk the width of the room, a wardrobe and sink. There were loos and showers down the corridor and a tiny kitchen with a shared fridge split into caged compartments where we guarded our rations with a padlock.

Off campus, the rented accommodation was more spacious but just as basic. None had central heating – or any form of heating for that matter – which was some hardship when you were living in the middle of Scotland through winter. We would huddle in the kitchen and switch on the oven, and watch the soaps on a tired old portable telly. In our bedrooms, we stuffed ourselves into sleeping bags and pulled on a duvet and blankets to keep the chill at bay.

Fast forward 30 years and student accommodation seems out of this world. Images from York’s newest student development, Student Castle, next to The Press office on Walmgate, looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. The interiors are all white and glossy with a splash of grey and yellow. Flat-screen, smart TVs are mounted on the walls.

The accommodation, which will be ready later this year, is split into a choice of studio rooms in a flat, with shared kitchen and living space, or self contained living space. Each has its own en-suite. The site also boasts ultra-fast WiFi, cycle storage, 24/7 security and a gym open all hours.

This luxurious living comes at a price – rents range from £139 per week to £195. That’s more than some family’s mortgages.

Students need places to live and while no-one wishes that they stay in some mould-invested hovel worthy of a Young One’s set, you do wonder if we are doing our young folk a disservice by offering them such picture-perfect pads.

Of course, not all students will choose to live in such expensive accommodation. But for those who do, it is sure to set high standards for the rest of their lives.

With young people struggling to afford mortgages, many are moving back home to stay with their parents.

Home might feel a bit of a come-down after renting a room straight from a glossy magazine spread.

 

• HAVE we forgotten how to be happy? That’s the question arising from a survey this week from BUPA which asked 2,000 people to name their favourite feel-good moments.

The great British public were not short of answers; they came up with scores of things that cheered them up, from sleeping in a freshly-made bed (number one) to the Royal family (number 50).

Sadly, however, they admitted to rarely experiencing these highs. Just one in eight said they had a “feel good moment” once a month.

Looking at the top-50 list of what makes us happy, it should be easy to boost that figure. Among the things noted were: feeling clean after a shower; chocolate melting in your mouth; playing with a pet; making a perfect cake; popping bubble wrap; dancing like no one is watching; getting a seat on the bus; cleaning the bathroom and exercising.

It was heartening to note that none of the most popular things that made us happy were to do with money.

As is often the way, it is the simplest things in life that are the most pleasurable. We should seek them out and enjoy them as often as we can.