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Off-Campus Housing Near University of Delaware
About Off-Campus Housing Near University of Delaware
The University of Delaware turns the small town of Newark into a true college town, where 24,000 Blue Hens and a brick Main Street basically share the same footprint. Main Street is the center of gravity: coffee shops, late-night pizza, thrift racks, and the UDairy Creamery, where the ice cream comes from the university's own herd. The Green anchors campus with the kind of open lawn built for frisbee and procrastination. Newark sits close enough to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and the Delaware beaches that a weekend trip is easy in any direction. Come fall, Homecoming takes over with tailgates and a sea of blue and gold. It's a classic, walkable, everybody-runs-into-everybody kind of place.
University of Delaware Housing Requirements
Freshman Live-On Requirement
The University of Delaware requires first-year students to live on campus. Exemptions apply for students commuting from a family home nearby, but for most incoming freshmen, year one means university housing. The live-on rule is a genuine policy here rather than just a default.
Off-Campus Eligibility
There is no university approval or certification process for off-campus rentals, but the City of Newark regulates them harder than most college towns. Landlords need city rental permits, and the city caps how many unrelated people can share a house, typically four in most rental properties. Before a group of six falls in love with a five-bedroom on Cleveland Avenue, ask the landlord exactly what the property's permit allows, because over-occupancy fines land on tenants too.
Lease Timing
After freshman year it is open season, though many sophomores stay in university housing because the off-campus timing is brutal, and most students move off campus as juniors. Most leases run roughly June to June, so budget for summer rent or line up a subletter as the standard Newark tax. UD's off-campus living resources can point you to permitted properties, but the lease you sign is a private and famously landlord-friendly one, so read it.